Opinion: Supportive words are nice, but Jews and other minorities facing harassment need law enforcement action

To the editor: We appreciated Antonia Malchik’s description of her small town of Whitefish, Mont., and how the local city council recently passed a resolution against hate and discrimination. It is laudable to stand up against hate, especially in a smaller town, and even particularly, when the leader of the hate group getting national attention is from your town. (“The town that white supremacist Richard Spencer calls home,” Opinion, Dec. 16)

We are, however, deeply concerned by the growing anti-Semitism that is being directed at a local real estate agent and a local rabbinic colleague of ours. Death threats, public printing of phone numbers and pictures of children demand more than city council resolutions; they demand legal action, and we urge law enforcement in Whitefish to continue to fully protect those being threatened. If those threats are coming from outside the state, federal officials should be called in.

We are living in a time where hate and threatening rhetoric has been normalized. We stand against this normalization and stand against hate directed toward Jews or anyone else, with a particular vigilance toward threats to vulnerable minority communities. Love, justice and righteousness are the foundation of our religious tradition. All three are needed now in Whitefish and wherever else this viciousness rears its head.

Rabbi Sharon Brous, Los Angeles

Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater, Pasadena

Rabbi Dara Frimmer, Los Angeles

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