Photo Credit: Screenshot
Rioters smash window of police car in Baltimore.

All law-abiding citizens were horrified by the recent riots in Baltimore supposedly resulting from the yet unexplained death of a Black young man in police custody. The destruction was unbelievable. The anger vented in the streets by residents of the community was at times unfathomable given that the Mayor, Chief of police, the majority of City Council, and nearly half the police department of the City of Baltimore are African Americans. “The pride of New York,” the Rev. Al Sharpton, announced that he was invited by the local community and the Mayor to come to Baltimore. His mission was clear. He was going to get to the bottom of the murder by the police of this Black young man which has yet to be explained implying his belief that this is all about racist police brutality regularly visited upon African-Americans. Racism? Who exactly are the racists in a city that is 67% African-American and governed and policed by African-Americans?

What was even more striking was the reports that the Crypts, Bloods and other gangs were emboldened to put down their usual hatreds for each other and band together to kill police. This reminded me of an incident that occurred here in Chicago more than two decades ago.

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Several Palestinian-American high school teens, no doubt prompted by the attitude of their parents, desecrated several synagogues on California Avenue in the West Rogers Park section of Chicago. The Jewish community was obviously quite disturbed by this event. The teens were eventually captured and sentenced to jail terms.
In the course of this event unfolding in court, the Chicago Rabbinical Council received a call from the Human Relations Commission of the City of Chicago requesting that a representative attend a meeting regarding this tragic event to be held by the North Side Task Force of the Commission. I was designated to attend this meeting which included representatives from all sections of the north side of Chicago – some 50 individuals. A myriad of ethnic and religious communities, the North Side of Chicago is the most diverse section of the City.

The meeting began with the usual introductions. The first matter on the agenda was an important discussion about curtailing any attacks on mosques in Chicago by Jewish gangs as a response to the desecration of the synagogues. I raised my hand and patiently waited to be called upon. I stated with clarity in simple terms, “Jews don’t have gangs.”

It was as if I hadn’t spoken at all. I was ignored by those in attendance with the subsequent speakers offering possibilities regarding how to quell tensions between the Jewish gangs and the Muslim community. I tried a second time. Finally, people actually heard me and were astonished. “What do you mean Rabbi the Jewish community has no gangs. All communities have gangs,” was the response, a veritable accusation, to my remark. I turned to the representative of the Human Relations Commission and asked him if he knew of any Jewish gangs in Chicago. “No,” he responded, “there are no Jewish gangs in Chicago.” The audience was dumbfounded.
Along with Rabbi Alan Abramson, I attended the various sessions of the court case. After the sentencing, the Rabbi and I were invited to the office of the state’s attorney for a short sum up meeting. The assistant state’s attorney on the case told us he was amazed that no retribution was visited upon mosques in Chicago by the Jewish gangs as was commonplace when there was a clash between ethnic communities in the City. Again, I stated there are no Jewish gangs in Chicago. He seemed amazed and even puzzled. To clarify the situation I stated that it seems that rather than be complemented as a community for having no gangs and allowing the police to investigate and your office to prosecute, Jews are seen as abnormal, as they don’t seek revenge on those who have attacked them which, I understood, would be in violation of the law. He nodded in agreement I continued stating that it appears the roots of the accusation that Jews are cowards is we are the only community in the City that is law abiding. The Assistant DA looked at me somewhat puzzled and actually said to me, “You may have a point.”

After the young men were convicted I learned they were all “A” students in high school and two of them had already been accepted to college. They and their families lived in the Orthodox Jewish section of West Rogers Park. The teens were respectful and were not members of any gang, spending most of their time studying, doing homework and working part-time jobs.

I understood that their incarceration for their unlawful activity would have a lasting deleterious effect upon their very future. And perhaps just as bad, I knew as a former jail chaplain, that their experience in the penitentiary would be a difficult one.

As a Jew and a Rabbi I was concerned for their welfare. I contacted the Director of the Arab Council of the Human Relations Commission, and asked if he would arrange for me to meet with the families and the boys at one of their homes. The purpose of the meeting would be to offer my assistance to insure the boys were not molested or beaten while serving their terms in the penitentiary. The meeting went very well. As is the Arab tradition, the families were respectful hosts. I gave each of the boys my business card and told them to contact me should they have any difficulties in the penitentiary.

“Blessed are you, O Israel; Who is like you, a people saved by the L-RD, Who is the shield of your help And the sword of your majesty!” (Deuteronomy 33:29) takes on new meaning when we consider the ills of contemporary society. In a world in which the basic foundation of society, law and order, is scorned and abused, in a world where human dignity accrues an ever lessening of importance, I am proud to be a member of the Jewish People the harbingers of G-d’s eternal law.

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Rabbi Philip Lefkowitz is the rav of Agudas Achim North Shore Congregation in Chicago. During his nearly five decades in the rabbinate he has led congregations in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom and served as an officer, Executive Committee member and chair of the Legislative Committee of the Chicago Rabbinical Council.