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Readers may recall that my blog a few weeks ago featured the lyrics to the Carole King song “You’ve Got a Friend”. What I did not expect was the embodiment of that concept this past Sunday. Some background information might be helpful first. 

In the aftermath of the massacre at the Tree of Life building, the Hindu community regularly attended our Friday evening services for months, providing comfort and friendship, and even gave a significant donation towards the fledgling rebuilding campaign. We were, and continue to remain, grateful for their compassion and love. Either two or three summers ago, we were invited by the Hindu community to participate in a service of peace one Sunday when the founding priest of their temple would be in town. Again, we experienced the warmth and friendship of the Hindu community. I was given the gift of a beautiful shawl. Now I fast forward to this past Sunday, where the Jewish and Hindu communities once again gathered in a show of unity, strength, friendship and support. Why? On Saturday morning, May 10, 2025, students at CMU about to attend graduation awoke to find the following on the fence: Down with Nazism, Zionism, Hindutva. While I don’t understand the conflation of all three, it reminded two minorities in the Pittsburgh area that there are those who H us. This graffiti was certainly the impetus for a gathering. 

Our commonalities unite us, which includes the common enemy of bigotry, racism and antisemitism. In the panel discussion, which was the featured element of the program, we offered comparable answers to questions, in that things that matter to us include our faith, family, doing good for others, and making the world a better place. For nearly three hours that we gathered, there was no talk of suffering in the room. There was joy, and what a welcome relief it was to leave our troubles outside the door. The need to grow the relationship between our communities was palpable, and we will continue to find avenues for joint programming for the benefit of all. 

This is what living in the United States should be about: getting to know our neighbors. For once we do, we respect their culture and traditions, we understand them better, and we learn that we are far more alike than not. Yes, there will continue to be the bad actors who fear what they do not understand, and most likely lack in their lives the willingness to get to know their neighbors, preferring to hide in their silos with their own kind and complain about everyone else. We will revel in learning about our differences, for by doing so, we grow as human beings. Appreciation, respect and understanding of people not the same as us elevates us spiritually and socially, putting us on a higher plane of existence far above those who wallow in H. I left that evening proud of what was accomplished, with an appetite for more. That’s the America that our Founders envisioned. We must make it so.