Rabbi Ari Lev Fornari and Rabbi Shawn Zevit: Fetterman should join call for cease-fire

As rabbis, we have been proud to have John Fetterman representing us as a strong voice for humanitarian values in the Senate. We come from a faith that teaches that each and every person is created in the image of the Divine.

We understand Fetterman to be someone who shares our values. We appreciate all the times he has advocated for those who have been overlooked, devalued and dehumanized. His work on the Pennsylvania board of pardons pursuing clemency, his support for labor and the dignity of working people, his willingness to speak truth to the power of Wall Street and his longstanding dedication to LGBTQ rights have all made us proud to have him as our senator.

This made us all the more deeply disappointed to see that those values did not seem to apply when it came to his response to Israel’s bombardment and invasion of Gaza. The current attack has left more than 11,000 Palestinian civilians dead, with more than 4,000 of them being children. Whole families have been wiped out and are still buried in rubble, and so many more are left without shelter, medicine or even water.

And yet, Fetterman has taken a shockingly hardline stance. He unambiguously defended Israel’s actions and has said the U.S. should be in “lockstep” with Israel without conditions. When confronted by a protester at a recent event, he was extremely dismissive, and even made a joke about his own well-documented auditory challenges that resulted from the stroke he suffered last year. This kind of glib comment gives us great pause, and makes us wonder whether the persona he created is genuine, or just for show.

We urge him to reconsider. In the Mishna, a Jewish holy book from nearly 2,000 years ago, we learn that saving a single human life is like saving the entire world. We are so connected to each other that when an individual is killed, the whole planet is impacted by this loss. Later, in the very same text we are reminded that we all descend from Adam, so that no one can say: “My ancestor is greater than yours.” (Mishna Sanhedrin 4:5 ) Every life is equally valuable and our struggles are bound together.

We are in deep grief over the 1,200 Israelis who were brutally murdered by Hamas, and terrified for over 200 Israeli hostages, adults, children and babies, who remain in captivity and whose fate hangs in the balance. However, the mass killing of over 11,000 Palestinian civilians in our name will not and will never make us safe, nor will sending billions of dollars in weapons to Israel without conditions.

Instead, we are calling on all of our leaders, including Fetterman, to join the 66% of Americans (including 80% of Democrats and 56% of Republicans), and the tens of thousands of Jews who are calling for a cease-fire. We are not the first to call on Fetterman to reconsider his stance. An open letter from some of his own campaign staffers begged him not to give “a blank check for more destruction that will lead to the killing of more innocent Israelis and Palestinians, including children.” They too asked him to remember his promise to forgotten communities and work to stop the slaughter, and were rebuffed.

Fetterman has demonstrated an openness to changing his views in light of new information, including his views on Israel, as he did in the Democratic Senate primary. And he has a history of speaking out for what he believes in, even when it’s not popular. We believe that John Fetterman is someone who is capable of listening with an open mind, and we are calling on him to do so once again here.

As more and more people die, all of our communities become less safe. Jewish people have endured genocide and generations of persecution. This history calls us to act now to ensure that never again means never again for everyone.

Senator Fetterman, as rabbis, Jews and human beings, we invite you to join us in working towards shalom, true peace and wholeness, for generations to come through a complete ceasefire now.