Advice Regarding Charlottesville

stop reading NYT, New Yorker, Washington Post, and the Atlantic for starters...listen with respect to all points of view and cease teaching jewish kabbalah as if it were divine truth. my own research, which I am happy to share with anyone who will listen respectfully, is that kabbalah as it is taught today in a variety of venues contributes to the sexualization of life and world. Freud is sometimes decried by the religiously observant, at the same time his huge errors are accepted.

Dear Benjy, Hinda and the entire Chabad community,

I am going to make a point of speaking up to anyone in my life, including friends and family members,who display any kind of bigotry. One of the reasons I don't speak up is that I find it hard to formulate what I have to say in a clear, concise and measured manner. I get angry and anxious and often I cant find the words. But this moment has been turning point. I now realize that I don't have to be an expert on civics or history or politics to express a point of view. Nor does the communication have to be contentious. If someone makes a bigoted comment, , I can say "what you are saying is bigoted" and I don't have to say "you're a bigot." These are two different types of communication, addressing the same issue and frankly, the less aggressive one is more powerful.
Yesterday, an acquaintance told me that she couldn't understand why all of the Confederate statues had to come down. I looked at her and my expression must have revealed that I thought her question was uninformed and that I was taken aback by it. And what I said was quite simple but to my mind was effective: that honoring those who stood for racism and bigotry is detrimental to all humanity. I was glad to have said it and it didn't take a lot of thinking through. It was also spontaneous. So, going forward, I will not stay silent and I will find simple, assertive and precise ways to address the gigantic issues of hatred, bigotry and rage.
Shabbot Shalom

First thing you should do is take your blindfold off. I don't recall nearly enough commentary like this while Antifa, BLM, and other similar groups were burning towns to the ground for years and trying to use violence to silence those with differing views . By picking and choosing when you speak, your words have greater meaning, the timing can do damage not included in the words. We can't erase history, burning books you don't like won't help. Calm down, smell the flowers, take a look around without your blindfold, realize where the most danger lies, and stop pointing blame in the wrong places that is clearly implied by your timing.

Let's begin with "we" and gather together at the synagogue to talk about ideas that can benefit the Charlottesville community and our own community - and the nation at large. There is a Chabad at UVA. As a group we can assign outreach to each member of the group in order to educate ourselves on what are effective ways to stop the Alt-Right. Can we find leadership among ourselves in the media to tell us how to approach the media? In government? Can we invite a local representative for advice on how best to ask our government congressmen and senators to effectively suppress (hopefully outlaw) White Supremacy groups? We can reach out to the other synagogues and the churches in the Rivertowns to show our desire to work with them for peace and mutual respect locally and globally.