海角大神

Aaron Steinberg is standing in the middle of Manhattan鈥檚 Foley Square, holding up a handmade sign that, for him, most clearly states the fundamental reason he and his family have come to stand shoulder to shoulder with around 25,000 others this Sunday morning.聽

鈥淎ll humans were made in the image of God,鈥� his sign鈥檚 taped-on words proclaim, a reference to the first chapter of Bereshit, or Genesis, in the first book of the Torah, which expresses both a bedrock theological principle in his faith as well as a basis for his civic ideals.聽

鈥淚t is reinforcing the idea that all human dignity matters,鈥� says Mr. Steinberg, a deputy director at The Bronfman Fellowship in Manhattan, which organizes leadership programs for Jewish teens that emphasize civic pluralism. 鈥淎ll hate is a problem, and anti-Semitism is just one example of the hate that鈥檚 out there in the world,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut 鈥楢ll humans were created in the image of God鈥� means that we鈥檙e all equally valuable, and attacks against anyone should bother all of us.鈥�

Recent attacks against Orthodox and Hasidic Jews in the New York area, however, were the primary reasons behind Sunday鈥檚 rally and solidarity march across the Brooklyn Bridge, organized by a coalition of Jewish organizations. In December, two incidents 鈥� the shooting and killing of five at an Orthodox-owned deli in Jersey City, New Jersey, and the break-in and machete attack on a Hanukkah celebration at a rabbi鈥檚 home in nearby Monsey, New York, have rattled most New Yorkers in ways they can鈥檛 remember experiencing before.

A significant number, if not a majority, of the throngs of New Yorkers and others who marched on Sunday were part of the five borough鈥檚 1.1 million Jewish residents 鈥� the largest community outside Israel. Expressing the city鈥檚 kaleidoscope of Jewish traditions, many sang Hebrew songs and said prayers as they marched, mostly in families, from Manhattan to Brooklyn.聽

But in many ways, the undercurrent throughout the conversations of those attending Sunday鈥檚 march of solidarity was a perceived erosion of a civic ideal rooted in a belief in universal human dignity.聽

鈥淚t鈥檚 almost as if words like 鈥榩luralism鈥� or 鈥榙iversity鈥� have lost their flavor,鈥� says Tim Croak, a managing director at the Manhattan office of UBS, a Swiss investment bank. A devout Catholic, he came alone today, but struck up a conversation with a group of marchers that included Susie Goldberg and her husband, Edward Brubaker.

鈥淧eople just don鈥檛 care or think as seriously as they should be about getting along together in civic spaces,鈥� says Mr. Croak, who felt something change in the country after the melee during a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. 鈥淚t was just a seminal moment 鈥� it seemed to unleash something, and the worst of our angels have come out since then.鈥�

鈥淧luralism is probably the single most important thing at this rally,鈥� responds Ms. Goldberg, who is part of the Reform tradition of Judaism. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 what鈥檚 so incredibly important, because if people don鈥檛 have an imagination for other faiths, seeing our common humanity, the same thing will happen now as with the past with the amount of hate that is really going on.鈥澛�

鈥淚鈥檓 a child of Holocaust survivors,鈥� continues Ms. Goldberg, whose grandparents perished at Auschwitz. 鈥淎nd they had a beautiful life most all of their lives, but, insidiously, incidents like this crept up and crept up and crept up, and then,鈥� she pauses a few seconds. 鈥淚 just think we鈥檙e in a very similar place now.鈥澛�

Scholars have pointed out how eruptions of anti-Semitism around the globe have often transcended ideology, and have not been exclusively defined by acts of neo-Nazis or white supremacists, but include segments of the anti-Zionist left as well.

But last month鈥檚 deadly attacks against those in the most visible Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish communities also laid bare some of the simmering tensions in neighborhoods in which black and Jewish residents live together, and where cultural and class differences exacerbate conflict between Orthodox Jewish landlords and their black tenants.聽

鈥淲e鈥檝e got to start bridging鈥�

Samuel Michael Roberts is sitting on a public bench on the pedestrian walkway over the Brooklyn Bridge, shouting encouragement and fist-bumping marchers as they walk by. A longtime resident of Harlem, he grabbed his cane this morning and set out to attend the rally 鈥� but with an injured leg, this is as far as he can go.

He鈥檚 a member of the historic 鈥淢other Zion鈥� African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, New York City鈥檚 oldest black church, founded in 1796, and a longtime member of the Rev. Al Sharpton鈥檚 National Action Network. But when a group of Orthodox marchers walk by singing a song in Hebrew, Mr. Roberts joins them, full-throated, beaming as he sings the Hebrew words.

Some of the marchers are shocked and ask him how he knows not just the tunes, but the words as well. 鈥淥h, come on, I鈥檝e been in Harlem since 1945!鈥� he says, laughing.

But he also acknowledges the ongoing tensions, and the ignorance and prejudice he sometimes sees in his community. By the same token, he says he鈥檚 experienced the same kinds of looks of fear and the same physical recoiling from rabbis he鈥檚 come across.聽聽

鈥淎 lot of these divisions, we鈥檝e just got to start talking to each other, so when something happens, we know each other,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to start bridging, we have to invite each other to more community meetings, we have to invite them to our churches, and have them invite us to their synagogues.鈥�

Many of the recent attacks, too, have targeted the most visible Hasidic communities, a collection of diverse traditions sometimes labeled 鈥渦ltra-Orthodox,鈥� which prescribe distinct black clothing and, for some sects, black fedoras. Like many devout religious communities, Hasidic sects often maintain their own civic institutions, including schools, hospitals, and businesses.聽聽

Visible signs of faith

Zalmy Chamowitz, a student in Crown Heights and a member of the Chabad Lubavitch community, has joined other young men in his community to encourage other Jewish men marching to don traditional tefillin, small black boxes containing Scripture, and the words of the Shema, the central statement of Judaism.聽

鈥淚t鈥檚 the text in the Bible, 鈥楬ear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One,鈥欌�� says Mr. Chamowitz, noting that in his tradition, men over 13 put this on every day, except for the Sabbath and holidays, according to a verse in Deuteronomy that says to bind the law of the Lord upon your hands and between your eyes.聽

In some communities, members have discussed whether the outward and visible signs of their faith should be hidden, or perhaps toned down in public places 鈥� discussions that had rarely taken place before.

But today Mr. Chamowitz is strapping the shel yad, the tefillah for the hands, and the shel rosh, the tefillah placed above the forehead, on Joshua Holshin, who has agreed to join in this ritual act of prayer.聽

鈥淲hat this does, it reminds us that we have to know there鈥檚 one God above us, and that our hearts and our minds should both be directed toward God, and that we should do the right thing,鈥� Mr. Chamowitz says. 鈥淲e put this on to remind us, there鈥檚 something above us, there鈥檚 something that鈥檚 watching over us, whatever we do, and we have to make sure we keep bringing light to this world.鈥�

Afterward, Mr. Holshin, an auctioneer from the Upper West Side, notes the profound changes in his community, where he has recently volunteered to provide security for his Orthodox synagogue.聽

鈥淲e鈥檝e been beefing up security at all our institutions, our synagogues and schools,鈥� he says. 鈥淎 lot of our resources now need to go toward basic security, and not toward other social needs.鈥�

鈥淎nd after all that鈥檚 been happening, my kids are nervous, so that鈥檚 something to deal with, too,鈥� Mr. Holshin continues. 鈥淪o people just have to live all the time in a way that鈥檚 more alert and more vigilant and more attentive. And that鈥檚 unfortunate, especially in New York.鈥�