Mayor Aaron Brockett
Mayor Pro Tem Nicole Speer
Councilmember Matt Benjamin
Councilmember Tina Marquis
Councilmember Ryan Schuchard
Councilmember Mark Wallach
Councilmember Tara Winer
Dear Mayor Brockett, Mayor Pro Tem Speer, and Councilmembers,
We are writing to thank you for your decision to honor Boulder’s City Code and vote against weighing in on the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas at your meeting on February 15. We share the view with councilmembers who spoke about focusing on Boulder’s ongoing challenges instead of wading into international affairs that Colorado’s municipal governments have no jurisdiction or influence over.
As leaders in the Jewish community in Colorado, we are grateful that you listened to and heard from members of our community, and didn’t add Boulder to the list of cities and towns across the country creating permission structures for antisemitism and calling for the delegitimization of the State of Israel. As a community, we have experienced historically high levels of antisemitism in Colorado in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks against innocent Israeli citizens on October 7, 2023 and the continuing imprisonment of Israeli hostages by Hamas.
We are relieved that you as a council decided not to take steps to further divide our community and further alienate and ostracize Jewish Boulderites and Coloradans who are experiencing waves of generational trauma and renewed levels of concern for our personal safety and that of our family members near and far.
Once again, thank you for your empathy and restraint, your compassion and your commitment to working hard to solve the many real challenges facing Boulder residents, we stand ready to have meaningful conversations with anyone on council or in the community who is interested in the complex, nuanced, and widely misunderstood conflict unfolding in Israel and Gaza since the horrific terrorist attacks on October 7.
Sincerely yours,
Dan Leshem, PhD, Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) Director
Matt Most, JCRC Chair
Scott Levin, ADL Mountain States Regional Director
Emily Hyatt, Rocky Mountain Rabbis and Cantors (RMRC) President
Jonathan Lev, Boulder JCC Executive Director
Rabbi Fred Greene, Har Hashem
Rabbi Jamie Korngold, Adventure Rabbi
Rabbi Alan Shavit-Lonstein, Adventure Rabbi
Rabbi Marc Soloway, Bonai Shalom
Rabbi Diane Tiferet, Haver: Rabbinic Council Boulder, President
Rabbi Lynne Goldsmith, Haver: Rabbinic Council Boulder, Treasurer