August 3, 2015

The Honorable Senator Ed Markey

255 Dirksen Senate Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Senator Markey,

We write to you today as rabbis and cantors in the Massachusetts Jewish community who are in support of the nuclear agreement with Iran. We believe the agreement is effective, comprehensive and in the best interest of the U.S. and Israel. We stand with numerous national security leaders, U.S. ambassadors, military leaders and former Cabinet secretaries in support of this agreement. We are particularly looking to current and former Israeli military intelligence officers for their reaction, many of whom support the deal, because it verifiably prevents Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, prevents Iran from producing weapons-grade plutonium, and tracks Iran’s nuclear activities with robust inspections.

We are looking for a peaceful solution to the potential threat raised by Iran’s nuclear program, and we believe that the one presented to Congress accomplishes that goal. Our sentiments are in line with the greater American Jewish community: a recent survey conducted by an independent, non-profit media company shows that 49 percent of American Jews support the deal with Iran, while 31 percent oppose it. The same survey revealed that 53 percent believe Congress should approve the measure.

We know this agreement is not perfect. Iran will likely continue to be a bad actor in the Middle East, sponsoring terrorist organizations, violating the human rights of its own citizens, and continuing to extend its destabilizing reach into its neighboring countries. Iran continues to pose a threat to our allies in the region, especially Israel, which is exactly why we must support this agreement and the limitations it places on Iran’s nuclear capabilities. We are fully aware that if the agreement fails, the international coalition currently applying sanctions will no longer be viable, and the likelihood of war and a regional arms race will only increase.

We ask that as you and your colleagues review and debate the nuclear deal in the coming weeks, you give due weight to the views of the relevant policy and technical experts, the views of a majority of American Jews, and the potentially devastating consequences of rejecting the deal.

With sincere thanks,

Rabbi Andy Vogel, Temple Sinai, Brookline

[The remainder of the signatories has not been made public.]

Friends:

The horrific shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, on Wednesday night, leaves us heartbroken. This was a terrible act of racism and hate that took the lives of 9 innocent African-Americans. Our prayers are with the families of the victims, the church community, and also with all those who are the targets of hatred and prejudice.

It is striking that these racially-motivated murders could occur in a house of worship, a house of God, in an effort to deny the basic religious tenets of both Judiasm and Christianity: that all people are created in the image of God. As we grieve and ponder the meaning of this terrible event in our country, we affirm this very message of our tradition, that all human beings are equally reflections of the Divine.

I think it would be a mistake to pin sole responsibility for the Charleston shootings on one "deranged" individual. While he is clearly responsible for his actions, we must confront the pervasive hatred and racism that continues to exist in many places in our society today. Our attention must be drawn to other recent violent acts in America that reveal the depth of prejudice and intolerance in our country, and we must be moved to act and to speak the truth about how racism, both explicit and implicit, continues to persist.

This Shabbat, we mourn. May our mourning also be a call to deeper reflection and to meaningful action to bring healing to our country at the root of its problems.

- Rabbi Andy Vogel

[To read the statement by the Religious Action Center of the Reform Movement (located in Washington, DC), please click here: http://www.rac.org/reform-movement-mourns-victims-charleston-ame-tragedy]