We, the undersigned Jewish Studies faculty and affiliate faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, join together to condemn the Trump Administration’s executive order banning immigration from seven countries—also known, for good reason, as the “Muslim ban.”
Our experience as Jewish Studies scholars and teachers compels us to speak out against the demonization of members of another religion—a phenomenon all too familiar in Jewish history. Some of the most powerful texts we teach instruct us to welcome the stranger and look after others, from all religious, ethnic, and racial backgrounds.
The fact that some of us are but a generation removed from our own families’ experience in the Holocaust deepens our outrage at this administration’s efforts to slam doors against innocent refugees seeking the shelter of America’s freedoms enshrined in our Constitution. The fact that the ban was issued on International Holocaust Memorial Day, an occasion to remember the extremes to which racism and xenophobia can lead, adds cruel irony to the turmoil unleashed by the decree.
Our two institutions currently host hundreds of students, faculty, and staff from the seven nations targeted by this executive order. These people enrich our campuses, they broaden our understanding, and their talents and hard work contribute to the international reputation the University of Wisconsin has earned. We are proud to call them our students, colleagues, and friends. We implore you to consider the ways that not only these immigrants contribute to our scholarship and service, but to learn from the ways immigrants have done so throughout this country’s history.
Rachel Baum, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Hebrew Studies and Jewish Studies Deputy Director, Sam & Helen Stahl Center for Jewish Studies
Joel Berkowitz, Professor of Foreign Languages and Literature Director, Sam & Helen Stahl Center for Jewish Studies
Amos Bitzan, Weinstein Assistant Professor of Modern European Jewish History
Rachel Brenner, Weinstein-Bascom Professor of Jewish Studies
Shira Brisman, Assistant Professor, Art History
Rabbi David Brusin, Senior Lecturer, Hebrew and Jewish Studies
Rachel Buff, Professor of History; Director, Comparative Ethnic Studies Program
Teryl Dobbs, Professor of Music Education
Ivan Ermakoff, Professor of Sociology
Chad Goldberg, Professor of Sociology
Jeremy Hutton, Professor of Classical Hebrew Language and Biblical Literature
Lauren Lauter, Mosse/Weinstein Center for Jewish Studies Administrative Staff
Tracey Mason, Financial Specialist, Mosse/Weinstein Center for Jewish Studies
Steven Nadler, William H. Hay II Professor of Philosophy, Evjue-Bascom Professor of Humanities
Tasha Oren, Associate Professor of English and Media Studies
Anna Paretskaya, Lecturer, Sociology and Jewish Studies
Jordan Rosenblum, Belzer Professor of Classical Judaism
Simone Schweber, Michael and Judy Goodman Professor of Education and Jewish Studies Director, Mosse/Weinstein Center for Jewish Studies
Nadav Shelef, Harvey M. Meyerhoff Professor of Modern Israel Studies
Lisa Silverman, Associate Professor of History and Jewish Studies
Judith Sone, Associate Director, Mosse/Weinstein Center for Jewish Studies
Marc Tasman, Senior Lecturer, Journalism, Advertising, and Media Studies Coordinator, Digital Arts and Culture Program
Sunny Yudkoff, Assistant Professor of Eastern European Jewish Studies