UCA Replies to Jewish Community

Posted on By UCA Admin

UCA Replies to Letter from Jewish Community​

Haipei Shue, President of UCA, meeting with David Bernstein, President of JPCA

The current racist challenge the Chinese American community is facing has become more wide-spreading than the notorious coronavirus, and Jewish American community has been alert to this situation and expressed sympathy. The Jewish Council of Public Affairs (JCPA) released a letter of solidarity, jointly issued by 75 organizations, to the Chinese community against the plague. Today, UCA issued a formal response expressing heartfelt gratitude and looking forward for unity.

JCPA President David Bernstein contacted UCA President Xue Haipei to expressed his concern about the current situation of the Chinese community, and said that he stood firmly with the Chinese community and opposed any form of discrimination and stigma. On Monday evening, the two leaders met to exchange greetings and discuss the prospects for solidarity and cooperation between the Chinese and Jewish communities. Bernstein expressed his appreciation for UCA’s mission, values, and everything that has been done over the years. He believes that our two communities need to further strengthen cooperation and work together to cope with the difficulties.

Mr. Bernstein happily accepted Xue Haipei’s invitation and will join other Jewish organizations to participate in the third U.S. Chinese Congress held by UCA in Las Vegas this year, and discuss with our members the two communities together. Issues of concern.

Following the 2018 Tree of Life Synagogue shooting, under the auspices of UCA, more than a hundred organizations in the Chinese-American community issued a joint open letter to the Jewish community expressing sympathy and support. In the history we have traveled together, Chinese and Jewish people have a deep and close relationship, not only in the United States, but also in other parts of the world. Going forward, our two communities will continue to lead the societies and cultures that live and prosper together, and work together to heal and build the world together.

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Dear Chairman Fromm of JCPA,
President and CEO Bernstein of JCPA,
The 75 Jewish Organizations, 
And the Larger Jewish Community:

Shalom Aleichem.

We have received your letter last week from 75 Jewish organizations. Thank you, our Jewish brothers and sisters, for your solidarity with our community at this difficult time. Your words and action have warmed our heart and lifted our spirit!

Needless to say, the Chinese American community has lately been going through a lot: from a worrisome US-China confrontation, to a worsening atmosphere for our civil rights and civil liberty, and now to this coronavirus crisis. You have given us a warm and extended hand when we need it most, right now. Thank you!

A Chinese proverb says that crisis or suffering tells who is your real friend. Historically, our two communities have been so close and intimately bonded that we feel like being close cousins, which we sometimes take for granted. With so much of the world in trouble and uncertain change, including our own society, this friendship and solitarily is even more needed and reassuring. 

I’m reminded of a time when the tables were turned, and it was the Chinese community in New York that came to the aid of its Jewish brethren. The year was 1903, and many Jews had been killed and injured in the infamous Kishinev pogrom in Russia. There’s a short article about it in the Forward here.

When the tragic Pittsburg synagogue shooting happened in 2018, United Chinese Americans (UCA), a leading national coalition with chapters and partners in over 30 states, has sprung into action and led a nationwide letter drive, co-signed by over one hundred Chinese American organizations, showing our solidarity with the Jewish community. 

This is a trying time for us all. What happens with the coronavirus crisis has, once again, demonstrated that we are all so vulnerable, so connected and so interdependent. It demonstrated, once again, that in order for us all to survive, let alone thrive, we must come together and fight for our common destiny and common humanity!

Let our two communities  work together as an example of how different communities can live and thrive together. 

Let us heal and repair the world together! B’ezrat HaShem

Warmly, 

Haipei Shue
President 

Xiaoyan Zhang 
Chairman 

United Chinese Americans (UCA)

尊敬的JPCA主席Fromm、
会长及总裁Bernstein、
75个犹太组织及广大犹太社区：

愿你平安。

上周我们收到了来自75个犹太组织的来信。感谢我们的犹太兄弟姐妹们在这个困难时期对我们社区的声援。你们的话语和行动温暖了我们的心、提振了我们的精神！

不用说，华裔美国人社区最近经历了很多事情：从令人担忧的中美对抗，到我们的公民权利和公民自由的恶化气氛，再到这次冠状病毒危机。当我们最需要时，您已经向我们伸出了热情的援手。谢谢你们！

中国谚语说，患难知真交。从历史上看，我们两个社区是如此密切地联系在一起，以至于我们对彼此之间的亲情有时视为理所当然。由于世界上有如此多的麻烦和不确定的变化，包括我们自己的社会，这种友谊和团结变得更加需要和令人欣慰。

我想起在一个角色互掉的历史时刻，1903年，许多犹太人在臭名昭著的俄罗斯基希涅夫（Kishinev pogrom）反犹浩劫中被杀及受伤，正是纽约的华人社区帮助了犹太人，体现了手足之情。

在2018年发生了悲惨的匹兹堡犹太教堂枪击案时，由30多个州的分会和合作伙伴组成的美国华人联合会（UCA）迅速采取行动，并发起了由一百多个全美华裔组织联合签名的公开信，表示我们对犹太社区的声援。

如今对我们所有人来说都是艰难的时刻，冠状病毒危机所发生的一切再次证明，我们都是如此脆弱、如此联结、如此相互依存。它再次表明，为了我们所有人健康生存、茁壮成长，我们必须团结起来，为我们的共同命运和共同的人类而奋斗！

让我们两个社区一起工作，以作为不同社区如何共同生活和繁荣的示例。

让我们一起治愈和修复世界！

赞美上帝

衷心的，

薛海培会长
张小彦主席

美国华人联合会（UCA）