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February 26, 2023

Chairman Smith, Vice-Chair Ballinger, Secretary Jasperse, and members of the House Rules Committee,

I am Rabbi Michael Rothbaum of Congregation Bet Haverim, an Atlanta Jewish congregation of 350 Jewish families and growing.  Our congregants love the state of Israel, but we also are moved by the Jewish call to pursue justice.  We believe that the best love is sometimes principled protest.

Thus, as a rabbi and Jewish Georgian, I urge you to oppose HB 30.  Codifying the non-legally binding International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism and it's contemporary examples has already led to wide misuse, and I am concerned that if it passed here in Georgia, it will do the same.

Many Jewish organizations, pro-Israel organizations, and civil rights organizations are opposed to IHRA's working definition and see and the dangers its poses in cases that are clearly undermining our fundamental freedoms.  As a Jewish leader who has a deep commitment to Jewish people, our safety, and to our rights and freedoms in the U.S. and specifically in the state of Georgia, it is clear that enshrining the IHRA definition into Georgia law will subject those who legitimately criticize Israel and advocate for Palestinian rights, to being called antisemitic.  

As Georgia legislators, I urge you to reject the oversimplification of antisemitism because it does little to dismantle it and because it will easily be abused as a way to undermine our first amendment rights as citizens.  Not only that, I believe our legislators should be protecting our constitutionally-protected speech and legitimate activism, rather than banning it.

Passing HB 30 will distract from identifying dangerous antisemitism and getting to its roots, and instead wrongfully target people for practicing their first amendment rights.

Below, you will see two opinion pieces from well-respected rabbinic colleagues, sharing many of these concerns.

Thank you for your time and attention.  Please let me know if it would be useful to discuss this matter further. 

Sincerely,

Rabbi Michael Rothbaum

Facebook: rabbimike

Twitter: @rav_mike

Office: 404-315-6446

Mobile: 770-863-8507

Pronouns: he/him/his

“This is no time for neutrality. We Jews cannot remain aloof or indifferent. We, too, are either ministers of the sacred or slaves of evil.” (Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel)