To Governor Murphy and members of the New Jersey Assembly:

We write with profound concern about a recent report that legislation that would have New Jersey adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism was scuttled due to concerns that supporters would face primary challenges. This is a deeply troubling failure of leadership that places political calculations above the safety of the Jewish population. As the Jewish Federations of New Jersey stated, “This decision was a capitulation to political convenience over the fair treatment and protection of hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans.”

The Jewish community is facing surging antisemitism that we never thought possible in America. A recent NJ.com special report titled New Jersey Jews are living in fear detailed “a tidal wave of intimidation, harassment and threats” and stated that “Over the past two years, Jews in New Jersey have been beaten, harassed and threatened. Bomb threats have been made. Calls for genocide have been shouted on suburban streets.” The report notes that New Jersey had the highest number of antisemitic incidents per capita in the nation in 2024, and that  “The state itself is also tracking a spike in anti-Jewish assaults, vandalism and other bias incidents since 2022, according to its own data.

They include an attempted firebombing of a Bloomfield synagogue. A man who attacked a security guard after entering a Teaneck Jewish school during Purim. And a one-man antisemitic crime spree in which an Ocean County resident stabbed an Orthodox man in the chest, carjacked and assaulted a driver, and then ran down two pedestrians in Lakewood and Jackson, later telling police that Jews were ‘the real devils.’”

Already in 2026 demonstrators have gathered outside Jewish institutions to support Hamas’ murder of Jews, and a synagogue has been burned. Now is not the time to play politics with our safety.

The terror attack at Bondi Beach in Australia represents only the most recent example of the lethal consequences of ignoring such hate. That case serves as an urgent reminder that without clarity around what constitutes Jew-hatred, our institutions, campuses, workplaces, and public spaces lose the tools they need to recognize and address it. This is why adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism is urgent. 

Prioritizing politics over antisemitism signals that Jewish safety is negotiable and subjects our community to further cases of harassment and violence. Therefore, we call on our political leaders in New Jersey to immediately revisit and pass legislation that adopts the IHRA definition of antisemitism, and applies that definition to training, education, and hate-crime response systems.

1. Rabbi Daniel Cohen, South Orange, New Jersey

2. Rabbi Matthew Gewirtz, Short Hills, New Jersey

3. Rabbi David-Seth Kirshner, Closter, New Jersey

4. Rabbi E. Samuel Klibanoff, Livingston, New Jersey

5. Rabbi Daniel Alter, Englewood, New Jersey

6. Rabbi Avi Friedman, Summit, New Jersey

7. Rabbi Andrew Schultz, Freehold, New Jersey

8. Rabbi Joseph Soffer, Deal, New Jersey

9. Rabbi Paul Kerbel, Cranford, New Jersey

10. Cantor Lucy Fishbein, Short Hills, New Jersey

11. Rabbi Ike Hanon, Oakhurst, New Jersey

12. Rabbi Robert Tobin, West Orange, New Jersey

13. Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin, Montclair, New Jersey

14. Rabbi Michael Jay, Spray Beach, New Jersey

15. Rabbi Philip Goldwasser, Highland Park, New Jersey

16. Rabbi Kerry Olitzky, North Brunswick Township, New Jersey

17. Rabbi Gary Gans, Marlton, New Jersey

18. Rabbi Renee Edelman, Tinton Falls, New Jersey

19. Rabbi Ronald Roth, Fair Lawn, New Jersey

20. Rabbi Cathy Felix, Teaneck, New Jersey

21. Rabbi Joshua Greenbaum, Warren, New Jersey

22. Rabbi David Schlusselberg, Fair Lawn, New Jersey

23. Rabbi James Proops, Livingston, New Jersey

24. Rabbi Howard Tilman, Scotch Plains, New Jersey

25. Rabbi Arnold S. Gluck, Hillsborough, New Jersey

26. Rabbi Ellie Miller, Morristown, New Jersey

27. Rabbi Joshua Lobel, New Brunswick, New Jersey

28. Rabbi Eliezer Zwickler, West Orange, New Jersey

29. Rabbi Robert Wolkoff, North Brunswick, New Jersey

30. Rabbi Arthur Weiner, Paramus, New Jersey

31. Cantor Gabrielle Clissold, Tinton Falls, New Jersey

32. Rabbi Shmuel Goldin, Englewood, New Jersey

33. Rabbi William Gershon, Toms River, New Jersey

34. Rabbi Erin Glazer, Summit, New Jersey

35. Rabbi Marc Katz, Bloomfield, New Jersey

36. Rabbi Josh Goldstein, New Providence, New Jersey

37. Rabbi Victor Appell, Westfield, New Jersey

38. Rabbi Laurence Groffman, Cedar Grove, New Jersey

39. Rabbi Cyril Stanway, Ocean Township, New Jersey

40. Rabbi Alan Silverstein, Caldwell, New Jersey

41. Rabbi Jonathan Falco, Manalapan, New Jersey

42. Rabbi Moshe Rudin, Parsippany, New Jersey

43. Rabbi Yishai Abrams, Livingston, New Jersey

44. Rabbi Eric Yaakov Traiger, Passaic, New Jersey

45. Rabbi Karen Glazer Perolman, Short Hills, New Jersey

46. Rabbi Elliot Mathias, West Orange, New Jersey

47. Rabbi Elliot Schrier, Teaneck, New Jersey

48. Rabbi Barry Schwartz, Leonia, New Jersey

49. Rabbi Douglas Sagal, Park Ridge, New Jersey

50. Rabbi Shelley Kniaz, Teaneck, New Jersey

51. Rabbi Gerald Zelizer, Metuchen, New Jersey

52. Rabbi Philip Bazeley, Highland Park, New Jersey

53. Rabbi Jeremy Ruberg, Closter, New Jersey

54. Rabbi Ned Soltz, Teaneck, New Jersey

55. Rabbi Esther Reed, New Brunswick, New Jersey

56. Rabbi Bruce Block, Englewood, New Jersey

57. Rabbi David Glicksman, West Orange, New Jersey

58. Rabbi Steven Kushner, Jersey City, New Jersey

59. Rabbi Leana Moritt, Jersey City, New Jersey

60. Rabbi Andrew Markowitz, Fair Lawn, New Jersey

61. Rabbi Zev Reichman, Englewood, New Jersey

62. Rabbi Eliezer Rubin, Livingston, New Jersey

63. Rabbi Loren Monosov, Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey

64. Rabbi Aryeh Wielgus, Bergenfield, New Jersey

65. Rabbi Ellen Wolintz-Fields, Ocean Township, New Jersey

66. Rabbi Emily Losben-Ostrov, Scotch Plains, New Jersey

67. Rabbi Marc Spivak, West Orange, New Jersey

68. Rabbi Joseph Prouser, Teaneck, New Jersey

69. Rabbi Amy Small, Morristown, New Jersey

70. Rabbi Ari Zucker, Livingston, New Jersey

71. Rabbi Stephen Wylen, Wayne, New Jersey

72. Rabbi Michael Pont, Marlboro Township, New Jersey

73. Rabbi Randall Mark, Wayne, New Jersey

74. Rabbi Ron Isaacs, Bridgewater, New Jersey

75. Rabbi Melinda Panken, Manalapan, New Jersey

76. Rabbi David Englander, Voorhees, New Jersey

77. Rabbi Rachel Steiner, Franklin Lakes, New Jersey

78. Rabbi Larry Brandspiegel, East Brunswick, New Jersey

79. Rabbi Steven Sirbu, Teaneck, New Jersey

80. Rabbi David Vaisberg, Livingston, New Jersey

81. Rabbi Paul Resnick, Teaneck, New Jersey

82. Rabbi Elie Abadie, Long Branch, New Jersey

83. Rabbi Micah Peltz, Cherry Hill, New Jersey

84. Rabbi Inna Serebro Litvak, Succasunna, New Jersey

85. Rabbi Jay M. Kornsgold, East Windsor, New Jersey

86. Rabbi Joel Roth, Englewood, New Jersey

87. Rabbi Jeremy Donath, Fair Lawn, New Jersey

88. Rabbi Charles Kroloff, Westfield, New Jersey

89. Rabbi Eliza Scheffler, Franklin Lakes, New Jersey

90. Rabbi Simeon Cohen, Livingston, New Jersey

91. Rabbi Ronald William Kaplan, Warren, New Jersey

92. Rabbi Ari Isenberg, Millburn, New Jersey

93. Rabbi Gabe Cohen, Closter, New Jersey

94. Rabbi Daniel Alter, Bergenfield, New Jersey

95. Rabbi Shalom Baum, Teaneck, New Jersey

96. Cantor Alan Sokoloff, Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey

97. Rabbi Ethan Prosnit, Westfield, New Jersey

98. Rabbi Charles R. Lightner, Westfield, New Jersey