The committee previously known as the Antisemitism Committee has changed its name to the Committee to Combat Antisemitism and Hate. This change more accurately reflects the mission and goals of the committee. We are working on developing programs affecting schools, including:
- primary schools to college campuses
- libraries
- entertainment
- our communities
Mission Statement
To provide education about antisemitism and hate in our community and across the United States; sharing information, education, and tools for congregants to use, in order to understand and respond to incidents of antisemitism and hate
Goals
The committee seeks to:
- explore what Antisemitism means, including the historical perspective
- address how to handle real-life situations in our schools, our communities, and our family and friendship circles
- promote a dialogue and discussion within BETC and among its relevant other committees
- provide speakers, information, and programs as to the steps that have been taken in Massachusetts, existing organizations, and materials
Programming
Programs provided since the inception of the committee include:
- a Zoom with BETC members about their concerns regarding incidents of Antisemitism (January 2023)
- a speaker from the American Jewish Committee (March 2024)
- a presentation and discussion about the Report of the Massachusetts Legislative Commission on Combatting Antisemitism (November 2025)
Please join us in upcoming discussions and programs! Reach out to us at:
Background
In 2022, following the Yom Kippur Study Hour during which the Ken Burns PBS series The US and The Holocaust was discussed, BETC members formed the BETC v. Hate Committee. In June 2023, the committee went to the board of trustees to seek and obtain approval to place a banner outside the temple that was provided by Robert Kraft’s Foundation to Combat Jewish Hate (now known as the Blue Square Alliance) and to distribute the blue square lapel pins.
In the summer of 2026, the committee changed its name to the Committee to Combat Antisemitism and Hate (CCAH).
Resources
- Massachusetts Special Commission on Combatting Antisemitism
- Blue Square Alliance (formerly known as the Foundation to Combat Jewish Hate)
- Hillel International
- Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP)
- Anti-Defamation League (ADL)
- American Jewish Committee (AJC)
- The Lappin Foundation
- Massachusetts Antisemitism Synagogue Task Force (MAST)
- Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston (JCRC)
- Union for Reform Judaism (URJ)
- Antisemitism: An American Tradition, by Professor Pamela S. Nadell, W. W. Norton & Company (2025)
- The U.S. and the Holocaust, by Ken Burns, Lynn Novick & Sarah Botstein (2022)
- The Final Solution to the Jewish Question: A Love Story for the Living; and People Love Dead Jews, by Dara Horn, author and founder and president of The Tell Institute
- Chai Mitzvah
- Institute for the Critical Study of Antizionism, Dr. Andrew Pessin, Connecticut College
- Responding to Questions and Disinformation about Israel (PDF)
