CAM Delegation Visits Nashville, Tennessee, to Bolster Community Relations

A Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) delegation visited Nashville, Tennessee, this past week for a series of meetings with local community leaders and activists.

Nashville, capital of the “Volunteer State,” is home to a dynamic Jewish community of around 12,000 people, the largest in Tennessee. Communal priorities include education and civic engagement.

Earlier this year, state legislation was passed in Tennessee endorsing the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism and banning the teaching of “antisemitic concepts.” This was the result of a concerted advocacy effort by engaged Tennesseans who wanted to see firm action taken against hatred and bigotry and help forge a better future of greater interfaith tolerance and harmony in the state.

The CAM delegation visit to Nashville was led by Nelson France, CAM Director of Partnerships and Development. Highlighting the agenda were consultations on rising Holocaust distortion, trivialization, and denial, including in the political realm, and the need to tailor Holocaust education programs at the state level to fight this troubling trend; promoting the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism; and creating interfaith and cross-cultural connections between the Jewish community and other groups.

Officials the delegation met with included Dr. Adam Bronstone, Director of Planning and Partnerships for the Jewish Federation of Nashville and Middle Tennessee and the Gordon JCC Nashville; Deborah Oleshansky, Director of the Nashville Jewish Community Relations Council; Alyssa Trachtman, Director of Operations for the Tennessee Holocaust Commission; Ken Gluck, Education Director for the Tennessee Holocaust Commission; Maureen Germain, Manager of Support Services for the Tennessee Holocaust Commission; Sheri Rosenberg, Director of Membership and Inclusion for Congregation Ohabai Sholom; Rabbi Shana Mackler and Rabbi Michael Danziger of Congregation Ohabai Sholom; and Rabbi Saul Strosberg, Director of Congregation Sherith Israel.

CAM is looking forward to continuing to strengthen partnerships and programing in the Southeast region of the United States, where Jewish communities have flourished for more than two centuries, with Jews long playing important roles in building a better society for all.