On May 9th, from the pulpit of the Islamic Society of Norman, a sermon was delivered in which Jews were described as “cowardly,” “backstabbing,” and inherently disloyal. The speaker called for “Allah to give them what they deserve”—an invocation that can only be understood as an endorsement of destruction and violence against the Jewish people. These words, spoken from a place meant to uplift the soul, did the opposite. They echoed ancient lies—lies with long shadows—that have too often prepared the way for violence.

This is not an abstract concern. It is deeply personal. It is not about politics. It is about pain.

We carry with us the stories of previous generations—people who were exiled, scapegoated, and murdered simply for being Jewish. The language used in that sermon is the same language that greeted our people in the ghettos of Europe, in the courtrooms of Inquisition Spain, in the streets of Charlottesville, at the doors of synagogues in Pittsburgh and Poway, and last night outside a museum in DC.

We do not write these words in anger. We write them in sorrow.

We are Jews. We pray to a God who asks us to remember—not just our suffering, but the suffering of others. We are commanded to pursue peace and to love our neighbors. We do not believe in permanent enemies. We believe in the possibility of teshuvah—of return, of repair.

That belief is what compels us now to speak clearly: this sermon was a desecration of moral responsibility. It demands condemnation. Not for the sake of politics or public image, but for the sake of truth and human decency.

We call on the leadership of the Islamic Society of Norman to address what was said—not with defensiveness, but with courage. The kind of courage that says: “This is not who we are. This is not what we believe.”

We know that many in Oklahoma’s Muslim community reject antisemitism and have stood beside us in moments of need. We honor that. We ask you to stand with us now because hate is poison, and the vessel it enters first is rarely the last it touches.

To our fellow Oklahomans of every faith and background: this is your moment, too. To say that we are one state, one people, and that there is no place here for the oldest hatred.

In Jewish tradition, we are taught: “The world stands on three things—on judgement, on truth, and on peace.” May we all be worthy of those three pillars. And may this painful moment become, in time, a bridge—not a breaking point.