Welcome to Jewish Community & Friends for Democracy

Our Responsibility

"If you see prejudice, if you see antisemitism, you speak out and speak out about it explicitly. Don't talk about hate in general. We're all against hate in general, but call it out for what it is."

— Deborah Lipstadt
Biden Administration Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism

Horseshoe Theory: Right-Wing and Left-Wing Antisemitism

"I talk about a horseshoe. If you think about a horseshoe, the two ends meet together and often are magnetized and attracted to one another. It's a question of extremism. Very few prejudices come from different ends of the political spectrum, virtually none. They're either one side or the other, but they're not coming from both. And here, they come from both, they share the same template, because the antisemitic template is so old and so malleable, and they share that extremism."

Read full quote →

The Warning Sign

"The appearance of antisemitism is always an early warning sign of a dangerous dysfunction within a culture, because the hate that begins with Jews never ends with Jews."

— Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks
Chief Rabbi, United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth (London)
The Power of Ideas, p. 48

Who We Are

Our group, Jewish Community and Friends for Democracy, is a grass roots group in the western suburbs who have come together out of concerns regarding dramatically increasing antisemitism on the Left as well as the Right and the implications of burgeoning hate and division in the movement to protect democracy.

Our first focus was to inform a broader community in District 7 regarding the Congressional race candidates’ positions on the issues of deepest concern to us, including antisemitism awareness, community safety, Zionism/antizionism and positions regarding Israel. See our archived evaluations.

Our Spring 2026 focus has been on a Oak Park Township-specific effort to put a discriminatory measure calling for a Boycott/Divest/Sanction of Israel (and Israeli or Israeli-connected individuals and businesses) referendum to be placed before voters in November. This BDS strategy presented major distraction from Oak Park Township’s business, which does not include any foreign affairs issues, let alone ones that involve Middle Eastern policies. The misleading BDS referendum stoked division in our community at a time when we need to be supporting democracy and inclusion, so that all of our voices are counted and valued.

Fortunately, our community and friends rallied together: on April 28, the measure was roundly defeated on a vote of 132 in favor and 354 opposed. Thank you to all who came out to support and protect our community.

Antisemitism Awareness

We call on our political leaders to address the rise of antisemitism on the Left as well as the Right. We aim to educate those who seek to lead, protect and strengthen our democracy and build a better world for all people as to the threat antisemitism poses to Jews and non-Jews alike. We also work to educate our own community about leaders who represent our values as well as concerns about leaders who do not.