(RNS) — At least 100 rabbis and other Jewish leaders are expected to join the growing coalition of clergy, union leaders and community activists gathering in Minneapolis on Thursday (Jan. 22) and Friday to protest the massive show of force by federal immigration agencies in Minnesota in recent weeks.
The local Jewish community has already taken a key role in the resistance to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minneapolis, but last week’s killing of Renee Good, an American citizen fatally shot by an ICE agent, has mobilized rabbis across the country.
Two progressive Jewish activist organizations, T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights and Rabbis for Ceasefire, each plan to bring more than 40 rabbis to Minneapolis. National Jewish leaders, such as Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, the largest Jewish denomination in the U.S., are also expected.
Rabbi Jessica Rosenberg, a Minneapolis resident who is helping organize the Rabbis for Ceasefire delegation, said the broad representation of Jewish denominations is rare for a political event. “I have not seen people come together across this range before.”
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The response is so great that registration for an orientation for clergy planned for Thursday by a group called MARCH: Multifaith Anti Racism Change and Healing has been closed after about 600 clergy from all faiths signed up for …