The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference.”
With this quotation from Elie Wiesel, Sen. Jamie Eldridge opened the Walk Against Hate Rally at Acton-Boxborough Regional High School at 2 PM on Sunday, October 15.
Sen. Eldridge, Rabbi Braham David, Reverend Eleanor Terry, Rabbi Jonah Steinberg, and Sukanuka Phoenix spoke of a series of hateful actions that have occurred in the local area over the past several years: anti-semitic graffiti, racism against Black and Muslim students, and efforts to ban LGBTQ books at the library.
The rally, planned since April 2023 by a number of local religious, educational, and civic groups, was a response to intolerance and prejudice.
With world events of early this month, the rally seemed even more poignant.
The sun cleared the heavy gray clouds to the south as the crowd headed out from the high school toward Gardner Field, a mile to the west. A giant “WALK AGAINST HATE” banner led the parade for the 2:30 start.
The breeze kept walkers cool, and a police escort kept them safe crossing and following Rt 111. Some 600 participants walked, scooted, or rode along the 20-minute route.
Strangers chatted with strangers, friends supported one another, and drivers beeped as they passed the parade. Volunteers wearing orange safety vests and blue and white “WALK AGAINST HATE” t-shirts and buttons, stood at corners or guided the crowd along the sidewalk.
Blue and white hand-held New England ADL placards advertising the walk with an appeal to “Join the Acton-Boxborough Community” and full-color “DIVERSITY IS STRENGTH” posters hovered above walkers.
Many people displayed hand-made signs pleading for peace: “In a World of Hate…Create a Legacy of HOPE.” “NO place for HATE.” “BLACK LIVES MATTER.” “HALT HATE.” “ACTON TENANTS OPPOSE HATE.” “LOVE NOT HATE.” Some wore shirts urging “PEACE” and “LOVE LOUD.”
The walk ended at the Gardner Field after 3:00 for song, snacks, and water refills as children moved to the structures at the playground.
At 3:30 Rep Simon Cataldo offered concluding remarks and began by saying, “I stand before you as a state representative, as a father. A husband. A son. But above all of those things, as a Jew. A descendant of Abraham. A tiny little speck in thousands of years in my people’s history.”
Cataldo spoke of the pain he was feeling since the massacre of Israelis by Hamas, but his message was not one of hate or revenge. Rather it was a call for social justice.
He spoke of learning the meaning of “tikkun olam” which requires all Jews to attempt to “repair the world.” Cataldo explained that, “the command of tikkun olam knows no color or creed or gender. That hate against any one group is a threat to all groups.”
He went on to note the “beautiful” diversity of the Acton community and spoke of the need for allies in the battle against hate. Specifically, Cataldo recognized the Acton-Boxborough school superintendent, Peter Light, as an ally for his thoughtful October 12 email which “…elicited fundamental truth and moral clarity.”
Cataldo’s final words were ones of community. “To those of you who are parents of Jewish children, and who worry, I’m with you. To the children who have seen swastikas on chalkboards in your schools, I’m with you. To the Muslim parents who think back to 9/11 and remember the hate that followed, and worry about your children, I’m with you. To the allies, I see you, and I’m with you. I’ll always be with you, for many reasons, but most of all, because I’m a Jew.”
The rally was sponsored by forty local organizations and planned by Congregation Beth Elohim in Acton, Church of the Good Shepherd, New England Anti-Defamation League, and Acton-Boxborough Regional School District’s Diversity Equity and Inclusion director.