Five Towns, Valley Stream, the Rockaways join forces for CommUnity Coalition

After three months of weekly meetings this summer to build stronger ties among several diverse institutions and organizations, the newly created CommUnity Coalition of the Five Towns, Valley Stream and the Rockaways held its coming-out party with a 40-vehicle motorcade on Sept. 30 that traveled from the Five Towns Community Center to the Marion & Aaron Gural JCC’s Harrison-Kerr Family Campus, both in Lawrence.

The newest group to attack the social problems that at times leave ethnic and religious groups working in opposition, rather than collaboration, to try to solve them includes the community center and its Gammy’s Pantry; the Irving Place Minyan, in Woodmere; the Islamic Center of the Five Towns, in Hewlett; the Malverne Jewish Center; the Gural JCC; the Nassau County Office of Asian American Affairs; the Simon Wiesenthal Center, in Los Angeles; St. John’s Baptist Church, in Inwood; Valley Stream Presbyterian Church and Young Israel of Hewlett.

Representatives of the new coalition said that it was founded in response to the nationwide unrest caused by police shootings of Black people, the protests that sometimes turned into riots and a recognition, according to a statement, that “stronger bonds needed to be established between the various populations living side by side in the same neighborhoods.”

“We are looking to build meaningful relationships between various segments of our eclectic community,” said K. Brent Hill, executive director of the community center. “The impetus was the murder of George Floyd that started the conversation. We’re thankful that a lot of the social upheaval has not happened here.”

Hill said the coalition wants to promote one-to-one communication to learn what different groups have in common instead of just noting their differences as they remain in what he called “silos.” The challenge, magnified during a pandemic, is how to build bridges and forge relationships. In the short term, he said, there could be virtual concerts or a sharing of literature, and in the future, a unity day.

“In a world that seems to be increasingly splintering apart, it is important that we start to see and understand each other,” Rabbi Aaron Feigenbaum, of the Irving Place Minyan, said in a statement. “We have found that we have a lot in common, and I hope we can share that understanding and camaraderie with many others.”

Aaron Rosenfeld, the Gural JCC’s chief executive officer, said that the coalition is aiming to bring together Blacks, Latinos, Orthodox Jews and others from public and private schools that are not otherwise engaged with one another to create educational opportunities that will produce more inclusivity, respect and understanding. “I think it’s about having the right people around the table,” Rosenfeld said.

A six-year member of Irving Place Minyan, Tanya Green is a founder member and serving as chairwoman of the coalition. She said that her short-term goal was accomplished as the group met through the summer.

“My long-term goal would be to bring programming to the local schools and really teach the children about each other’s cultures and foster a deeper understanding that erases generalizations and stereotypes that cause racism, anti-Semitism and bigotry,” said Green, an English teacher for 19 years who teaches at Brooklyn Technical High School.   

In addition to racial unrest, there has also been a recent increase in anti-Semitism. In 2019 there were more than 2,100 incidents of assault, harassment and vandalism against the Jewish community in the U.S., the most since 1979, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

Michael Cohen, the eastern director of the Wiesenthal Center, said that in his view, the best way to combat anti-Semitism — or ethnic hatred of any kind — is by “bringing people together, increasing dialogue and education, bringing about inter-communal understanding, and ensuring a sincere sense of mutual respect.”

“With its global reach, we believe that the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s experience and educational resources can be very helpful in providing tested physical tools that can help advance the rightfully ambitious goals of this extraordinary group of dedicated partners,” Cohen said, “and we aim to support the coalition’s efforts anywhere we can have a needed and positive impact.”

Reflects an addition from Tanya Green that was not in the newspaper story.