Heritage Florida Jewish News - Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice

This has been a trying week for America.

As Americans, we are all wounded by the targeting of the police force in Dallas and the deaths in St. Paul and Baton Rouge. 

Now, I know a lot of you might ask, "What can I do?"

You can do a lot-right now, this weekend.

This weekend, it is on each of us to be a visible force in our communities for non-violence. Join together online, in your neighborhood, in your houses of worship, around your kitchen table. For all of you community leaders, use your platforms to heal and unite. Talk and listen, see and hear each other during this moment for our country that requires profound introspection and dialogue. To find helpful resources in your community, visit the Department of Justice's Community Relations Service at http://www.justice.gov/CRS.

For if not you, then whom? If not now, then when? (John E. Lewis, author)

In the days and weeks ahead, we'll continue offering our thoughts and prayers to provide comfort to the broken-hearted families. But they will only be redeemed by the courage of our actions that honor their memories.

I believe the Dallas Police Department is one of the finest in the nation-and this incredibly diverse city can bridge any divide. To paraphrase Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, let us use our words carefully. Let us act with unity, not division. As Dallas Police Chief David Brown-one of the leading chiefs in America-said, "there are no words to describe the atrocity that occurred to our city, all I know is that this must stop, this divisiveness between our police and our citizens."

This violence has to stop. It is not normal. And it is not who we are.

So while we're being tested, we can't be pulled apart.

We are America, with bonds that hold us together.

We endure, we overcome, we stand together.

Joe Biden

Vice President of the United States