Rabbis from four organizations announced Wednesday they will not conduct a High Holy Days call to the White House because of President Donald Trump's reaction after a deadly white supremacist rally.
The rabbis from the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the Rabbinical Assembly, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism issued a statement decrying "America's ongoing struggle with racism."
"We have concluded that President Trump's statements during and after the tragic events in Charlottesville [Virginia] are so lacking in moral leadership and empathy for the victims of racial and religious hatred that we cannot organize such a call this year," the rabbis wrote.
"The president's words have given succor to those who advocate anti-Semitism, racism, and xenophobia," they added.
"Responsibility for the violence that occurred in Charlottesville, including the death of Heather Heyer, does not lie with many sides but with one side: the Nazis, alt-right, and white supremacists who brought their hate to a peaceful community. They must be roundly condemned at all levels."
Trump faced criticism for blaming both sides for the violence in Charlottesville.
Rosh Hashanah, which celebrates the Jewish new year, begins Sept. 20, and Yom Kippur begins Sept. 29. Trump's daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner, and grandchildren, are Orthodox Jews.
The annual phone conversation between the rabbis and the president began under former President Barack Obama, according to The Washington Post.
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