We are writing to express our appreciation for the leaders of the Sephardic Community Alliance (SCA) who have demonstrated their courage and integrity in standing by their values of Torah, halakha, respectful discourse, and the flourishing and continuity of our Syrian Sephardic community.

We are members of a community which is united around shared values but still contains diversity of thought and opinion. We join in solidarity in support of Rabbi Joseph Dweck regarding the recent controversy. We may not all agree with everything Rabbi Dweck expressed - but we know him to be a teacher of Torah with deep integrity, knowledge of Jewish tradition and love for Klal Israel.

The current situation, wherein character assassination, misrepresentations, and misconstrued contexts has constituted a majority of the responses rather than honest, open, and sensitive discussion is disheartening and reflective of a most unfortunate climate in our community. Young people in our community are thirsty for Torah learning which is engaged with the world, sensitive, uncompromising on halakha, yet treats all individuals with dignity and respect. For the past ten years the SCA has been a brave champion of the open and honest learning of Torah. We implore the leaders of this organization to stand strong behind Rabbi Dweck and continue to invite him to share his Torah with our community. By doing so, we can truly follow in the tradition of our forefathers, who valued education, free thought, civil discourse, and respect despite differences of opinion or ideology.

We write to you today to commit our unwavering support to this tireless endeavor and in the hopes that the SCA will continue to do so, as it has done, even in the face of tremendous adversity.