NORTHAMPTON — Seven state legislators representing districts across Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden counties appeared together at Congregation B’Nai Israel in Northampton on Friday, answering questions on some key issues affecting the state as well as commenting on the coming 2024 presidential election.

The event was organized by the synagogue’s Tikkun Olam (Hebrew for “heal the world”) Committee, and has been held annually for the past 11 years. This year’s hybrid event drew more than 100 people attending both in person for the first time since the pandemic, and virtually.

The legislators who attended in person — state Sens. Jo Comerford and John Velis, along with state Reps. Lindsay Sabadosa, Dan Carey, Mindy Domb, Susannah Whipps and Natalie Blais — fielded several questions from members of the committee, which divides its legislative priorities into several areas of focus that are in keeping with the synagogue’s teachings of social justice. Topics this year included housing costs, reparations and nuclear disarmament.

Sara Weinberger, a member of the Tikkun Olam Committee, also read a statement condemning antisemitism and Islamophobia in the wake of the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, which has been ongoing since Oct. 7.

“It has been a traumatic awakening for our local Jewish community, as members of our congregations have been harassed, ridiculed and misjudged,” Weinberger said. “Many Jews now think twice about wearing a kippah or a Star of David, we worry about our children and fear for the future. And we grieve for the Palestinians, Muslims who are also targeted for hate in this country.”

When asked by committee member Joel Feldman about the rising costs of housing and the inequality between renters and landlords in legal representation, Velis was quick to condemn the practice of landlords who dramatically increase rent prices, calling it “reprehensible.”

“To say it’s asymmetrical would be a profound understatement,” said Velis, who serves on the Senate’s Joint Committee on Housing.

Though he said that there was support in the Legislature for tenants to have a right to counsel, he said that there was still debate on the issue of legalizing rent control. “I have heard from multiple people vehemently opposed and vehemently in support. And that’s where it’s at right now,” he said.

The legislators also were asked about the potential for statewide reparations legislation to address past racial harms. In western Massachusetts, both Amherst and Northampton have passed resolutions and formed commissions to explore reparations for Black residents.

Carey, who serves on the Legislature’s Joint Committee on the Judiciary, said the best way to pass such a bill would be to write to the judiciary committee’s chairs in support of creating a statewide commission, as well as providing a list of people who would be willing to serve and examples of other reparations efforts around the country.

“It’s definitely getting serious consideration in the community,” Carey said. “One of the benefits of an event like this is I’ll see the chairman next week and I’ll say, ‘Hey, I was in a room filled with people who love this idea.’”

Another item discussed was a recent Northampton resolution that calls on the federal government to lead a global effort to prevent nuclear war, and the potential to bring such a resolution at the state level. Comerford praised the initiative, saying it was an example of voters in the western half of the state making an impact.

“You are thinking and doing things that are not happening in Boston,” Comerford said. “The advocacy, the organizing, the moral call to action comes from here, comes from you all.”

After a question submitted by an audience member regarding the possibility of Donald Trump returning to the presidency, several of the legislators also weighed in on the 2024 presidential election.

Whipps, who was a member of the Republican Party until 2017, when the events of a far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia caused her to switch to being an independent, called Trump “the greatest threat to our democracy,” citing his actions on Jan. 6, 2021.

“That is beyond the pale as far as I’m concerned,” Whipps said. “I think somebody who takes that action and would send people to do his dirty work, to stop another branch of government, has completely overlooked the Constitution and the constitutional rights of the people.”

Velis, a Democrat who serves a more conservative district in the state, cautioned that opponents of Trump should not give in to the temptation to dehumanize his supporters, warning that doing so would only help put him back into office.

“We have to get back to humanizing those who disagree with us,” he said. “It is the most important thing we can do as human beings.”

Alexander MacDougall can be reached at amacdougall@gazettenet.com.