On December 4 in New York City, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice organized a powerful action on the Upper West Side. Hundreds marched, many other Jewish organizations offered support, and twenty seven people, including four rabbis, were arrested after demonstrators blocked traffic. Responding to requests from their allies in the #ThisStopsToday Coalition, they called for justice for Eric Garner and an end to broken windows policing.
The demonstrators recited the Mourners’ Kaddish for lives lost at the hands of police:
JOIN Seminary Leadership Project alum Rabbi Anne Lewis joined with other clergy and the organizing group POWER to speak out against police violence last weekend in Philadelphia.
Rabbi Lewis serves as a rabbi at the Germantown Jewish Center.
There are actions calling for an end to police violence being planned all around the country for Tuesday, December 16, the first night of Hanukkah. You can read more about them and find one near you on the Hanukkah Action website and with the #ChanukahAction hashtag.
We are so proud of the role that JOIN played in this social justice campaign. Many Jewish Organizing Fellows and alumni worked on this bill over the years.
One JOIN alumna organizing for earned sick time was Erica Rothschild. Today Erica continues her work with JALSA, the Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action, after finishing her Jewish Organizing Fellowship there earlier this year.
Jewish Organizing alumni Bess Beller-Levesque and Erica Rothschild smile after voting, knowing that in just hours earned sick time will finally be a reality for Massachusetts workers.
“This was important to me because everyone gets sick,” said Erica, reflecting on her work on the campaign. “It might be once in ten years, it might be once every two months, but we are all human with only so much control. Pretty much every fight in the social justice world is about recognizing people’s humanity. This effort moved us a little bit closer to the world as it should be, one that treats people with dignity, compassion, and rights.”
Many congratulations to all the JOIN alumni and organizers across the state who made this ballot measure a reality — and who made a difference for hundreds of thousands of low and middle income workers and their families!
Check out earned sick time coverage from the Boston Globe and WBUR.
JOIN alumnus Rabbi Adam Baldachin calls for fairness in the East Ramapo, New York school district. Photo courtesy New City Patch
There is a crisis in East Ramapo, New York schools, and the newly-formed Rockland Clergy for Social Justice has been making an impact as the interfaith groups fights for a more just public education system.
Active in the group is a JOIN Seminary Leadership Project alumna, Rabbi Adam Baldachin of the Montebello Jewish Center. Rabbi Adam has been outspoken in his support of the students and a more equitable school system in Rockland County.
“Our school district’s leadership has not responded to the diverse needs of our district’s students,” said Rabbi Adam in a state senate press conference this year. “My support of these students is based on the principles of justice, freedom and opportunity.”
Rabbi Adam has worked alongside Rabbi Jeffrey Abraham and Ariella Rosen, two other JOIN for Justice Seminary Leadership Project alumni, in this powerful interfaith group. Their work to hold the governor accountable has resulted in his administration appointing a fiscal monitor for this district that has seen cuts to athletics, band, interpreters, special education and more. Rockland Clergy for Social Justice is a grassroots group of rabbis, ministers, pastors and Muslim leaders from Rockland County and nearby communities serving as “a rational voice of grassroots leadership from the community, a voice of Christian, Jews and Muslims in the midst of confusion and disarray.”
“Bringing a community organizing approach to the crisis in East Ramapo meant that I recognized the power of bringing voices of clergy together committed to searching out a just and equitable solution to a broken system of governance, which inhibits thousands of children from a fair and decent education,” Adam told JOIN this week.
On April 30 the Rockland Clergy for Social Justice held a press conference at the state Senate. Rabbi Adam begins speaking at 3:50. Watch the entire press conference:
JOIN for Justice is currently training rabbinical students and clergy in community organizing through our Seminary Leadership Project and our Clergy Network, providing direct education in leadership and organizing and facilitating mentorship and internships. We are committed to training the next generation of religious Jewish leaders to fill synagogues across the country as well as other Jewish institutions with clergy who understand how to build thriving communities based on relationships and common purpose.
We are delighted to let you know that JOIN has been selected as one of the country’s top innovative Jewish organizations! For the second year in a row!
Released today, the 10th annual Slingshot Guide names JOIN as one of the top 82 innovative Jewish organizations in the United States. Selected from among hundreds of finalists reviewed by over 100 professionals with expertise in grantmaking and Jewish life, the Guide noted, “JOIN has been at the forefront of enabling the Jewish community to learn, embrace, and enact the powerful tool of community organizing.“
Rabbi Elan Babchuck, pictured in the video below, is an alumnus of our Seminary Leadership Project and a rabbi at Temple Emanu-El in Providence, Rhode Island. He recorded a message for the Slingshot Guide this year, and in it he said, “Your support of JOIN for Justice makes it possible for people like me in places like this all around the country to make real change and build real community in the real world.
We can’t thank our community enough for all you have done to get JOIN to where we are today! Together we are ensuring that our Jewish leaders are working in that space where community organizing, social justice and Jewish life intersect to build a more just world.
