Inside the Activists’ Studio 2012: Finding Your Voice in a Global Movement

Sunday, May 20th, 3 PM – 8 PM
2:30 PM Registration
The Elisabeth Irwin High School
40 Charlton St, Greenwich Village, New York, NY

$8-$18 Sliding Scale

Join us to learn from and be energized by local Jewish change-makers and to celebrate the multitude of ways we are working to create a more just world. (more…)

[Video] Siach: A Jewish Conversation on Social Justice

Siach, an Environment and Social Justice Conversation, brings together committed activists from across Israel, North America, and Europe. The following video, produced by Leadel, is from the first conference held last year.

While on a big mission, like when you go out to repair the world, you sometimes forget why you’re doing whatever it is you’re doing. Yet, without the meaning of the cause your mission may loose its goal. When we got a chance to talk to some big Doers on the mission about their goals it was truly inspiring. (more…)

Incorporating Social Justice into Jewish Education

This panel discussion was recorded at JESNA’s Enriching LIFE Fellowship seminar in July 2011, featuring guest speakers from Hazon, Repair the World, The American Jewish World Service, and AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps. Speaking behalf of Hazon, is Judith Belasco,  Director of Programs.

(more…)

Videos from Siach

Siach: An Environment and Social Justice Conversation is a network of activists and professionals in the Jewish community from the USA, Israel, and the UK. These video clips were produced in partnership with Leadel: Leading Jewish Inspiration during the first Siach Conference, May 15-18, 2011, at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center in Falls Village, CT, documenting the inspiring conversations that took place.

(more…)

Applications for 2nd Annual Siach Conference Now Open

WHAT: A unique opportunity to meet, share and collaborate with fellow social justice and environment activists from across the Jewish world. Siach, an Environment and Social Justice Conversation, brings together committed activists from across Israel, North America, and Europe. Supported by the UJA Federation of New York, with anchors in the US, Israel and Great Britain, and scores of member organizations, Siach is deepening the nuanced understanding of Jewish Peoplehood and Israel engagement with those for whom the pursuit of social and environmental justice is one of the defining characteristics of their identity.

WHERE: The second annual Siach conference will take place in Ohalo Manor Hotel, on the Kinneret in Israel. (more…)

Care to Share Gathers Over One Ton of Food

Originally posted in UJA Federation’s news.

Try to picture 3.3 million grains of rice. If that’s too challenging, you could also visualize 200,000 grapes, 35,000 eggs, 4,000 pomegranates, 440 watermelons, or 220 pumpkins. Each of these quantities of food weighs a solid ton, which is the amount of fresh produce collected during UJA-Federation’s first annual Care to Share fresh food drive in conjunction with Met Council, Hazon, and AmeriCorps. (more…)

Care to Share

UJA-Federation of New York — in collaboration with Met Council, AmeriCorps, and Hazon — invite you to participate in our first annual Care to Share citywide and volunteer fresh produce drive.

Care to Share will take place from Monday, October 3 – Tuesday, October 18, 2011, encouraging volunteers to symbolically fulfill the Jewish custom of gleaning, a custom tied to the harvest season and the Sukkot period. Traditionally, farmers leave the four corners of their fields unharvested so the needy can glean from the fields with dignity. (more…)

Food Conference Round Up

Sustainable meat preparation at the 2010 Hazon Food Conference West.

The 6th annual Food Conference begins this Thursday in sunny Davis, California. We wanted to take a moment to pull together all the wonderful things going on in the world in preparation.

• Daniel Infeld notes the momentum around the food movement and highlights Hazon’s Food Values taken into consideration when planning an event, program, or meeting on The Jew and the Carrot. Nadia Schreiber highlights how trendy DIY shechting has become and where it’s happening. Can the Food Conference take credit for starting this one? (more…)

Chewing on Food Justice: Fruits of Our Labor

Everyone’s talking about “food justice” these days, but what is it – really? What are all the pieces at play? How do they all connect? In what ways does “food justice” reflect our Jewish social justice values? And what are the best ways to plug in and take action?

Whether this conversation is new or familiar to you, we hope you’ll join us for Chewing on Food Justice, a break down of our broken down global food system.

Chewing on Food Justice: Fruits of Our Labor

Join us for the third session of the series to learn about workers rights across the food chain. While food workers are some of the most exploited workers in the global economy, they are also leading up some of the most creative and effective organizing campaigns to improve their conditions and bring about a truly fair food economy. Their struggles remind us that a sustainable food system can only be achieved when the people harvesting, packaging, preparing, and serving our food are treated with respect. Our Jewish values demand it and our collective moral compass

compels us to work toward it. Come and learn about some of their dynamic efforts and find out how you, too, can help bring us all one step closer to real sustainability.
WHEN: Monday, August 15th, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
WHERE: Town and Village Synagogue

ADDRESS: 334 East 14th Street (map)
COST: Free
RSVP (encouraged) at Pursue’s Website

Invite your friends: Through facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=225410837502437

A light kosher meal will be served (certified by the Tav HaYosher)

Confirmed Presenters:

Daniel Gross – Founding director, Brandworkers / Board member, Food Chain Workers Alliance

Ari Hart – Co-founder and executive board member, Uri L’Tzedek

Mae Singerman – Co-founding member, Community / Farmworker Alliance

Others TBA

The first session of this series, “What on Earth is Food Justice?” featured the Brooklyn Food Coalition’s general coordinator, Nancy Romer. The second event, Chewing on Food Justice: Got Access? unpacked questions related to food sovereignty and democracy. Stay tuned for info about a final event in the early fall on the upcoming Farm Bill re-authorization.

This series is hosted by Pursue: Action for a Just World and co-sponsored by Hazon, Uri L’Tzedek, the Brooklyn Bridge CSA, and Jews for Racial and Economic Justice.

170 Jewish Social Justice Leaders to Meet With Obama Administration

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

170 Jewish Social Justice Leaders to Meet with Obama Administration

Washington, D.C.; July 27, 2011—On Friday, July 29^th, 170 representatives of organizations that are part of the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable (JSJRT) will travel to the White House for a policy briefing to exchange ideas on housing, healthcare, food justice and education. The JSJRT is a group of 21 nonprofit organizations promoting economic and social justice as a core tenet of Jewish life.

“Many people think the Jewish community has only one message to bring to Washington and it’s about Israel,” said Rabbi Jennie Rosenn, director of the Jewish Life and Values Program of the Nathan Cummings Foundation, which funds the JSJRT. “In reality, the Jewish community is deeply involved in issues of social justice here and around the globe. We are so pleased to have been invited to discuss these issues with the White House staff as we work to create a more just world.”

Some participants are eager to tell White House officials about the public housing tenants in Chicago who teamed up with local organizations to renovate hundreds of uninhabitable apartments for low-income residents. Others want the Administration to hear how a Jewish community member with life-threatening brain cancer struggled to get adequate health insurance. When she had to take a leave of absence from her job, she was denied workers’ compensation because her cancer was a pre-existing condition. A third representative will share a story about a family of five that has to rely on an Oklahoma food bank to eat.

“The fact that 170 Jews are coming to the White House to talk about housing, healthcare, education and food justice shows that these issues are priorities for millions of American Jews,” said Simon Greer, President and CEO of Progressive Jewish Alliance & Jewish Funds for Justice. “The number of Jews and Jewish organizations engaged in social and economic justice work has grown exponentially over the past two decades. The Jewish Social Justice Roundtable is a manifestation of that growth and of the urgent need we see to promote opportunity and secure basic rights for all Americans.”

Grounded in a rabbinic tradition to pursue justice, American Jews have a rich history of civic engagement and involvement in socio-political movements, including the labor movement, civil rights movement and the women’s movement, along with many other human rights struggles. Today’s American Jewish community is furthering this legacy by spurring economic development, alleviating hunger, protecting workers’ rights, preventing homelessness, and strengthening social justice leadership across lines of race, class, and faith.

Jane Ramsey, director of the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, explained, “The American Jewish community brings a powerful voice to issues affecting the most vulnerable people in our society. The Jewish Social Justice Roundtable is a manifestation of a strong and growing progressive movement reflective of our Jewish prophetic values.”

“It is important that a variety of faith-based groups have their voices heard by the Obama Administration,” said Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, executive vice president of the Rabbinical Assembly. “Faith-based groups in this country represent a spectrum of belief, ideology and religious practice.”

“Currently, the debate in Washington is focused almost exclusively on reducing the size of government, even as unemployment remains high, and more and more families need to rely on the social safety net,” said Nancy Kaufman, CEO of the National Council of Jewish Women. “As Jewish social justice activists, we are coming to Washington to express our belief that the ultimate goal in any government policy decision—be it the budget or any other issue—must be informed by a commitment to social justice and a more equitable distribution of public funds.”

“I am inspired by our collective commitment to advance a social justice agenda on the national and global stage,” said Ruth Messinger, president of American Jewish World Service. “We must not underestimate the power of letting our government know that global food justice, equitable healthcare, education reform, and affordable housing are authentic expressions of Jewish values. They are issues that Jewish leaders care about deeply and will work on intensively.”

The Jewish Social Justice Roundtable comprises:

###

Contact: Jake Wilkenfeld-Mongillo
(212) 644-2332 x319
jake.wilkenfeld-mongillo@hazon.org