Realizing the Power We’ve Been Given
Mike Schultz, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah
Ross Shapiro, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah

Justice through Organizing: Stories from the Field
Rabbi Jonah Pesner, Director of Just Congregations

‘Hineini:’ Bringing Our Whole Selves to Relationships
Sandy Bredt, Executive Director, Kehilla Community Synagogue—Piedmont, California

The Power that Makes for Righteousness: CBCO as a Reconstructionist Approach to Living a Godly Life
Rabbi Shawn Zevit, Director of Outreach, External Affiliations and Tikkun Olam, Jewish Reconstructionist Federation

Kehilat Shalom and the Cycle of Organizing
Rabbi Mark Raphael, Kehilat Shalom—Gaithersburg, Maryland

Realizing the Power We’ve Been Given
Mike Schultz, 3rd year rabbinical student at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah
Ross Shapiro, 3rd year rabbinical student at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah

The rabbis of the Talmud understood that awareness of power is the first step to any positive action.  When the Jewish people worshipped the golden calf, God told Moses to “go, descend” from Mount Sinai (Exodus 32:7).  The Talmud in tractate Brachot (32a) questions the meaning of God’s command.  “What is meant by ‘go, descend’?  Rabbi Elazar said that God spoke to Moses and told him to descend from his position of power, for power was only granted to Moses for the purpose of serving the children of Israel.  Now that Israel had gone astray, what need did God have for Moses?  At that moment, Moses became powerless and lacked the strength to speak on behalf of Israel.”  This explains Moses’ initial silence when God informed him of the people’s great sin.  He felt powerless to act as an advocate for the people. 

The passage in the Talmud continues, “However as soon as God said to Moses, ‘Release me, and I will destroy them’ (Deuteronomy 9:14), Moses recognized that he had the power to save the children of Israel by “restraining God”, and that the outcome of the situation depended on his action.  Immediately, Moses arose, empowered himself through prayer, and advocated for mercy on behalf of the Israelites.”  In telling Moses to “release” God, it seems as if God was prompting Moses to recognize his power as a leader.  The Talmud is teaching us that in order for Moses to take the correct ethical action, he needed to be empowered by a great trainer.

This is not the first time God acted to help the powerless understand their power.  When the children of Israel were taken out of Egypt, they were a nation of slaves.  The mindset of slavery is the quintessential example of complete powerlessness.  How could a nation of the powerless be a light to the world?  For this reason God empowered the people with the giving of the Torah, transforming them into a nation with mitzvot and laws, a culture and a history.  The Torah claimed that if the people were to abide by these mitzvot, the power to perfect the world rested with them.  Through the commandments, they were no longer slaves but rather a people chosen to shepherd the world.

In commanding us to improve the world both through ritual observance of mitzvot and through taking action in broader society, God acts as our trainer, just as he did for Moses, giving us the tools to take action, and giving us the power to do so as well.  God could do it all Himself, but instead he invites us to take action, and He promises to meet us halfway if we take the first step. With God as our trainer, and with the mitzvot and the Torah and God's support as our tools, we have the power to make change happen.

It is easy to forget that we have this power to positively impact the world around us.  We look around, and the work to be done seems heavy and burdensome, the obstacles seem overwhelming, and we feel powerless.  Like Moses, we need a good trainer.  This is where congregation based community organizing can be so helpful. Through organizing, we become empowered.  The organizing cycle develops individuals into leaders capable of significant action, from initiating relational meetings to doing extensive research, to speaking before a crowd of 1000 people, to holding a public official accountable to her promises. And if, with God’s help, we are able to succeed in our efforts, then the entire congregation, and not just the leaders, can feel their collective power in a way they might never otherwise experience.

In addition, not only does organizing remind us in general that we’re not powerless, but it just so happens to be a great way to get the job of improving our world done. Although we have a pretty good sense of how to improve our own selves and work on our religious growth, it often feels harder to achieve any significant gains toward achieving our external-directed goals and affect real change in our society. Community organizing provides a well-defined and well-honed approach that has the potential of leading us to great successes.

Our mission is to use the guidance of the Torah to empower our communities to do the work for which we were given life – li’ovdah ulishomrah, to develop and care for the world. Using the approach of community organizing is an excellent technique for realizing that vision.

Mike Schultz and Ross Shapiro are 3rd year rabbinical students at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School (YCT), a seminary that ordains rabbis for the Modern Orthodox movement. YCT is the first seminary to invite JFSJ to teach as part of its core Professional Development curriculum.  As part of this curriculum, all second year students take the JFSJ course "Rabbinic Leadership for Public Life.” Mike is a member of the JFSJ CBCO Jewish Clergy Task Force.

Justice through Organizing: Stories from the Field
Rabbi Jonah Pesner, Director of Just Congregations

This past July, the Union for Reform Judaism launched Just Congregations.
With the support and partnership of the Jewish Funds for Justice, the URJ has made congregation-based community organizing a key strategy in engaging our member synagogues in meaningful work for social and economic justice.

Across the country, reform rabbis and leaders are learning the transformative process of building deep, internal relationships inside synagogues, and then joining together with interfaith partners to act powerfully for justice.  Organizing has led congregations to become communities, in which people know each other and each others’ stories.  It is enriching our commitment to worship, learning, and being true "b'tei knesset".  Organizing has also called us to know our neighbors across lines of race, class, and faith.  Out of these new relationships, and the power of our numbers, we gain the ability to act on our deeply rooted Jewish concerns for social and economic justice.

As Rabbi John A. Linder from Chicago writes: “When I came to Congregation B’nai Jehoshua Beth Elohim 3 ½ years ago, it was clear that this was a community committed to tzedakkah (righteous giving) and g’millut chasadim (righteous acts).  The missing component was addressing the root causes of injustice that created such a great need for providing a safety net.  Panim El Panim (face-to-face) is this missing piece.  We have created opportunities for congregants to engage in one-on-one conversations ─ identifying issues of concern and sharing the stories behind them.  This has had a profound impact in not only building community within the synagogue walls, but has engaged our members in pursing social justice as part of an interfaith coalition, United Power for Action and Justice (UPAJ).  Fulfilling our mandate as Jews to pursue social justice happens on the foundation of building relationships, Panim El Panim!!”  Rabbi Linder and BJBE have joined with Muslim, Christian and other Jewish congregations through UPAJ in successful campaigns for health care access and gun control, and are beginning a campaign on education reform.

Reform congregations across the country are telling similar stories.  Sha’ar Zahav in San Francisco hosted an action that successfully won a commitment to universal health care in their city.  Synagogues in Columbus joined in a fight for early childhood education.  Beth El in Aptos, California won a commitment for affordable housing construction.  The stories go on and on…

Like BJBE in Chicago and Sha’ar Zahav in San Francisco, my own congregation, Temple Israel of Boston heard many stories of a broken health care system.  During hundreds of one-on-one meetings and house meetings, people talked about their real concerns.  A college professor spoke of his twenty-something daughter who was going off the family health plan, and couldn’t afford private insurance.  A writer talked about her medical struggles, since she had to “self-insure,” and an emergency room physician told heart-breaking stories of people dying from preventable illnesses because as “the uninsured,” they had gone without primary care.  Through the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, Temple Israel and 73 other congregations and institutions joined a state-wide coalition, and together forced a near-universal health care access bill that has become a model for the rest of the nation.

These are the stories of congregations who engage deeply, building a relational culture inside their walls and then join together with other across lines of race, class, and faith, to act powerfully for justice outside them.  It is our hope that along with JFSJ and the other movements, our member congregations will engage deeply in relationship building and effective justice work.

Rabbi Jonah Pesner is the founding director of Just Congregations, an initiative of the Union for Reform Judaism in partnership with Jewish Funds for Justice. He previously served as a congregation rabbi at Temple Israel in Boston, which is the largest Reform congregation in New England and a member of the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, an Industrial Areas Foundation affiliate. He is a member of the JFSJ CBCO Jewish Clergy Task Force.

‘Hineini:’ Bringing Our Whole Selves to Relationships
Sandy Bredt, Executive Director, Kehilla Community Synagogue—Piedmont, California

Each year, Kehilla Community Synagogue probes a different theme in our High Holy Days services, with the goal of pursuing a communal t’shuvah. While some of our worship approaches the theme from the perspective of atonement, most of our attention to a theme encourages new spiritual and behavioral practices for the new year.

This year, 5767, Kehilla’s theme was particularly relevant to the work we’re doing with Oakland Community Organizations (OCO). Our theme was developing and sustaining “I-Thou” relationships, as conceived by the great Jewish philosopher Martin Buber. Buber contrasts I-Thou relationships, in which each party is authentically present, and open to the other’s humanity, with I-It relationships, in which one or both parties in a relationship see the other as a means to an end, or a functionary, rather than as a full human being. The skills and conditions for “I-Thou” relationships are the very things that make our relationships holy, and that make the PICO/OCO model so effective. In turn, the PICO/OCO model illustrates my own understanding of Gd, and holiness.

The Hebrew word “hineini” – “Here I am” – is central to I-Thou relationships. It’s about being present. When called, Abraham responded “hineini” to Gd. Abraham didn’t allow his self interests to prevent himself from entering a relationship with Gd. (“Sorry, Gd, not today, I’ve got to get to the post office before it closes, and then I’ve got to get groceries and I have to pick up the kids by 5…” Can you imagine?!) Nor did Abraham act as if he wasn’t good enough to be Gd’s choice. He simply presented himself, as he was, to act as Gd’s partner in holy covenant.

A key aspect of living in community from an I-Thou place is bringing our whole selves to a relationship. Our work with OCO helps our members learn how to do this, how to be ourselves, to show up authentically, in a variety of contexts. We must do this in our prayer spaces, in our committees, in our school, and in our one-to-one conversations in our Listening Campaign. To do so, we recognize that our partners, the ‘Thous’ with whom we are in relationship, are also showing up authentically, with all of their strengths and weaknesses. And we extend ourselves to each other with all of the gentleness, compassion and care that we can muster. When we recognize each other’s humanity in this way, we get to see each other as sacredly unique, as a piece of Gd.

Our work with OCO gives us myriad opportunities for I-Thou encounters in the context of progressive action. First, Kehilla members will meet together one-to-one, to develop Kehilla’s power for transformative tikkun olam. Our OCO staff person, Amy Fitzgerald, has explained OCO’s philosophy that power resides in relationships. As we develop more rich, intentional, I-Thou relationships in our community, we express that power through our stories. Though our narratives may be different, we’ll find that our concerns are similar, enabling us to connect with others across faiths, and build our relationships into effective coalitions of faith communities working together on affordable housing, violence prevention, better schools, and access to health care.  And we could only succeed in this work if we give of our whole selves, presenting ourselves as Abraham did in the spirit and intention of “hineini”.

So live from a “hineini” place. Show up at your congregation, and throughout your life, with your full authentic self. Be gentle and loving toward all of the “Thous” in your life. Make a space for your community in your heart, a single one-to-one at a time.

Sandy Bredt is the Executive Director of Kehilla Community Synagogue in Piedmont, California, which is affiliated with the Jewish Renewal movement. Kehilla is dedicated to a creative, spiritual, and contemporary Judaism, and blends traditional liturgy and ritual with alternative forms of expression such as poetry or chanting.   Kehilla’s membership includes many kinds of families--single people, families with children, gay and straight, multi-ethnic, Jewish and non-Jewish—and encourages broad participation by all members in all aspects of the community, including spiritual practice, education, and tikkun olam (healing the world).
This article is adapted from her 5767 Yom Kippur sermon.

The Power that Makes for Righteousness: CBCO as a Reconstructionist Approach to Living a Godly Life
Rabbi Shawn Zevit, Director of Outreach, External Affiliations and Tikkun Olam, Jewish Reconstructionist Federation

The function of the belief in God is to make us aware of the moral and spiritual context of our conduct, so that we come to move within the orbit of the “Power that makes for righteousness.” Judaism uses the belief in God to make Jews aware of the natural conditions that have to be established and the human relations that have to be maintained for the Jewish people, if it is to achieve their potential collectively and individually.

In 2006, The Jewish Reconstructionist Federation began partnering with JFSJ and received a grant to help begin developing a network and resources for Reconstructionist communities in CBCO work. As well, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College is offering training in the model of CBCO activism beginning in the winter of 2007. In my capacity as Director of Outreach, External Affiliations and Tikkun Olam, and with the support of our movement’s professional, rabbinic and lay leadership, and my CBCO intern Brian Fink, we are beginning to lay the foundations for a CBCO network within and beyond the Reconstructionist movement’s 108 congregations and various institutions.

As indicated in the texts above- Jewish values-based decision making based on maximal participation in our communities is at the core of a Reconstructionist approach to Jewish life and sustainable co-existence for all people (s) on this planet. The Godly actions that are derived from a powerful connection to justice, human relations and shalom, make faith-based or congregation-based community organizing and the work of JFSJ a natural partnership for us.

The value of b’tzelem Elohim (seeing and nurturing the Divine potential in every person), be it in one-on-one sharing, community reflection on tikkun priorities, or collective action through a CBCO network, reminds us that pursuing Tzedek through CBCO is not the prevue of any one person’s vision. To this end I want to weave into my article for this issue, additional voices of some of our rabbis who are leading the way with CBCO work in our movement based on a conference call from last summer involving Rabbi Nancy Epstein, Dr. Carl Sheingold, Rabbi Toba Spitzer, and myself from the Reconstructionist movement, and Jeannie Appleman, Jewish Funds for Justice, and Rabbi Jonah Pezner, Union for Reform Judaism.

Shawn: Jeannie, could you talk a little bit more about your perspective about this work and what you think it can accomplish, and also what are some of the challenges that you see?

Jeannie: This kind of organizing provides two distinct but related ways of operating in the world.  One is that it provides a particular way for synagogues to engage powerfully in public life, in that the organizing process forces us to grapple with self-interest in our community as a whole, the Jewish community as a whole, and with specific self-interest in a given area.  The second thing is that this organizing model has the power to strengthen and grow a synagogue.  However,  I don’t think it’s just a set of tools to do the latter. It’s not just some feel-nice building-community technique. It’s a way of operating in the world out of relationship and power and self-interest and action. 

Jonah: First of all, Shawn, thank you for letting me be part of this conversation, which is really just so thrilling…we just need as many partners to broaden this to be a truly Jewish social justice moment as opposed to a particular group within Judaism. I’m honored to be on the call, and a testament to the effectiveness is that Toba and I would not know each other if it weren’t for organizing and the way that we’ve been brought together, not as nice clergy dialogue or superficial but in a deep powerful way because we’ve shared moments and justice together. 

Toba:  It’s really nice to be having this conversation in a Reconstructionist context, but I’m also excited that this is really moving forward as a multi-denominational effort. That being said, there are certain ways I think that this model is least countercultural to Reconstructionist congregations. We became involved in the Boston interfaith movement 3 or 4 years ago. There was a campaign for nursing home workers that folks got involved in.  And then the health care campaign has involved more people. When we first did one-on-ones, we called them community conversations. Even while we do continued action on health care, we need to keep the relational process going. I think this is the piece that is countercultural, not so much to Reconstructionists, but to middle-class Jewish people, which is to get together and talk about what’s really going on in your life- talking about struggles around elder care, concerns around their children and education. We did it on Erev Shabbat, everyone had dinner and then we broke into small groups; we did it at a members’ meeting; we’ve done it at people’s homes, during Hebrew school, at different times.  Peoples sitting in groups of five or six, we crafted it with some leading questions, or being asked to tell a story, not talk about an issue. 

Shawn:  This is very much a Reconstructionist approach to communal life, and to Jewish life, melding the aspects of Tikkun Olam, the balance of the world with Tikkun Hanefesh, the aspect of interpersonal relationship healing as well. We often create parallel and sometimes even contradictory initiatives in the attempt to respond to social justice issue on some deep level.  I think one of the things the CBCO model provides is an understanding of where the impetus comes from, which is the individual neshamah, and that longing for repair and what our motivations are, both altruistic and self-serving, ad putting them into larger service, but also networking, not only within the community but as we’re talking here today, beyond that.  So I think there’s some role that we can play here, if it’s helping people identify also where the issues they’re already involved with, and then maximizing that at regional and local levels.  Something you’ve all said which again impressed me, is the need for training.  It’s not the same thing as sitting down and having a one-on-one conversation.  It’s that individual and communities are transformed thorough the various models of CBCO training.

Carl:  I’m struck by the interactions between congregations and movements as very significant.  Because we have all operated in what’s sometimes called a post-denominational or trans-denominational world, and it seems to me that to have multi-denominational activities of this kind is a powerful thing and a very important thing on its own.  And it strikes me there are a lot of good things unintended that come from this. 

I’ve heard talk about what this means on the level of the individuals, and connections within a congregation, and then obviously the critical piece in getting to real action and real impact on the world, and in between that there are a lot of cross-congregational but also cross-ethnic and interreligious connections as well. And there are obstacles to it, and there are things that make it difficult.  I’d love to hear a few comments on that aspect of the project. 

Jeannie:  In my own experience in the last four years, if you take the time to build the relationships with these network organizers, the real seasoned ones in particular, sometimes you can push the envelope to places you never dreamed.  But part of the question has to do with putting very strongly our interest out there, like Jonah did, and our willingness to do that over time and building up these relationships, I think will eventually push the network to look at building organizations in places maybe they hadn’t dreamed of before.

Shawn:  Something that Carl and I had actually talked about in this area is again with the trainings that are available, augmenting the work that we’d done in terms of our recent partnership.  We just became affiliated nationally with the National Coalition Building Institute, which involves Jewish unity work, as we work with the JCPA, AJWS, COEJL and many other national organizations.  They work on all these issues and how to overcome barriers, kind of pulling in additional pieces. 

Toba: I think the cross-class issue and dealing with that is also important to us. So yes, difficulties arise, and without the preexisting relationships there’s absolutely no way, you would get even more polarized. With the relationship you have, at least you can talk about it. What I’m learning is that you have to be able to tolerate a lot of ambiguity that you have to go through before you get to the next thing.

Nancy:  I’m listening to this conversation, in terms of how do we organize people?  Well, it happens in concentric circles.  It happens at home, it happens in those one-on-ones.  It happens in the living rooms, in the Shabbat opportunities when five or six are gathering, and the circles grow out, in to the policy rooms.  We need all those levels of organizing, it’s really like as Toba said covenantal organizing.  Where do people really live?  What really grabs them in the gut, what are they going to be most willing to work on for the sustained long haul?  And then the question about how the larger networks form, or tying it to those larger networks that already exist is just so crucial.  So however we can build capacity, I always think of this as being about relationship building and trust and respect and creating respect.

Shawn:  Well, it feels like a calling for all of us… and so the real work begins. I will share this last word, from Exploring Judaism, a Reconstructionist Approach,

Jewish civilization is a means to greater ends – the fulfillment of the individual, the responsibility of individuals to treat others as reflections of the divine image, and the responsibility of each community to seek global justice and peace among all communities.
-  Alpert, Rebecca and Staub, Jacob, Exploring Judaism A Reconstructionist Approach, Recon Press, p24

Rabbi Shawn Zevit is the Director of Outreach, External Affiliations and Tikkun Olam at the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation (JRF).  JRF is the rapidly growing synagogue arm of the Reconstructionist movement, serving more than 100 congregations and havurot spread across North America. JRF’s Tkkun Olan department has partnered with JFSJ to develop and expand CBCO work within the Reconstructionist movement.

Kehilat Shalom and the Cycle of Organizing
Rabbi Mark Raphael, Kehilat Shalom—Gaithersburg, Maryland

In February 1999, I was approached (through a Protestant Colleague) by Mark Fraley, the lead organizer of Action in Montgomery (AIM), an IAF affiliate then starting up in Montgomery County, a suburb of Washington, DC. In retrospect, it was one of the best one-on-ones I’ve ever had. On one level I was conversing with another person of faith – passionate about community building and social justice. The conversation energized me in two dimensions. First, we were exploring ways of building and energizing my synagogue. Second, I could see the possibility for the first time of not just volunteering and providing direct service to those in need, but of interfacing with the millions of dollars in the public domain - needed to change root problems in my community.

On the basis of this conversation, Mr. Fraley began meeting with key leaders of my synagogue. In the course of the following six months, he met with nearly 30 Kehilat Shalom leaders; including presentations to the Executive Committee and Board of Directors. During the summer of 1999, three house meeting were hosted in the congregation for about 20 people with a diverse cross-section of the schul represented. Training for a handful of interested leaders in one-on-ones and running a house meeting were held in the larger community. Key issues identified at Kehilat Shalom were: public education, health care, senior quality of life, traffic safety & traffic, affordable housing and after-school care.

After presentations and discussions, in December 1999, Kehilat Shalom voted to join and pay dues to AIM. We were one of 11 founding “community groups.” In early 2000, all the congregations send representatives to an Action Team meeting to consider the issues from the House Meetings and to establish research teams to explore partial solutions. Three issues created research teams: Schools, Housing and Senior issues. The groups began their studies and conversation to create an agenda for AIM.

Over time, we have worked to build relationships with each other and with the County Council and State Legislature that have allowed us to work together on issues of common concern.  We have met with both successes and challenges when addressing issues such as affordable housing, public transportation for seniors, and all-day kindergarten.  We have had tremendous learnings along the way, from our victories and from our defeats.

This past summer, the new President of Kehilat Shalom began to use CBCO to revitalize the Board. In the July meeting, Board members spent time doing one on ones. In August, each Board member was asked to bring another member for an open Board meeting to discuss new directions for the synagogue.

So what’s the transformation at Kehilat Shalom though our six years of organizing? Internally we have touched through one-on-ones and house meeting about 150 of our 700 adult members. From those relationships we can get turnout of 70-80 people from any major action of AIM. We have a small but solid core team that we are trying to expand and train. Larry Froehlich and David Felsen from the start have been active supporters – within KS, within AIM and in public actions. Larry has chaired several actions (as well as being the original lay co-chair of AIM). David has led the floor team at three actions over the years and is a frequent participant in meetings with political leaders. In recent years, Laura Wallace has been active on the AIM Strategy Team and has led the floor team for the last two big actions. Our Board meetings generally reflect a more focused agenda, often including time limits for discussion and the creation of action items for resolution. We have frequently publicized the activities of AIM in our bulletin and have preached on High Holidays and once in a while on other occasion on the meaning and activities of AIM for KS. Our Core Team discussions in recent months have focused on expanding our core team and running more meetings (individual and group) within the synagogue. For the needs of our spiritual community we need more connections between members. We need to have strong relationships within Kehilat Shalom – both for the good of our synagogue and well as for the good of Montgomery County.

For those active in AIM – there is powerful sense that we have participating in making a real difference. Working with others we put issues on the public agenda and have made a dent in some endemic problems of our community. Our greatest successes have been in our political, external activities. We know we have contributed to the wellbeing of our community and our proud of the achievements that have helped spearhead through our involvement in Action In Montgomery.

Rabbi Mark Raphael is the rabbi of Kehilat Shalom, a Conservative synagogue serving upper Montgomery County, Maryland. He has been an active leader in CBCO in his community in Maryland through Action In Montgomery, an Industrial Areas Foundation affiliate.  He is a member of the JFSJ CBCO Jewish Clergy Task Force.