WASHINGTON, D.C. — The chill of the frigid air in Washington DC could not compete with the warmth inside the Hyatt Regency where nearly 400 people who traveled from near and far to be among community, encourage each other, learn and take action.
I was able to revive myself after a good night’s sleep and a hearty breakfast before choosing one of the Torah studies offered. I selected “Race, Power and Jewish Politics” facilitated by San Francisco State University Professor Marc Dollinger and Rabbi Kelly Whitehead.
Genesis 9:23-25, Bereshit Rabbah 36:7 and quotes from Rabbi Berhard Felsenthal (founder of the Jewish Publication Society and American Jewish History) and Rabbi David Einhorn (the first rabbi of the first Reform congregation in America were brought into conversation with various texts from Pirkei Avot and others.
It was an impactful discussion in which we learned, were surprised and deconstructed some fallacies we have held in the Jewish community about the history and relationship between the American Jewish and African American communities.
My next Torah study selection was “Organizing for Democracy: Fundraising that Builds for Success” facilitated by Gabi Kirsch, the URJ Director of Grassroots Giving, First, we grounded ourselves in texts about tikkun olam, tzedakah. Then we learned how to grow the impact RAC’s justice work and justice work in our local congregations.
I was grateful for a Jews of Color (JOC) Leadership Network session that allowed me to participate in storytelling to further ground my experience of the event and learn from other JOC leaders. The fact that the URJ intentionally created this space for Jews of Color in this year’s CoC gave me and others a great feeling of truly being seen and of being more fully included in the community.
We fortified ourselves with a delicious and satisfying dinner arranged by the URJ at a Lebanese restaurant. I especially appreciated the opportunity to get to know one another even better and collect more contact information that I will certainly use after the conference is done.
For me, the most impressive session of the day was the plenary “Strengthening Our Democracy and Fighting Antisemitism Across Lines of Difference.” It featured Rabbi Jonah Pesner and Dr. Cornell William Brooks, Hauser Professor of the Practice of Nonprofit Organizations and Professor of the Practice of Public Leadership and Social Justice at the Harvard Kennedy School.
Brooks is also Director of The William Monroe Trotter Collaborative for Social Justice at the School’s Center for Public Leadership, and Visiting Professor of the Practice of Prophetic Religion and Public Leadership at Harvard Divinity School. He is the former president and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), a civil rights attorney, and an ordained minister.
Brooks shared that the Jewish community must be aware that there are people who are both Black and Jewish and how important it is for that to be in the conscience of the Jewish community. He also said fighting antisemitism has been weaponized to harm academic institutions and close down academic freedom. It hampers the ability to engage in discussions among Jewish, Arab and other students, he said.