On The Leading Edge Of Social Change
June 23, 2008
Social Action
(1 comments)
By Emily Grotta
What brings younger Jews "into the fold?" According to the New York Jewish Week, it's outside-the-box social justice groups like the Progessive Jewish Alliance.
Outside-the-box social justice groups like PJA are responding to a communal establishment that has narrowed its vision to the twin issues of Israel and anti-Semitism by developing innovative programs dealing with a range of issues, from fair housing to sweat shops to support for Hispanic immigrants.
One of the initiatives is the Reform Movement's Just Congregations.
Rabbi Jonah Pesner, founding director of Just Congregations, says, "People were frustrated that for 30 years we've been housing people in shelters, we've been feeding people in soup kitchens, but at the same time we've been watching more and more slip into poverty, more and more affected by a catastrophic health care system. People want to engage in these issues in a way that's not just charitable."
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Why don't we start focusing on the needs of poor Jews, especially the single women and elderly, both in the US and abroad? Let the Bishop of Rome sell some of his artwork and jewelry and take care of his flock and perhaps the Presbyterians could call on their fellow Jew-haters, the Wahhabis of Saudi Arabia, for help with theirs. Charity begins at home and with one's own and I, for one, would rather see us providing subsidized medical care at Jewish hospitals for our working poor, including single women, and elderly, as well as providing all manner of care for the remnants of our people in Eastern Europe, especially Moldova and Belarus. Two thousand years of history should teach us that, no matter what we do, the Gentiles, particularly the Christians, will always hate us and turn on us in the end. I say, start in our own communities where there are serious problems of deprivation and let the Gentiles stew in their own juices