Drum Roll Please (for the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable)

by: Erica Brody

Thu Aug 05, 2010 at 13:48:52 PM EDT

What is the ultimate goal of the Roundtable? Greer suggests there are three: “There’s an internal result, like sharing curricula for staff training; there’s an external result in the Jewish community, to grow the social justice sector so that it is big enough and strong enough and self-aware enough to engage with the Jewish community, and beyond the Jewish community, we hope to re-establish a broader role for Jews in creating change in America.”

Working across religious lines

by: Erica Brody

Tue Jul 27, 2010 at 14:21:27 PM EDT

God's Politics
Supporting Churches and Synagogues for Social Justice
by Simon Greer 07-27-2010

This spring, we saw an opportunity to join the efforts of Rev. Jim Wallis and Sojourners to stand up to the Tea Party leaders’ denigration of people of faith who put social justice and the common good at the center of their vocation. When Glenn Beck urged his millions of viewers to “turn in their pastors” if their congregations promoted social justice, we at Jewish Funds for Justice decided enough was enough.

For 25 years, we have supported churches and synagogues as they work across lines of race and faith to promote the common good and bring social justice to their communities. This work brought universal health care to Massachusetts and more than 300 new green jobs to residents in Oakland, California — and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Glenn Beck, on the other hand, doesn’t offer any solutions. He disdains social justice and the common good; in fact, he claims they’re steps toward fascism. Earlier this summer, Mr. Beck addressed a column I wrote that asserted that “to put God first is to put humankind first, and to put humankind first is to put the common good first.” Beck’s response? ”This leads to death camps. A Jew, of all people, should know that. This is exactly the kind of talk that led to the death camps in Germany.”

In the wake of this direct attack, I was humbled by the outpouring of support we received. As a way to thank people for their support, and to lift up all the voices who stood with us, we took out a full two-page ad spread in last week’s Forward.

It was signed by supporters of social justice and the common good: hundreds of rabbis, reverends, and people of good will who share our belief that we do not have the luxury of Beck’s ignorance. At nearly 250 names, our ad could fit only a small portion of those who spoke out to reject the rhetoric of Glenn Beck. Rev. Wallis shared this sentiment with us:

Glenn Beck should join America’s community of faith in a conversation about the common good and social justice instead of his destructive path of unfounded accusations and attacks. I applaud Simon Greer as CEO and President of Jewish Funds for Justice for providing a strong voice of honesty and reason against such divisiveness.

Beck said that a commitment to the common good led to the death camps of Nazi Germany. This language is not only irresponsible but dangerous. It’s offensive to the memories of the 6 million people who were murdered in those camps. Beck clearly needs an education in what the Jewish and Christian traditions teach not to mention, specifically, the tenets of his own Mormon Church.

It was gratifying to receive support from such a broad spectrum of faith and social change leaders. We believe it sends an important message when we all stand together for our common beliefs, and we never let our friends face these kinds of attacks alone.

It’s up to those of us who care about real solutions to build a powerful alternative to the Tea Party. We need a broad coalition that can forge innovative solutions to the most pressing problems facing our nation, one predicated on economic opportunity and dedicated to social justice. We at Jewish Funds for Justice are proud to do this work with a broad coalition of faith and social justice partners.

Simon Greer is president and CEO of Jewish Funds for Justice.

JFSJ in the news

by: Erica Brody

Mon Jul 26, 2010 at 14:28:19 PM EDT

And the Bible, and particularly the Hebrew prophets, are also firm on need to protect the vulnerable, which sometimes requires government action, said Simon Greer, president and CEO of the Jewish Funds for Justice, which helped fuel the progressive backlash against Beck.

Greer said his New York-based group is founded on "the fundamental religious call to care for others," which in turn is based "on the belief that we're all made in the image of the divine."

ADL calls for less defamation

by: Mik Moore

Fri May 07, 2010 at 10:02:32 AM EDT

Good to see the ADL speaking out on this, although, as the not-so-thoughtful comments after the story demonstrate, calling for civility is rarely enough to acheive civility. Voters, finanicial supporters, and viewers need to demonstrate that they will reject leaders who engage in, as Foxman says,

Bar Mitzvahs That Don't Suck

by: Mik Moore

Mon Feb 22, 2010 at 21:38:47 PM EST

The presidents of the Jewish Funds for Justice (Simon Greer) and American Jewish World Service (Ruth Messinger) have teamed up to present a new idea called Passport for Service.  The full piece is on JTA. Here are the key graphs:

All B’nai Mitzvah would receive a formal invitation to Passport for Service, which would include at least one free service-learning immersion experience on a program of their choosing, either with their families or independently. They would participate in pre- and post-trip programming, and, upon their return, would make a commitment to continuing their social justice work in their local community.

These activities would be reinforced with an electronic “passport,” in which each young activist would accumulate “stamps” indicating their community service experiences and the other seminal events on their Jewish journey. Each passport would represent a path to Jewish adulthood defined by ongoing contributions to the world.

The nuts and bolts of creating such a program could take many forms. We could establish an umbrella organization to coordinate trips conducted by practitioners. We could organize it locally, giving Jewish Community Centers or synagogues a fresh opportunity to engage a core constituency. We could bring together key service organizations to pilot the project in ten cities and then scale it up later for national implementation. Or we could create a funding share, pooling money from foundations, individual funders, JCCs, federations, and synagogues. Similar to Birthright, this fund would ensure that every B’nai Mitzvah has an immersion service-learning experience of their choosing.

Inspired participants, eager to stay connected, would seek out ways to serve and act together. Synagogues and grassroots organizations would connect this transformative experience to their programming and engagement opportunities. Our community, and our local partners in social change, would be poised to engage thousands of young Jews hungry to change the world.

Who's Afraid of Higher Taxes?

by: Mik Moore

Fri Mar 06, 2009 at 00:27:48 AM EST

The Forward has an interesting article today about President Obama's effort to raise money for his health care plan by reducing the amount the wealthy ($250K and up) can deduct from their taxes when making charitable contributions. The current proposal lows the deduction by for the two highest tax brackets. It is set to go into effect in 2011, which is when the Bush tax cuts expire.

Many non-profits, including those in the Jewish community, have been opposing this change. The argument is straightforward: if the wealthy, whose gifts make up almost half of all charitable giving, see their financial incentive to give reduced, they will respond by reducing their gifts. And the last thing non-profit leaders want to hear now isnother reason for donors to cut back their giving.

So i appreciated the very different response from Simon Greer, who is quoted saying the following:

Watching The Wire and Investing in Baltimore

by: Hannah Farber

Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 12:14:25 PM EDT