Justice in the City

This is a class that I gave at and for Bend the Arc: Jewish Action last night (9.12). It is the beginning of thinking toward a theory of political action from out of Jewish sources. The class itself is about 45 minutes. (There are introductory comments for the first 10 or 15 minutes.) The source sheet for the class is here.

https://soundcloud.com/irmiklat/why-do-something-bta

At the end of the class Rebecca Green, the SoCal organizer suggested a number of ways to get involved and do something. Here they are:

Sign the defund hate petition.
Come out to the “Not One More Dollar” demonstration against GeoGroup, the largest private prison company in the country, and the operator of Adelanto Detention Center.
Come to the Bend the Arc SoCal monthly community meeting

In terms of the Jewish year, which is in tune to the weekly readings of the Torah, we are now between lech lechah and vayera. The former portion, lech lechah—which literally means “go forth”—is named for God’s famous command to Abraham to do just that: “go forth from your land, from your birthplace, from your ancestral home, to the place I will show you.” Abraham was not told where he was going. God did not say: Go to Canaan. He was going to an as yet unnamed place. All the important things that happen in the book of Genesis, happen at places that are only named once the important things happen there. Only after seeing God in a dream and receiving a covenantal promise, for example, is Jacob able to name that place Bet El, the house of God. Continue reading →

Justice in the City

Thinking about Judaism and Social Justice

Tag Archives: political action

Abraham sits by the tent (on political action in the age of Trump)