Give to Your Future by Giving to Their Future

“Or Tzedek was the most eye-opening experience of my life. Everything we have learned and everything we have done is sending me home with an unstoppable desire to make a difference in my community.” – Nadav Marcus, Or Tzedek alumnus

JCUA has been awarded a $62,500 matching grant to fund the Or Tzedek Social Justice Teen Institute. We need to raise $31,250 (half) of our goal by April 1. We are making progress, but we need your help.

Please donate today.*

Your donation will be matched dollar for dollar to provide for housing, food and activity expenses that are not covered by tuition.

Help us ensure Or Tzedek remains affordable and accessible to all teens.

Or Tzedek Alumnus Shares His Passion for Environmental Justice

Sam Cox, Or Tzedek alumnus

My name is Sam Cox and I am an Or Tzedek veteran. You may be aware that I am starting an Environmental Justice Committee, and I would like to tell you more about it.

The goal of the committee is to research environmental justice issues, collaborate with local ally organizations, and support their campaigns by working in solidarity.

Or Tzedek members will run and organize the committee, but, of course, we are happy to accept the support of non-alumni and non-Jewish members.

The overall goal of the committee is to make environmental issues bigger in the public eye of Chicago, successfully combat environmental justice issues that are negatively impacting Chicago communities, achieve a healthier environment, and promote & uphold eco-friendly standards of living.

Currently, far too many Chicago communities are experiencing the destructive repercussions of environmental injustices. Examples of critical issues that we can begin working on are:

• Advocating for clean air: work with community partners to shut down the Fisk and Crawford coal plants that are negatively affecting communities in Pilsen and Little Village)
• Upholding public water access: prevent the city from privatizing the water supply
• Green space: work with community partners on the Southwest Side and advocate for safer green space

If you’re interested or have any questions, please contact me at my email: blacklabel308@yahoo.com or Leah at leah@jcua.org. Please bring ideas, research, and anything else to make the next meeting productive for the group.

I look forward to working with any potential members.

Rabbinical Student Sees a Lesson of Jewish Peoplehood in Or Tzedek Teen Social Justice Program

Peoplehood, Universalism and Particularism: The tension that keeps it all together

By Ari Hart
Former Or Tzedek Staffer

During a steamy Chicago August a few years back, I led a summer program called Or Tzedek that brought Jewish high schoolers to Chicago neighborhoods. Our goal was to explore Judaism and social justice. On the second day of the trip, I brought my students to Chicago’s predominantly African-American South-West Side. Our project for the day was knocking on doors and distributing leaflets to people in the neighborhood about prenatal health opportunities available to pregnant women.

On the van-ride down, some personal doubts emerged. “Why am I bringing these kids to this neighborhood? We’re about to engage with an area and an issue that seem far removed from the Jewish People’s agenda,” I thought. “Is this really Jewish service?” The tension between universal social needs and personal and communal Jewish goals felt almost too much for the program to bear.

These doubts lingered as our community partners described the health campaign. I deeply believed in the value of the project, but still I didn’t see how the Jewish People had anything to do with it. I felt that perhaps as the Director, I had strayed too far towards universalism and neglected the Jewishness of the program. Once we hit the streets however, my thoughts began to change.

Read the complete article at eJewish Philanthropy…

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Ari Hart is the Co-Founder of Uri L’Tzedek: Orthodox Social Justice and a rabbinical student at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah. He is an associate of the Jewish Peoplehood Hub.

Teens from Or Tzedek Work on Housing and Hunger in Rogers Park

By Leah Roth-Howe
Coordinator of Teen Programs, JCUA

Teen from Or Tzedek talking to Rogers Park resident about the RIF campaign

On Sunday, Nov. 7 teens from JCUA’s Or Tzedek program joined forces with Northside P.O.W.E.R. and A Just Harvest to examine issues of hunger and housing through advocacy, organizing and direct service.

After a workshop on community organizing and affordable housing, the teens canvassed the Rogers Park neighborhood and spoke with community members about their housing concerns.

They also door knocked to notify residents about the Rental Improvement Fund campaign to preserve and maintain affordable housing in Chicago’s 49^th Ward.

Teens from Or Tzedek canvass Rogers Park neighborhood

Following the canvassing efforts, Or Tzedek teens addressed the immediate issue of hunger and poverty in Rogers Park by serving hot meals to more than 150 people at the Community Kitchen.

Exploring issues of hunger and housing with Northside P.O.W.E.R. and A Just Harvest underscored the critical need to address the root causes of hunger and poverty while still engaging in direct service.

Learn more about Or Tzedek at ortzedek.org.

Or Tzedek teens serve food at A Just Harvest Community Kitchen

JCUA’s Judaism and Urban Poverty Program Kicks Back in Gear: Meet Miriam Grossman

Miriam Grossman, Educational Programs Coordinator

JCUA would like to welcome on staff Miriam Grossman, the new Educational Programs Coordinator. With her rich background in social justice work and knowledge of Jewish values, Grossman is sure to do well as she works on the Judaism and Urban Poverty (JUP) program.

This school year’s program will engage 200-300 seventh through tenth grade students in synagogues throughout Chicagoland—challenging them to think about the causes and potential responses to poverty, and Jewish approaches to alleviating poverty. The seven-week program combines creative activities with the study of Jewish texts and volunteer opportunities.

“I think that if you show kids a vision of a better world, it empowers them to act now as well as when they’re adults,” said Grossman.

Brainstorming ideas for new JUP session

Thirteen Chicago synagogues are involved with the JUP program this year. The sessions will be taught by trained synagogue staff and Nadiv fellows—young Jewish leaders in their twenties who spend a year studying Judaism and social justice, while teaching the JUP curriculum.

Grossman just finished up a training session with the Nadiv fellows [Get a glimpse of the session.] and said she’s excited to get things rolling.

“I’m really excited to work with these fellows and others involved with JUP to strengthen this program and to make it more interactive, more sustainable, and just have a bigger impact,” she said.

For more information on JUP, please e-mail miriam@jcua.org.

JCUA Recognizes Nadiv Fellowship Graduates

Hildie Cohen (from left), program coordinator; Ray Grossman, instructor; Shana Rubenstein, Jacob Adler, Sarah Miles, Mara Brotman.

Mazel Tov to the 2010-2011 Nadiv Fellows! The fifth graduating class of Nadiv Social Justice Teaching Fellows were honored at a culmination celebration held at Temple Sholom in Chicago on May 24.

The Nadiv Fellow graduates are Jacob Adler, Mara Botman, Sarah Miles and Shana Rubenstein.

The Fellows were responsible for educating over three-hundred students this year and also dedicated time and effort to providing suggestions for updating the JUP curriculum. The Fellows are engaged in a wide variety of activities that meld Judaism and social justice. We offer them congratulations on their accomplishments with JUP and beyond and wish them yasher koach in fulfilling this great mitzvah teaching young Jewish students how they can help create a more just world.

Nadiv offers a select group of emerging Jewish social justice leaders (ages 21-30) the opportunity to learn about Judaism and social justice while also inspiring the next generation of Jewish students to develop their own social justice commitments.

Nadiv fellows participate in semiannual retreats and monthly Judaism and social justice study sessions taught by some of the leading rabbis and teachers in Chicagoland. Nadiv fellows then teach two “rounds” of JCUA’s seven-week-long Judaism and Urban Poverty (JUP) curriculum to middle school students in local religious schools.

One of the graduating students, Shana Rubenstein, shares her experience:

When I look back over the past year on my experience as a Nadiv Fellow, one instance that resonated and seemed to frame the subsequent year was our discussion with Rabbi Shoshana Conover, from Temple Sholom.