“Tzedek, tzedek tirdof.”

December 16, 2023: The Fragility of Democracy: The Rise of Nazism and Its Lesson for America and the Jewish Community Today presented by Jan Darsa as a precursor and in connection with the course she’ll offer at He

In the picture from left to right: S.U.R.E. Diversity Executive Board Members-Margaret Somer, Ralph Edwards, Sue Burgess, Keli Khatib, Martha Curry.

On September 9, 2023, Ralph Edwards from S.U.R.E.: Swampscott Unites Respects, Embraces Diversity talked about their mission and the Tell Us Your Story initiative. Go to (surediversity.org) for more info.

The organization welcomes donations. Go to their website https://www.missionofdeeds.org/

Rabbi Michael Ragozin will participate in this community event.

The film tells the story of Rabbi Joachim Prinz, who was expelled from Germany in 1937 after multiple arrests for preaching against Nazism and for promoting the values of Judaism. After emigrating, Prinz became rabbi of Temple B’nai Abraham in Newark, NJ and later President of the American Jewish Congress. He became a leader of the civil rights movement after witnessing the racism against African Americans in his new home and realizing America’s democracy was also filled with prejudice and bigotry. Prinz worked to organize the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, declaring, “bigotry and hatred are not the most urgent problem. The most urgent, the most disgraceful, the most shameful and the most tragic problem is silence.” Moments later, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have A Dream” speech.

As referenced in the flyer:

• A Letter to My Son Jacob on His 5^th Birthday
• Jacob’s Journey: Life as a Transgender 5-Year-Old
• What We Will Become: A Mother, A Son and A Journey of Transformation

Articles of interest

• Jewish Book Council, January 2022
• Jewish Journal, January 2020

A conversation with Mimi Lemay, transgender rights advocate, on how Jewish communities can support gender-diverse youth.

Olam Chesed Yibaneh: Creating Affordable Housing for All with Rabbi Margie Klein Ronkin, Exec Dir of ECCO

Rabbi Margie Klein Ronkin is the Executive Director of the Essex County Community Organization, a network of 59 congregations and the North Shore Labor Council working to create a world where everybody belongs, everyone can thrive, and we all have a say in the decisions that affect our lives. In addition to directing ECCO, Rabbi Margie is the founder of Kavod Boston, a multi-ethnic, multi-racial community led by young Jews, committed to each other and to building a liberated world for all people, and served as rabbi of Congregation Sha’arei Shalom in Ashland, MA for 7 years. A graduate of Yale, Rabbi Margie is co-editor of Righteous Indignation: A Jewish Call for Justice. She has appeared in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the LA Times, CNN, and Newsweek for her faith-based social justice work, and was invited to the White House for her leadership.

Tzedek LaKol is proud to be a community partner and present the film, Complicit, a production of the SS St Louis Legacy Project,  which contains rare footage and candid interviews with the heroic Jewish refugees from Germany who were turned away by the United States in June 1939. Question and answer period to follow with film creator, SS St. Louis survivors and Holocaust expert. Register for your link.

Tzedek LaKol invites you on Saturday, March 26, at 11:15 am for a presentation by Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll and CSH member Dr. Jeremy Schiller, Chair of the Salem Board of Health. Dr. Schiller will discuss how he and his family have been targeted with antisemitic threats and messages over Salem’s response to vaccine and mask mandates.

Mayor Driscoll, who has always spoken out forcibly against all forms of hate and injustice, worked closely with Dr. Schiller in response to these acts of antisemitism. She will give us her thoughts and reactions to this and other incidents of hate in our communities.

The program will end at 12 pm with Ruach Rally.

Tzedek LaKol led a discussion on the film, Shared Legacies.

In observance of Black History Month (February 2022), Peggy Shukur, Deputy Regional Director of ADL New England, discusses the impact of hate on our communities. Recorded on February 13, 2022.