This newsletter has notifications on many ways to advocate and act. There is so much news this month and the actions do not appear in priority order, please read all the way through!
Social Justice needs do not take a summer vacation. We will continue to keep you notified regarding important news and opportunities with one summer newsletter in mid July.
Please join us at the Tzedek Team Celebration to welcome back Rabbi Laura and look back on our many accomplishments and plan for next year. Sincere thanks to Elizabeth Connolly, Tzedek Committee Chair. Elizabeth has kept us moving forward with passion and commitment and we are grateful for her time and efforts to helping us achieve moral clarity.
Best wishes to all for a happy, safe and joyful summer,
Marion Pollock Tzedek Newsletter Editor
Tzedek Team Celebration 6/21 – “Looking Back, Looking Forward”
On Wednesday evening, June 21 we will have a Tzedek Team Celebration at the Temple. The theme is “Looking Back, Looking Forward” – we will celebrate the activities of this year and do some looking forward to next year. Rabbi Laura will be back from her sabbatical, and we’ll look forward to getting together in a face-to-face event, sharing some desserts and conversation, and looking towards next year. Please plan to join us! If you have any thoughts about topics you want to make sure we cover, please contact econnolly@srsmedical.com. Looking forward to seeing you there!
Freedge Volunteer Thank You Shabbat June 9
It has now been more than two years since the Newton Freedge opened its doors, and Temple Shalom volunteers have been an important part of the Freedge team. Plan to come to Shabbat Services on Friday June 9 at 6:30 when we will talk about the Freedge, hear from past Freedge team captains, and recognize all who have volunteered on this important project to fight food insecurity in our own community.
Climate Action
On June 4, Green Newton welcomes you to tour Garland Street and talk with neighbors there about Home Energy Projects.
He who takes one life, it is as though he has destroyed the universe, and he who saves one life, it is as though he has saved the universe. - Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5
June is Gun Violence Prevention Month. While Newton has relatively low rates of gun ownership and gun violence, the number of gun licenses in Newton has increased steadily in recent years reflecting national trends. One practical way we can help reduce the threat of gun violence in our community is through a gun buyback, which provides a safe way for residents to turn in unwanted guns. In the 2019 Newton buyback, 46 firearms and 2,500 rounds of ammunition were surrendered and destroyed in Newton, permanently removing them from circulation. The buyback will be led on June 24, 9:00am-12:00, by the Newton Police Department in partnership with the Middlesex Sheriff's Office and the Newton Gun Violence Prevention Collaborative.
Reproductive Justice Initiative (RJI)
1) Shining a Light on Reproductive Justice: An Issue for Us All: Warm thanks to all who joined us at this RJI May 12th kick-off. We were delighted by the at-capacity turn out. Krisitie Monast, Executive Director of Health Q Health Services and Claire Teylouni, Director of Government Affairs, Reproductive Equity Now, were exceptional speakers. They offered an excellent snapshot of abortion services in MA as well as a comprehensive view of the national landscape. Their overall message: while overall it is extremely disturbing, we can feel grateful at this time to live in Massachusetts. The goal of the anti-choicers is to abolish abortion everywhere, so it is incumbent upon us to stay informed.
We were grateful that Rabbi Berry incorporated prayers and messages about reproductive justice into the Friday night service that preceded the educational portion.
If you were unable to attend the event, here is a link for the educational program. Passcode: 0zfuJbS^. NOTE: On the link, the presentation begins around 3:05 and ends around 1:17, followed by 10 minutes or so of people talking and cleaning up.
Many members of the RJI task force played a key role in the success of the evening, but special shout outs to Susie Gudema and Marion Pollack, who arranged the delicious dinner and dining room set up, and Laura Scharf and Abby Fireman, who brought their sons to the event and worked earnestly to invite other teens, reflecting their commitment to educating young people about the issue.
2) NECHAMA COMFORT PACKAGES FOR POST-ABORTION CARE: The evening was the kick-off for our campaign to create 150 comfort packages to donate to Kristie Monast's Health Q Reproductive Clinic in Lawrence, MA. YOUR HELP IS NEEDED TO MAKE THIS EFFORT A SUCCESS! We are in particular need of $10 gift cards to either CVS or Target so that recipients can purchase over-the-counter pain relief. Please bring gift cards to the Temple - during business hours, leave them in the office with Gray or Scott; after business hours, leave them in the locked collection box on the first floor near the reception desk OR contact Susan Goodman at susan.d.goodman@gmail.com to arrange a pick up. There are still other items needed on our Amazon registry.
The campaign extends through June 30. We will be assembling the packages at the Temple either at the end of the summer or early fall so that we can bring them to Health Q in mid-September. Contact Wendy Case at wbcase@aol.com if you would like to participate.
We would be remiss not to offer a shout out to Temple Shalom Sisterhood, which is purchasing several of the essential items needed for the comfort packages, and Temple Beth Elohim, one of our partners in the comfort packages campaign, for offering us guidance and resources.
3) ADVOCACY ALERTS: Joy Elbaum is sending out terrific legislative updates on bills that reflect our Temple's commitment to reproductive justice - the ability to choose whether to have children and the ability to raise them in safe, healthy environments. Thanks to JALSA - Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action - for initiating many of these alerts. To be added to Joy's distribution list, email her at j.elbaum@verizon.net
4) JOIN OUR TASK FORCE! Our immediate goal is to complete the Nechama packages in the fall. Help us navigate our next directions! Email either Susan Goodman. or Wendy Case - we look forward to hearing from you! Thanks - Wendy Case (wbcase@aol.com) and Susan Goodman (susan.d.goodman@gmail.com)
Upholding Our Community's Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Newton Upstanders is a new, action-oriented community group in Newton that formed to stand up in support of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in our schools and city. We came together in March to speak at a Public Hearing in support of Newton Public Schools' commitment to racial equity and again in early April to show support for students from Newton North High School’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance and their ToBeGlad Day programming. After these two events, we agreed that there was a need in Newton to stay connected, informed, and vigilant to ensure that local and national groups don't undermine our community's commitment to DEI. You can read more about us by visiting our websiteand reading our FAQs and news stories. We hope you will join our email list, sign our Values Statement, like and follow our Facebook page, and reach out at newtonupstanders@gmail.com if you would like to become more involved.
JALSA Advocacy Alert
Through Temple Shalom’s membership in the Jewish Alliance for Law & Social Action (JALSA), we join with JALSA and its many allies in pursuit of social, economic, environmental, and racial justice. Here is a current opportunity to make your voice heard towards those goals.
Contact Your Senator to Include Permanent School Meals for All in the Budget!
JALSA is proud to be a Feed Kids Coalition member, eager to solve childhood hunger across Massachusetts, beginning in our schools. Though childhood hunger persists in our state, 80,000 more kids are eating each day in Massachusetts because of School Meals for All in communities that otherwise would not have access. This program provides resources for families that are struggling to keep food on the table.
At the start of the pandemic, a federal waiver allowed all students to get a free school lunch. This led to 56,000 additional kids getting access to nutritious food, without the stigma previously associated with accepting free meals. When that waiver expired, ours was one of only five states to extend this policy. Now, we need to make it permanent. Once the program is permanent, all current and future Massachusetts students will consistently have access to free breakfast and lunch, without stigma and regardless of income.
The Massachusetts House of Representatives included permanent funding for School Meals for All in its budget. We now need the Senate to include this proposal in its upcoming Fiscal Year 2024 budget to get across the finish line.
Through our coalition partners at Project Bread, you can learn more about this program and contact your state senator directly to urge them to support permanent funding for School Meals for All in the FY24 budget at this link.
