Jews United for Justice hosted “Mobilize for the Future,” an educational community event, at the Edlavitch DCJCC on Sept. 28.
“People, I think, are feeling a bit hopeless and unsure of what to do,” Yael Shafritz, D.C. director for Jews United for Justice, told Washington Jewish Week. “We want to give folks the connections, the community, the people to do their work and feel like they don’t have to do it alone. They’re not doing it alone. And in this moment, when it’s really unclear what the future looks like for folks in the District, this is a place where you can find community.”
The event lasted three hours and included interactive stations, storytelling and community-building exercises, with participants arriving and leaving throughout the morning.
“I feel like at this moment, more than ever, it’s important to be taking action. I like [Jews United for Justice’s] approach on organizing locally and focusing on local issues,” Flo Low, an attendee of the event, told Washington Jewish Week.
The event was Low’s second with Jews United for Justice, and she said that grassroots activism is crucial: “I think the more we can connect with our neighbors and people that are close by, the more connected we can make the local social fabric. I think that’s what’s going to make change right now.”
The program opened with a personal story from Shafritz, who described witnessing Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detaining a man on a nearby street corner by a local coffee shop and fire station.
“As they took him away, just his coffee and his pastry was left on the street,” Shafritz said. “Actually seeing it on my street corner, seeing the coffee cup left on the ground, really hit me hard.”
The story was followed by a community-building exercise in which the organizers had attendees line up in order of the first political action they had ever taken part in. On one side of the room stood attendees whose first political action was in the late 1960s, and on the other side were attendees whose first action was in 2021.
After the initial community-building exercise, the event transitioned into an open-house-style format, with attendees circulating among a series of tables, each with its own interactive activity. The tables represented D.C. Jews United for Justice’s campaigns, such as the Housing Justice Working Group, Family Issues and Parent Organizing, the Neighborhood Action Group, the Labor Justice Working Group and Campaign Electoral Work.
The activities for each table varied from brainstorming ideas to informational sessions with crafts.
Michelle Engelmann, who has been volunteering with Jews United for Justice since the first Trump administration, co-led the Family Issues and Parent Organizing table at the event.
“We’re doing some really important work and [I hope attendees] sign up to get involved,” said Engelmann. “Whatever they feel most grabs them and what’s most important to them.”
Another attendee, Erica Schoenberg, who is new to D.C., said she had been wanting to go to a Jews United for Justice event for some time now after originally being invited to go with the group to a protest a few weeks ago.
“I live in D.C. now, and there’s crazy stuff happening here. I’m also looking for Jewish community,” Schoenberg told Washington Jewish Week.
Ultimately, Shafritz said, the event was about sharing information and bringing the community together around Jewish values.
“I hope we can set the groundwork for an annual, wider community meeting where it’s not just [Jews United for Justice] volunteers [who] come, but also the wider community feels like this is an opportunity to touch base with [Jews United for Justice],” Shafritz added. “It’s an opportunity to ground in community, to learn with each other, to feel connected, to feel some hope, but also to feel something tangible: ‘Here’s what I can actually do to make a difference.’”
