Rabbi Michael Safra
Since Oct. 7, many have wondered aloud how the Jewish community could continue to involve itself in issues of racial justice. How can we involve ourselves in universalist matters when the tribal issues of war in Israel and rising antisemitism in America are so pressing?
Some question the utility of interfaith dialogue and relational work outside the Jewish community when so many of those espousing progressive values have failed to recognize or acknowledge the deep Jewish relationship to Israel and our communal pain in this moment. I understand the concerns but submit that absenting ourselves from the larger faith community during this critical moment would not be wise; it would only make things worse for the Jewish community.
My congregation’s foray into interfaith social justice and racial justice work came in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder in 2020. In that moment, I knew our congregation had to act so our Jewish values might inform the nation’s racial reckoning. I had read Pew’s 2013 “A Portrait of Jewish Americans,” in which 56% of Jews surveyed said that “working for justice/equality is an essential part of what being Jewish means to them.” (The 2021 update to that study raises the number to 59%.) To not do something would be akin to telling those Jews that their synagogue would not assist them in expressing their full Jewish selves. In that moment, silence felt seemed akin to irrelevance.
But it wasn’t simple. I had long been conscious of the divide between Judaism’s universalist and particularist values. While there are lots of people to support justice causes, precious few share our interest in Jewish education, Israel and the other tribalist causes critical for Jewish survival. There was also the issue of “politics.” Everybody agrees that murder is wrong, but a “racial reckoning” seems divisive. Our congregation of over 1,100 households prides itself as a “big tent” politically. It would be wrong to make members of our community feel that their synagogue was “choosing sides,” and worse for anyone to feel excluded in the name of “diversity.” The path forward was far from obvious.
We partnered with Washington Hebrew Congregation, one of the premier congregations in our community and, indeed, in the United States. We assumed they might lead us because of the Reform movement’s reputation for articulating Judaism’s universal values. We learned, though, that we shared the same “big tent” values, and all the challenges connected to them. I kept repeating: It’s one thing for a progressive organization to do progressive things; but we are not a progressive organization. What does it mean for a big tent organization to engage in issues that matter in a way that feels appropriate for us?
We decided we had to learn more. We participated in a seminar on anti-racism and interviewed different social justice organizations to see who might be able to tailor a program to our needs. We knew our program had to avoid national, politically charged rhetoric. We wanted to focus exclusively on our local community, and we had to choose our causes carefully. We engaged JOIN for Justice to lead our efforts because we believed in their ability to tailor a program to our specific needs.
We formed a team of 25 leaders from each congregation to participate in SEA Change (Study. Engage. Act.). Through an involved recruitment and application process, we invited seasoned congregational leaders together with individuals who had never considered synagogue leadership. We met for 10 months over Zoom to be educated about the history of racism in Montgomery County and be trained on principles of community organizing.
Local activists for education and housing equity taught us what it means to be allies. We organized one-on-one meetings to better get to know the other SEA Change participants. We internalized the “golden rule” of community organizing: Don’t do for others what they can do for themselves. And when pandemic restrictions eased, we finally met in person.
At the end of our training, we divided into “action teams” to plan for both internal (increasing diversity within our congregation) and external (supporting change initiatives in the larger community) change. The action teams’ recommendations led us to join Action in Montgomery, a local, faith-based organizing group; and to designate a liaison to strengthen our congregation’s connection to Jews United for Justice, a local group with a distinctively Jewish mission. With AIM, we conducted “listening tours” to choose appropriate initiatives for our broad coalition of Jews, Protestants and Catholics of diverse races, ethnicities and socio-economic status. Internally, we at B’nai Israel created a Belonging Committee to foster better inclusion of Jews of Color, LGBTQ Jews, non-Jewish members and Jews of different observance and educational backgrounds within our congregation. This committee works separately from our Disability Inclusion Committee, which has its own sacred mission. The SEA Change Initiative became the SEA Change Coalition.
Since then, SEA Change has been nothing short of transformative for our congregation. Members who once resigned themselves to the margins of congregational life stepped up as active leaders. Working with allies through AIM and JUFJ, we scored legislative victories in areas of affordable housing, universal pre-K and equitable climate change. We formed new and deep relationships with partners in the interfaith community. This year, we are revamping our Hebrew High School program to include a “Mitzvah Corps,” and we are engaging our partners at JUFJ for training. We created a clergy group, Bridge Builders, to facilitate dialogue with the Black community, a program that will expand this year to include a teen component. Our Belonging Committee expanded Pride Shabbat to encompass an entire month and is working on a series of new initiatives to better foster diversity and belonging within the congregation.
The strongest sign of our success is that our work has been replicated. Our local Jewish Community Relations Council joined AIM as but one step toward expanding its interfaith outreach work. Join for Justice recruited a second SEA Change cohort, and the local Jewish Federation funded a third cohort as well. SEA Change spread to Boston with funding from the CJP and is exploring expansion to additional cities.
Of course, this work is not without its challenges. The complications of Oct. 7 are real, as is the confusion regarding the intentions of some we used to call allies. But so is the contention that racial justice is not just an “outside issue.” It remains a critical objective for our Jewish community to include more Jews of Color (and other too-often marginalized Jews) in congregational life and to provide opportunities for members who wish to express their Judaism through social activism.
Oct. 7 also taught us the importance of relationships. True as the challenges of the moment are, we know of no better way to address them than in relationship. We were pleased when allies in the Black Christian community chose to show solidarity by collecting gas masks to send to Israel. We were honored when other allies reached out to express solidarity or support Jewish colleagues. And we appreciated when friends with misgivings felt they could come to us with questions about Israel; our answers were firm and honest about Judaism’s deep connection to Israel. It is not a perfect story and there have certainly been instances of disappointment and regret. But we are grateful for the tools SEA Change gives us to address those disappointments — not with every detractor, but with those whose friendship we trust — through relationship.
Most of all, I am grateful for the training, relationships, and institutional support for SEA Change, which enables us to live our Jewish values, build community and take small but significant steps to improve our world.
Rabbi Michael Safra is Senior Rabbi of B’nai Israel Congregation in Rockville, Maryland. He is a member of the Racial Justice Subcommittee of the Conservative movement’s Social Justice Commission.
