You Should Know… Josh Burg

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Photo courtesy of Josh Burg

By Rudy Malcom

Last week, Josh Burg, 23, finished a year-long fellowship with the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in Washington. As an Eisendrath legislative assistant, Burg advocated for racial justice, voting rights, gun violence prevention, ending the death penalty and criminal-justice and campaign-finance reform. The Bay Area native isn’t sure of his next steps, but he plans to remain in D.C.

What attracted you to becoming an Eisendrath legislative assistant?

It’s really through the Union for Reform Judaism where I first discovered my passion for doing social justice work from a place of the Jewish values that we’re all created in the image of God, that we’re tasked with repairing the world. There’s something incredibly exciting about doing justice work from a place that’s deeply grounded in a sense of who I am.

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You spent 16 summers at URJ Camp Newman in California. Can you share a meaningful moment?

Each summer, Camp Newman has a different Hevrah, or intensive social justice session. During the summer of 2013, the theme was immigration, which showed me that making the world a better place has to happen on a systemic level. There was ongoing legislation around driver’s licenses for undocumented folks in California, and we spent all summer learning about immigration, which culminated in getting to travel to Sacramento and lobby our elected officials. The whole time we were doing it through the Jewish value of welcoming the stranger. This was my first glimpse into what Jewish justice work could look like, and it lit a fire in me.

What were your proudest achievements as an Eisendrath legislative assistant?

In April, the Reform movement launched a federal advocacy campaign. We held over 50 lobby meetings with senators from over 30 states, telling our elected officials that securing the freedom to vote for every American —regardless of their race, background, or zip code — is fundamental to our work as Reform Jews. Another piece of work that’s been really exciting was our work around reparations. We’ve been part of a coalition pushing for the study of the legacies of slavery and the creation of reparations proposals. The bill H.R.40 has almost 200 co-sponsors, and we’re close to getting a vote on the floor.

What’s next for you?

I’m still figuring out what comes next, but I’m excited to stay in this justice space in D.C. And one of these days, I’ll go to law school.

How do you avoid burnout?

I run about three miles every day, which helps me separate the difficult content that comes from doing justice work from the rest of my life. Staying grounded in community and getting out of the city and seeing some trees and climbing a mountain are ways I process what is a really hard world to live in and the really hard work of trying to transform that world.

What challenges do you see the Jewish community facing?

It’s time for the Jewish community to return to the sense of justice work that so many of our elders felt in the ‘60s during the civil rights movement, and join coalitions with people of color and other historically marginalized groups to fight for multiracial democracy and human rights. There’s a real question around whether the broader Jewish landscape is going to rise to the moment to meet young people where they’re at — whether it’s on racial justice or other issues like environmental justice or Israel-Palestine — or whether young Jews will have to forge our own way.

How does someone get involved in justice work through a Jewish lens?

Talk to your family, your friends and the people in your Jewish community. People will be surprised to find that there are many others that care about the same issues and are motivated by the same values. Once they’re part of a community of activists, they can speak truth to power about the issues they care about and why they care about them as Jewish people, and what they need their elected officials to do.

Know someone age 40 or younger who has something important to say? Nominate them for a You Should Know interview. Email WJW Editor David Holzel at [email protected]

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