A Word From Social Justice Coordinator Jason Taper
Shalom y'all! Social Justice is more important now than ever. I'm sharing opportunities to organize and respond from home.
Our community just keeps making our voice heard louder and louder.
We made sure our communities voted in the July primary runoff, and we're ramping up to make sure we turn out in November too--and that we bring along the voter-suppressed communities around us. We're going to keep the calls coming, both within our community and to marginalized voters across Texas with Reclaim Our Vote.
We're meeting with county election officials to make sure the November election goes more smoothly than the July runoff. We're at the table for the Austin budget process, making sure our city's budget reflects our Jewish values. And we're going to keep the conversation going at Council Member Alter's office hours.
And our community is only getting bigger! RAC-TX has founded clusters across the state. For us, that's Central Texas, mostly our 2 shuls and San Antonio. I'm working closely with Ross Halfant, my Temple Beth El counterpart in San Antonio, to keep our organizing going! He's helped organize great civic engagement work, and I'm excited for us to keep moving forward together.
So as nuts as the world is right now, our community has stood up in the face of all of it and said, we're going to keep speaking up for our Jewish values: democracy, equality, and empathy. Kol HaKavod to y'all!
Regardless of shul affiliation, the point of contact for every initiative listed would be happy to have your help. And if you simply want to ask how best to be an ally, or how we got here, please reply to this email, fill out the form above, or call me. My email is jason.austinsocialjustice@gmail.com, and my number is 469-834-9987. Thank you! Forward, Jason Taper, Social Justice Coordinator
Austin City Budget Advocacy
Congregation Beth Israel Contacts: Mindy Lee |mindyem@gmail.com, Liz Mitlak | mitlakej@gmail.com Interfaith & Temple Beth Shalom Contact: Rachel Gunner | rachelgunner@hotmail.com Upcoming Events: Council Member Alter Budget Office Hours The following times are the easiest way to get the ear of CM Alter, a member of the CBI community. Make your voice as an Austinite heard! RSVP links and times below.
Austin City Council is determining the budget for FY21. A hearing on July 30 will be the main source of public input for the budget, which gets adopted Aug. 12.
Central Texas Interfaith, of which both Temple Beth Shalom and Congregation Beth Israel aremembers, is active in budget advocacy. Their Community Policing initiative is particularly involved in this effort. Members of both shuls are welcome.
Some of our partner organizations have madethis tool to show how Austin's budget is allocated--and for us to show how it would look if it aligned with our values.
Advocates for Social Justice Reform (Equal Justice Initiative)
Contact: Bob Batlan | bobbatlan1@gmail.com Email Bob for a Zoom invitation and/or to join our mailing list. Upcoming Event: Forum for an Equal Justice System Aug. 5, 7:00 p.m., online For the Zoom link, RSVP to asjraustin@gmail.com
The Temple Beth Shalom social justice team, Rabbi Freedman, and the Advocates for Social Justice Reform (ASJR) invite you to a conversation about creating a more equal justice system. Social justice has been a topic of conversation in our community. Although police reform has been in the spotlight recently, we choose to focus on another set of inequalities: unequal outcomes from arrest onwards. They will be joined by the county’s new chief public defender, Adeola Ogunkeyede, community advocates Darwin Hamilton and Ofelia Zapata, and defense attorney Chito Vela.Learn more and RSVP here. Upcoming Actions:
Indigent Defense Budget Requests at City of Austin
Advocating for a grant to provide legal support during bail hearings.
Ongoing Work: Meetings with Chief Public Defender, state and county officials, judges and nonprofit leaders to improve Indigent Defense.
"Justice, justice, you shall pursue." A just system of laws is ingrained from Leviticus through King David through every contradicting comment in the Talmud. Even an eye for an eye is blind to whose eye is taken, so we organize for a criminal justice system that is truly fair and impartial.
Religious Action Center - TX
Ongoing Action: ROV Postcards for Democracy Click here to order postcard kitsto contact low-propensity voters of color to help them register and vote.
Ongoing Action: 100% Voting at TBS & CBI: Congregation Beth Israel and Temple Beth Shalom have both had successful phone banks to increase turnout in this July 14 runoff, and are continuing that effort through to November. As we get closer to the November election, Reform Jews will participate in widespread voter engagement efforts. Temple Beth Shalom Contact: Sandy Dochen | smdochen@gmail.com Congregation Beth Israel Contacts: Mindy Lee | mindyem@gmail.com Liz Mitlak | mitlakej@gmail.com
Texas Voter Protection Coalition: RAC-TX joined the Texas Civil Rights Project's Voter Protection Coalition, and holds meetings with county elections officials across the state to advocate for best practices. Contact: Jason Taper | jason.austinsocialjustice@gmail.com
Work So Far: The RAC officially launched theEvery Voice, Every Vote: the Reform Movement’s 2020 Civic Engagement Campaign on May 7. Throughout the year, Reform Jews like us fight injustice by talking directly to our nation’s leaders. Our goal is not the success of one party, but the empowerment of our own community and ensuring that public policies reflect our Jewish values.
Student Civic Engagement Trainings
July 28 and August 23
These trainings, designed for voters and youth activists (ages 14-29), will frame the larger civic engagement campaign and then split into one session for high school students and one for young voters in college, graduate school, and beyond.
The Temple Beth Shalom Refugee Task Force Fund matching grant has raised over $3700. We started with a matching amount of $3500 and now have over $7200. A huge thanks to all of our donors. We plan to donate about half of the funds over the next week or so and will give donations to RST (Refugee Services of Texas) and ASN (Austin Sanctuary Network) for rent assistance and to iACT (Interfaith Action of Central Texas) for ESL and other assistance. We will also use a portion of the funds to buy electronics devices to help people get connected to the Internet. We will distribute additional funds next month. Work So Far: During our Jews for Refugees assembly held on February 2, 2020 we were privileged to have many non-profits attend. HIAS, our partner in this endeavor, put together a flyer entitled "What Should we Do Next?"with opportunities to get involved. Our shared histories and current circumstances reveal how we are all dependent on one another.
Emergency Assistance Fund - monetary donations for rent/utility assistance, food security, technology devices, and internet access
Feed a family [from home] - We'll supply the grocery list, all you have to do is go online, order groceries and set up delivery through Amazon, Instacart or other delivery service.
Laptop and tablet drive - contact Lynn to drop off at RST.
Our own people’s history as “strangers” reminds us of the many struggles faced by immigrants today, and we affirm our commitment to create the same opportunities for today’s refugees that were so valuable to our own community when we fled our gravest dangers.
Ongoing Action: Supporting Hilda and Iván in Sanctuary
Work So Far: protecting Hilda Ramirez and her son Iván, who are Guatemalan asylum seekers, from ICE detention and deportation to certain danger, for 4 years
“The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love them as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” So we show our love and solidarity with Hilda and Iván whenever we can.
TBS Social Justice Core Team (Anti-Poverty)
Contact: Larkin Tackett | 512.657.9383 |larkin.tackett@gmail.com Ongoing Actions: The Anti-Poverty Action Team met with City of Austin staff about aligned efforts and narrowed options for how to define poverty and opportunity. The team continues house meetings to learn with members of the Capital IDEA, Family Independence Initiative, and LifeWorks.
Partnering with other Austin organizations (LifeWorks, Community First! Village, and Capital IDEA) to conduct house meetings to understand issues and identify leaders of families impacted by poverty.
Jewish tradition is filled with commandments to help the poorest among us: feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the widow and orphan. When we organize to place working class voices at the center of how our community morally responds to poverty, we not only improve the advocacy we undertake, but fundamentally empower those who the Torah compels us to uplift.
Texas Alliance for Retired Americans (Ally Group)
Upcoming Event: Medicaid Expansion Caravan in Austin! July 30 Start at Huston-Tillotson--Chalmers Ave. close to 8th Street Gather at 10:30 a.m. to decorate cars Take off at 11:00 a.m. They’ll circle the Governor’s Mansion and the Capitol. https://www.facebook.com/events/287330022476942/ Please contact Judy Bryant (judy4tara@aol.com) or Jan Lance (mjanlance@gmail.com) if you have questions.
Texas Alliance for Retired Americans is celebrating the 55th anniversary of Medicare this month with a campaign to urge Governor Greg Abbott to expand Medicaid, Medicare’s sister program. Medicare has provided health care security for millions of seniors since President Lyndon Johnson signed it into law on July 30, 1965. With TARA’s motto in mind –“Let’s not be the last generation to retire” – we urge Governor Abbott to afford this same security to close to a million low income and uninsured Texans by expanding Medicaid now. Access to health care is key to keeping Texas families healthy and financially stable. We want all Texans to have the health care security that Medicare has provided seniors for the last 55 years.
And if there's anything you're involved in that's not on this list, let me know, and it will be! Here's the blurb format:
Committee or Nonprofit Name Upcoming Event/Action: When: Where: Contact: (name, email, phone # optional) Work so far:
Stay home and safe, Jason
Temple Beth Shalom 7300 Hart Lane Austin, TX 78731
