Table of Contents - Action Items * MLK Shabbat: 1/15-17 * Jewish Community Forum With Councilmember Alison Alter: 12/6, 4:00 p.m. * ADL Concert Against Hate, Honoring Harvey Burg: 12/6 * RAC-TX Legislative Research Team * RST Winter Clothing Drive: until 12/10 * Anti-Poverty Meeting With County Judge Brown: 12/11 * Advocates for Social Justice Reform: Every Monday * HIAS National Jews for Refugees Assembly: 12/14 * Refugee Fund Donation Request * Refugee Food Deliveries * Chavruaction Circles: 1/15 Cohort Bet deadline
A Word From Social Justice Coordinator Jason Taper
Early Voting has started!! Vote early until 12/11, or vote on Runoff Election Day, 12/15.
Wait, what? Aren’t we done with that? Nope! One more election this year--and I wouldn’t be a good Social Justice Coordinator if I didn’t tell you it was the most important one, would I?
This runoff election is for two City Council seats, as well as two Austin ISD seats. To find out if you’re inAustin City CouncilD6 or D10, or AISD D5, check out these linked maps. But the other AISD seat, D8, is city-wide, so please make sure to vote wherever you live! Polling places here.
Local races matter, and often have more of an impact on your daily life than federal elections. The quality of your streets, your air, your public transportation, your parks, your first response, and even crucial programs like the RISE fund for COVID relief, are all local.
I’d like to share a story of an ally of our community named Ofelia Maldonado Zapata. Ofelia works closely with Larkin Tackett on Anti-Poverty organizing and with Bob Batlan and Advocates for Social Justice Reform. Conventional Wisdom would have counted her out--she raised a relatively tiny $4,000, started campaigning in October, and didn’t really get endorsements. But Ofelia has been organizing in her East Austin community for her entire life, showing up for those who need it most, especially in her PTA for Eastside Memorial. Ofelia is now the AISD District 2 Trustee, because her community showed up for her, by a landslide of about 14,000. When a community comes together for someone who’s put in the time to listen, we all win real representation. And because fewer people vote in local races, your vote counts proportionately even more. So congrats to my mentor Ofelia, and to all of y’all, please VOTE one last time this crazy year.
And as always, 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! L'shalom, Jason Taper, Social Justice Coordinator
Join Council Member Alison Alter Sunday at 4:00 p.m. for a special discussion with the Austin Jewish community about any issue close to our community. CM Alter hopes to earn our vote to continue her advocacy! Register for the Zoom below.
Upcoming Event: Meet State Rep. Celia Israel When: 12/8, 3 P.M. Contact Sandy Dochen for details.
Ongoing Action: Research Team RAC-TX is gearing up for the 87th session of the Texas Legislature! Before it convenes, in person or virtually, this January, we are conducting research meetings to determine what our legislative agenda will be. We're talking to experts from across the state on issues like education, criminal justice reform, voting rights, gerrymandering, and Medicaid expansion. Join us and have a say in what Texas Reform Jews advocate for! Contact Rabbi David Segal for details, at DSegal@rac.org.
Work So Far: The RAC officially launched theEvery Voice, Every Vote: the Reform Movement’s 2020 Civic Engagement Campaign. 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. We turned out our own congregants to close to 100% voting, and partnered with Reclaim Our Vote, a nonpartisan group whose mission is to counteract the effects of voter suppression on communities of color.
CBI Social Action Committee Watch this space! Our post-election advocacy and community-building efforts only continue to grow.
Ongoing Actions: • You have heard about the CBI Chavruaction Circles and we are excited to expand the program to the entire CBI community! The purpose of this program is to gather in small groups for anti-racist learning and action. You can join our second cohort of circles, "Cohort Bet," by completing this sign-up form (DEADLINE TO SIGN UP IS FRIDAY, JANUARY 15TH). Chavruaction Circles meet once a month for two hours and receive approximately 1-2 hours of pre-meeting study assignments Gatherings always include some form of suggested action (e.g., personal reflection, research, advocacy, community initiatives, etc.). For questions, please contact Mindy Lee at mindyem@gmail.com.
• After phenomenal civic engagement efforts for the November General election, there is still more work to do! To learn more about how to stay involved and join Georgia Get Out the Vote efforts, visit Every Voice, Every Vote or contact Mindy Lee at mindyem@gmail.com or Liz Mitlak at mitlakej@gmail.com.
Ongoing Actions: The Texas Anti-Poverty Project is researching the recent agreement between Travis County and Tesla to improve contractor wages. We also work with Workforce Solutions to connect people to jobs.
Upcoming Events: Meeting with Travis County Judge Brown When: 12/11, 10:30-11 A.M.
Anti-Poverty House Meeting When: Dec. 16, 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
Work So Far: * Meeting with Texas Senator Judith Zaffirini and Travis County Commissioner Margaret Gomez about a potential Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone around the new Tesla Gigafactory to make investments in education, job training, and other community needs in Del Valle * Education about strategies highlighted in NY Times, Tamarack Institute (Canada), andCentral Iowa * 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.
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. Ongoing Work: We start by meeting one on one with government officials, community leaders, a diverse group of fellow advocates, and people impacted by the legal justice system. We learn about strengths and weaknesses of current approaches. We focus on developing positive relationships with all so they will work with us to make improvements to complex problems. Our approach has been successful, and we are considered a key voice for positive change.
Current areas of focus:
• Assure successful startup of the Travis County Public Defender Office • Improve quality and accountability of indigent defense • Obtain a grant in support of legal representation at first court appearance • Improve how accused are treated pretrial • Partner to implement Participatory Defense
Recent Meetings: • Betty Blackwell – President of the Board of Capital Area Public Defender Service • Roger Jefferies – Travis County Justice and Public Safety Executive • Jose Garza – Candidate for Travis County District Attorney • Adeola Ogunkeyede – Travis County Chief Public Defender • Bradley Hargis - Executive Director Capital Area Private Defender Service • Public Defender Office Staff
"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.
Refugee, Asylee, and Immigrant Action
Both Congregation Beth Israel and Temple Beth Shalom have been active in working to support organizations that provide support and services to refugees, asylees and immigrants. Our main partners are Refugee Services of Texas (RST), Austin Sanctuary Network (ASN) and HIAS (formerly Hebrew Immigrant Assistance Society).
Temple Beth Shalom and Congregation Beth Israel have both sponsored several Welcome Teams through RST to help settle new refugees in Austin. In the last year, very few refugees have come to Austin due to policies of the federal government and we have re-focused on efforts towards asylees. We pushed RST and provided significant financial support for them to start an asylee program called ASAP with funding for a caseworker. Ahmed Abbas is the caseworker and was a speaker at the Austin Jews for Refugees Assemble that we hosted last year with HIAS. We have connected RST with ASN which is supporting 25+ families with weekly food deliveries, rent assistance, computers, winter clothing and legal assistance. We have raised over $14k which has been spent to support these activities. Our Winter Clothing Drive has provided clothes to more than 70 people. We provide food to 25 families each week and have given 20 computers to these families. Along with funds from RST and the City of Austin RISE fund we have helped these families stay in their homes.
We need more help with food deliveries. Anyone interested in providing food to a family on a weekly basis (directly or through a donation) can contact Cathy Campbell (cathybquilter@gmail.com).
We have used most of funds and anyone who can contribute (from either congregation) can give to the TBS Refugee Task Force Fund on the TBS website or contact Russ Apfel (russapfel@yahoo.com).
Refugee Services of Texas Upcoming Events: November 23 - December 10: Winter Clothing Drive Through Dec. 10, RST is partnering with local businesses and faith communities across Texas to help keep our clients WARM. Find the full list of where you can drop off new winter clothing and gift cards for our clients at: www.rstx.org. (Note: the clothing drive for asylee clients served through ASN is over; this drive for other clients at RST has different drop off sites.) December 10 - International Human Rights Day: for details visit www.rstx.org. Thank you to all volunteers who helped deliver hot meals to clients on Thanksgiving. STEP (Survivors of Trafficking Empowerment program) appreciates you!
HIAS Upcoming Events: Monday, December 14th, at 6:30 p.m. ET, HIAS is putting on the first ever National Jews for Refugees Assembly! This will be an opportunity for individuals, congregations, rabbis, organizations, and elected officials committed to refugees and asylum seekers to come together for an hour of learning and action. We’ll light menorahs, Shira Klein, an incredible musician, is performing, and there will be compelling speakers as well.
What we’d especially love is for coalitions to bring delegations to this gathering, so please share this with your lists and reach out to key folks you especially want to be part of this work in 2021. We encourage you to try for a “minyan” (group of 10) from your congregation or state-wide coalition, but you can bring a smaller or larger group! Please let Nancy Wolf know if you'd like to attend on 12/14, or would like details on the assembly or how we can show Austin support for refugees. 512-917-3731nwolf1000@gmail.com Please also register for the assembly here: National Jews for Refugees Assembly | HIAS
Ongoing Action: Online Volunteer Orientation and Training Contact Lynn Burdick, RST's volunteer coordinator, to learn how to get involved with RST online volunteering!
Ongoing Action: Online Volunteer Orientation and Training Contact Lynn Burdick, RST's volunteer coordinator, to learn how to get involved with RST online volunteering!
Check with Russ and Cathy for updates on the Temple Beth Shalom Refugee Task Force, Austin Sanctuary Network, and Refugee activities at CBI. They work closely with Ahmed Abbas, the Asylum Caseworker at RST. For more info about HIAS contact Nancy Wolf.
iACT - Refugee Youth Mentors Needed IACT's iLEARN Refugee Youth Program is currently seeking new mentors for refugee teens. Mentors work with a high-school-aged refugee for the school year. Mentors are asked to virtually meet with their student every week to help with homework, answer questions, and help with transition into American culture.
If you are interested in becoming a mentor for refugee youth, please contact Refugee Youth Program Coordinator Maggie Wagner at: mwagner@interfaithtexas.org
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
