Take Action Now!
Want to make a difference but not sure how? These one-time actions are a great place to start.
4/19, 7-8:30 PM: Central Texas Interfaith Civic Academy for May 1 Ballot
Learn what's on the ballot and sign up to get out the vote against Prop B and H (against reinstating a public sitting/lying down ban and against changing to a strong-mayor city government). Register here! 4/22, 7-8:30 PM: Be'Chol Lashon Community Conversation 3 of 3
• Austin Jewish Community conversations on diversity, equity, + inclusion as individuals + community.We've discussed implicit bias, intersectionality, and what makes a community more or less inclusive in our past sessions.
• Register here!
Now: Refugee Donations Requested
With the news of refugees at the border and concern over their welfare, there are many opportunities to participate and make a difference. The charities are asking for monetary donations rather than goods which are difficult to sort and disperse.
Central Texas:- Donations to Refugee Fund: Anyone who can contribute (from either congregation) can give to the Refugee Task Force Fund on the Temple Beth Shalom website or contact Russ Apfel .
- Food Deliveries for Refugees: Anyone interested in providing food to an asylum-seeking family on a bi-weekly basis (directly or through a donation) can contact Cathy Campbell . Refugee Services of Texas reports that asylum seeker support services in Austin are overwhelmed. Because families are being treated humanely and released after a day or two of processing at the border, non-profits in Texas that are assisting asylum-seekers will need more resources. Contact Ahmed Abbas at RST by email at Aabbas@rstx.org to assist. Monetary donations and legal assistance are needed.
At the Border: - In El Paso, Annunciation House has been helping migrants for 43 years by providing shelter, basic necessities, and education. Annunciation House has a 100,000 square foot facility that provides housing and meals until transportation to their families can be made. Donations are needed and all funds go to housing these families. Donate at annunciationhouse.org.
- In McAllen, URJ Temple Emanuel is collecting monetary donations to support the work of the Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley’s Respite Center which provides vital support to newly arrived immigrants and asylum seekers. Donate at https://temple-emanuel.com/community/donations-payments/. (Select donation type of General Fund and then specify in the Comment box that your donation is for Catholic Charities Respite Center.)
Now-April: RAC-TX Legislative Advocacy: Democracy Protection + Racial Justice- For Teens (and allies): Join the RAC-TX 2021 Racial Justice Campaign. Sign up to attend one of two issue briefing/lobby prep sessions. (The same session, offered two different times.) We will be organizing teen specific lobby and advocacy meetings supporting criminal justice reform in the state. Sign up to receive RAC-TX updates and be notified when issue briefings are scheduled.
Temple Beth Shalom Congregants: We're surveying experiences of antisemitism to share within our community. Please share here.
Join a Movement!
Change happens person by person. Our community social justice leaders would love to talk to you about how we can make it happen, together.
Religious Action Center - Texas (RAC-TX)
• Email Rabbi David Segal, Liz Mitlak (CBI), or Sandy Dochen (TBS) to get involved, or learn more about our main issue, Democracy Protection, here.
• Advocate for our Jewish values at a statewide level with other Reform congregations.
HIAS Jews for Refugees
• Check with Russ Apfel and Cathy Campbell 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 Refugee Services Texas. For more info about HIAS contact Nancy Wolf or click here.
• Founded as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society in 1881 to assist Jews fleeing from progroms in Russia and Eastern Europe, HIAS has touched the life of nearly every Jewish family in America. These Jewish refugees were facing barriers of language, customs, discrimination, and even worse. Today HIAS continues to help refugees, no matter their religion, ethnicity, or nationality, to escape persecution and resettle in safety, reunite families who have been separated, and help them build new lives all around the world.
Refugee Services of Texas (RST) partners with Temple Beth Shalom and Congregation Beth Israel
• RST is the largest refuge resettlement agency in Texas and has worked with TBS and CBI for several years on a number of projects including Welcome Teams, apartment set-ups, the Asylum Seekers Assistance Program (ASAP), the Shalom Supper, a winter clothing drive, and support for survivors of trafficking. There are many volunteer opportunities through RST which can be found at their monthly newsletter: What's happening at RST (mailchi.mp).
Advocates for Social Justice Reform
• Email Bob Batlan at asjraustin@gmail.com to join or learn more here.
• Next meeting: 4/19, at 10:00 a.m.• ASJR is a local advocacy group focusing on issues surrounding criminal justice reform, especially indigent defense, or representation of the poorest defendants. We focus on developing positive relationships with government officials, community leaders, diverse fellow advocates, and people impacted by the criminal legal system. This approach helped lead to the creation of the Travis County Public Defender's Office. • Current main projects: Implementing funding for legal representation at or before first court appearance (magistration), and supporting County Attorney and District Attorney actions to evaluate cases for dismissal prior to magistration. This can minimize the disruption to people's lives at the earliest possible moment.
Texas Anti-Poverty Project
• Email Larkin Tackett at larkin.tackett@gmail.com to join or learn more here.
• Next Meeting: 4/21, 10:30 AM
• Advocate for living wages in Austin by focusing on access to high-paying jobs at the new Telsa giga-factory, for our neighbors experiencing poverty.
MLK Continued Conversations--Third of Three on 4/22. Register.
• Conversations on diversity, equity, + inclusion as individuals + community
• If you are interested in watching the videos from the first two session on implicit bias, they are available to view below:
o Session 2 full video
o Implicit Bias
o Why We're Awkward
o Four i's of Oppression video
o MLK Discussion Guide
o Identity Mining Worksheet
o Bias Recognition WorksheetResources to support Asian-American communities, in response to the wave of hate crimes, accessible here. Thanks to a community-wide effort for making this possible.
Winter Storm Resources are all still accessible here.
A Word from Your Social Justice CoordinatorWith all that’s going on right now, you’d be forgiven for not knowing that an election starts next Monday (so have a polling place map). I mean, there’s tons of news at every level. Nationally, we’re set to end a two-decade war. But we also continue to reckon with killings of Bar Mitzvah-age children, at the hands of some officers who act with self-perceived impunity, and the police riots that inevitably follow. Statewide, we fight against a wave of bills that would suppress our votes. Locally, we have a set of propositions for a May 1 election that could, among other things, re-criminalize homelessness without providing help or solutions to our unhoused neighbors.
Central Texas Interfaith will have a Civic Academy this Monday, explaining each proposition. I’ll leave the all-encompassing details until then (I'm presenting!). As members of that coalition, Temple Beth Shalom and Congregation Beth Israel have joined in opposition to Props B and F. Prop F would shake up city government, giving the mayor (post-term-limited-NJB-Adler) a veto on any policy, replacing the city manager and weakening the council. Prop B, though, would reinstate the sitting/lying down ban, essentially making it illegal to be unhoused. Sitting down in public with any possession but your clothes would be a fine of up to $500, which turns into warrants for arrests.
If there’s one thing Jewish teachings are pretty clear on, it’s the commandments to protect the most vulnerable among us. We must "share [our] bread with the hungry and bring the homeless into [our] house." (Isaiah 58:7) To be fair, we share that with most major religions, because it seems like basic human dignity. In order to provide support to the most vulnerable among us, we have to listen to them and what they need. So I present to you a sign from I-35, with notes from our unhoused neighbors:
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