Park Slope Synagogue Becomes Center of Anti-Trump Activism

Image by Jennifer Friedlin

By Josh Nathan-Kazis January 17, 2017

Brooklyn activists filled a Park Slope synagogue January 16 to organize opposition to the incoming Donald Trump administration.

Organizers estimated that hundreds of activists attended the meeting, held in the sanctuary of Congregation Beth Elohim, a Reform congregation.

Called #getorganizedbk, the group was founded in November by New York City Councilman Brad Lander, who represents Park Slope and Boro Park, and by Rabbi Rachel Timoner, senior rabbi of Beth Elohim.

“It’s literally packed to the rafters,” said Jennifer Friedlin, a member of the group’s steering committee.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Day meeting was the group’s fourth. Working groups tied to #getorgnaizedbk have already organized a protest outside of the Park Slope home of Senator Chuck Schumer, asking him to take a hard line against Trump appointees.

Just 4 of many working groups active at #GetOrganizedBK tonight: fighting appt’s, Islamophobia/anti-Sem, safety net. https://t.co/whLh8nADGK pic.twitter.com/vETRXoUPWo

— Brad Lander (@bradlander) January 17, 2017

Lander has been a vocal supporter of the group, using his social media presence and his City Council web page to post updates.

“He reminds people this is a marathon, not a sprint, and that the work is going to get a lot harder,” Friedlin said. “He’s really given voice to people’s fear and rage.”

Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at [email protected]

Josh Nathan-Kazis is a staff writer for the Forward. He covers charities and politics, and writes investigations and longform.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’re in the middle of our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we have a very ambitious goal of $127,000 by April 21.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO