Campaign Gives Young Jews a Platform To Fight for Racial Justice

Image by Getty Images

By Marcy Oster January 11, 2017

(JTA) — A campaign to engage Jewish young adults in taking action for racial justice is sponsoring a platform for people to find opportunities across the country for Martin Luther King Day weekend.

The year-long “Act Now for Racial Justice,” a program of the Repair the World initiative, plans to engage thousands of Jewish young adults in supporting racial justice through volunteer service, dialogue and learning over the MLK holiday weekend.

Among the events happening in cities throughout the Unites States is “Turn The Tables,” a do-it-yourself dinner dialogue initiative. The Repair initiative provides guides for the dinners, which include discussion questions for conversations about racial justice, the election and inauguration, and the connection between Jewish values and racial justice.

“Americans are experiencing a tough moment of transition, especially those among us who feel fearful and vulnerable coming out of the election,” says David Eisner, CEO of Repair the World. “Young adults are demanding more opportunities to take action in solidarity with these vulnerable communities. Martin Luther King promoted the primacy of service not as just another good thing to do, but as our most central means for connecting with others. As we approach MLK Day, his words are with us: ‘Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve,’ and ‘Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘What are you doing for others?’”

Jewish organizations who are partnering with the Repair initiative on the Act Now for Racial Justice program include OneTable, Moishe House, and the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO