JCJ supported 3 ballot measures. What were the results?
For the past few months, the Jewish Center for Justice community has not only been engaged in a Get Out The Vote campaign across the country, but we actively supported a number of ballot measures in California and the state of Washington. Joining coalitions who hold...
The citizens of Washington have spoken: No more gun violence
By Rabbi Joshua Samuels I have put before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life (Deut 30:19). This week, Washingtonians voted overwhelmingly in favor of Initiative 1639, the only gun-regulation measure on any state ballot this November. With the passage...
Prop 10 Defeat: A Lost Opportunity to Achieve Fair Housing
LOS ANGELES — In response to the failure of Proposition 10 on the California ballot, Rabbi Joel Thal Simonds, Executive Director of the Jewish Center for Justice, released the following statement: “The Jewish Center for Justice is troubled by the defeat of Proposition...
You do not have to be somebody in a position of power to do something
By Julie Bank In a moment when we were without words, we gathered in community and found strength from our leaders who managed to speak of light during a time of darkness. As the Board Chair of the Jewish Center for Justice, Sunday’s briefing with Lt. Gov. Gavin...
Victory in California: 8 Bills Recently Signed into Law
By Rabbi Joel Simonds Over the past few months, the JCJ community in California has been working with diverse coalitions to pass legislation that would strengthen our state’s gun violence prevention laws, protect our environment, assist those struggling with poverty,...
Actually, Your Vote Does Matter
By Ryan Biehl Ever since I was a young boy, I always assumed that voting was one of those things everyone did. This idea was ingrained in me early on by my parents, who have voted in every election that I can remember. When I was seven, they even took me out of school...
My Message to First-time Voters: Let’s Do This!
By Jeremy Cronig On March 24, I marched in Washington, DC with hundreds of thousands of my peers. Feeling compelled to act, we descended on our nation’s capital because we felt hopeless. My generation is not lazy. My generation is not apathetic. Young people will have...
Voting, It Runs in the Family
By Michelle Shapiro Sampson Growing up in my family, there was always an understanding that when you turn 18, you vote. No excuses and no exceptions. I remember the first time I voted. I had just turned 18 and I traveled with my mother to our polling place at an...
Vote Your Voice – A High Holy Day Call to GOTV
By Max Rosenblum Did you know that 40 percent of all eligible voters did not cast a ballot in the 2016 Election? Even more striking, less than half of young adults (age 18-29) voted in 2016. These figures provided the axis point for the particularly poignant High Holy...
Keeping our Social Justice Promises this Rosh Hashanah
Written by Julie Bressler When I sat down to write a sermon about the #MeToo movement almost one year ago, I anticipatorily included the sentence, “After a few weeks of activity, the #MeToo tidal wave was overtaken by another social justice initiative and...