Dear friends,
Earlier this afternoon, I participated in the first webinar for The Global Justice Fellowship, an elite program for rabbis run by American Jewish World Service (AJWS). Inspired by the Jewish commitment to justice, AJWS works to realize human rights and end poverty in the developing world. They work in 19 countries in the Global South, supporting grassroots initiatives in some of the most impoverished and oppressed places on earth, and advocate for U.S. policies that help improve the lives of people in the developing world.
Though AJWS has been around since the 1980’s, I first encountered the organization while in college. In my junior year, I travelled with AJWS to Honduras on an “Alternative Spring Break,” and it changed my life. For the first time, I witnessed the poverty of the developing world, the role my country - and the role I as both a participant and a bystander in American life - played in orchestrating and perpetuating that poverty, and how the Jewish tradition could help me better understand and respond to those injustices. My experience on that Alternative Spring Break propelled my journey to the rabbinate and has ever since animated my rabbinic work.
So when AJWS nominated me for this fellowship, I was eager to accept. The Fellowship is designed to inspire, educate and train “key opinion leaders in the American Jewish community” (and also me, apparently) to become better advocates for global justice. I will be joined in the Fellowship by 14 extraordinary colleagues, leading rabbis who represent a broad array of backgrounds, communities, experiences and networks.
Together, we will learn about the meaning of justice and global responsibility in the Jewish tradition, about the challenges faced by people in the developing world, about the ways in which we as Americans are interconnected with citizens of the Global South, and about AJWS’s indispensable work.
A highlight of the Fellowship will be traveling to Guatemala with AJWS this January, where we will learn from grassroots activists working to overcome poverty and injustice. The travel experience will be preceded by innovative trainings that will prepare us to galvanize our communities and networks to advance the Jewish vision of justice. We will also convene in Washington, D.C.. this spring, encouraging our elected officials to adopt policies that advance our values.
The Fellowship is designed to accommodate the busy schedules of working rabbis and will not adversely impact my responsibilities at TBE, which are and will always be my first priority. At the same time, it is important to recognize that my participation in this prestigious Fellowship is a meaningful way for me to help deepen and advance our work as a congregation. After all, central to our mission as a congregation is building “a more compassionate, just, and peaceful world.” Our congregational values state that we embrace our responsibility to “fight for human dignity, champion equality, and pursue justice,” and “we take seriously our humanitarian obligations as Jews.” I take part in this Fellowship yearning to learn more so that I can better partner with all of you in pursuing our congregation’s mission and living up to our values. And it is a great way for us to increase the prominence and visibility of our amazing congregation, demonstrating our leadership in this crucial work. I am grateful to our wonderful president, Benita Felmus, and to our congregation’s leadership, for recognizing all of this and supporting my participation. And I am similarly grateful to you all for helping me help our congregation and all of God’s children.
Over the course of the year, I look forward to sharing my experiences and learning with you, whether through writings, sermons, classes, casual conversations, and formal initiatives. Please do not hesitate to be in touch if you want to learn more or discover ways to get more involved.
And if you want to know more about AJWS, I encourage you to do so here: https://ajws.org/.
Warmly,
Rabbi Knopf
