Rabbi Knopf's Blog

Dear friends,

Today, I left to join fourteen colleagues for a week in Guatemala as part of the prestigious Global Justice Fellowship program run by American Jewish World Service (AJWS), the leading Jewish organization supporting local advocates for change in 19 developing countries around the world. There, we will meet with leaders of nonprofit groups working to advance human rights in Guatemala, one of the Central American countries where residents are fleeing and seeking work or asylum in the United States. We will meet with advocates fighting for legal protections for human rights activists at risk of violence, midwives providing maternal health support for indigenous women, members of an independent journalism collective led by young Guatemalan seeking to expose human rights abuses. We will also meet with top leadership at the U.S. Embassy.

The goal of the fellowship is to empower leading American rabbis to advocate in support of international policies that advance the human rights and well-being of the world’s poorest and most oppressed communities. 

I was inspired to participate in this fellowship — and, indeed, to see social justice activism and advocacy as central to my rabbinate — in no small part because of my teacher and mentor, Rabbi Sharon Brous, who will be joining us on January 25-26 as our our Scholar-in-Residence. Rabbi Brous, the founding rabbi of IKAR (www.ikar-la.org), has developed a wildly successful recipe for capturing the hearts and imagination of younger Jews (as well as Jews of all generations), inspiring renewed Jewish passions. Her thriving and rapidly growing community is built on reimagining Judaism for the 21st century, thinking expansively about what it means to be Jewish today, and harnessing the Jewish tradition as a force for a more just and peaceful society. 

Part of Rabbi Brous’ success is her insistence that central to reinvigorating Jewish practice is inspiring people of faith to reclaim a moral and prophetic voice. That’s why she, too, has been involved with AJWS for nearly two decades. Take a few moments to listen to Rabbi Brous’ interview with NPR’s Krista Tippet, where she discusses, among many other things, the centrality of social justice to what it means to be a Jew in the 21st century:

Inspired? Moved? Then come join us to experience Rabbi Brous’ powerful and poignant teaching first-hand. Over the course of an unforgettable Shabbat, Rabbi Brous will share with us insights from her experience fashioning bold, soulful, purposeful, inclusive vision of Jewish community, and teach us how we, too, can revitalize our congregation and ensure Judaism remains meaningful and relevant for our children and grandchildren.

For more information about our weekend with Rabbi Brous, please click on the link  below. You can also RSVP for the weekend’s events and make a contribution, if you are so moved.

L’shalom,
Rabbi Knopf