Advocacy and Information

Each year the SAC focuses on long-standing and newer programs involving advocacy efforts, social justice, and exploration of pertinent issues. These efforts change year to year, and we hope that the congregation will take an interest in these projects. We welcome congregants to bring ideas for new projects to discuss at our yearly retreat.  

Social Action Shabbat October 14 2012 and March 23. We will be sponsoring the Oneg and bringing in engaging speakers/topics. These will provide opportunities to showcase our programs, distribute materials, educate and sign up prospective volunteers. Representatives from some of our sites will be present. October 14 features Zingerman’s co-founder Paul Saginaw.

Constuctive Conversations about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict The current Constructive Converstions group, which varies in age, Jewish affiliation and viewpoints, currently plans to meet through May.  Ongoing sessions of “Constructive Conversations about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict” began at TBE in January, 2012.  We had three separate dialogue groups that met for six biweekly sessions during the course of the year.  The groups were facilitated by Dr. Karla Goldman, Dr. Ron Shepps, and Benita Kaimowitz, respectively, using the approach formulated in the guidebook called Constructive Conversations about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict; www.jewishdialogue.org.  The purpose is to give participants the opportunity to express their feelings and concerns in a non-judgmental atmosphere and to gain a deeper understanding through mutual respect and effective communication.

In January, 2012, fifteen members of the former dialogue groups decided to continue as one group.  In addition, two graduate students at the University of Michigan have joined the group, thus expanding group’s diversity.  The current Constructive Converstions group, which varies in age, Jewish affiliation and viewpoints, currently plans to meet through May. 

The format has evolved into a more participant-led design, with the group deciding on topics to discuss in depth and individuals sharing the role of facilitator, while still adhering to the nine agreements of respectful communication.  One recent topic was a discussion of Machson, a group of Israeli Jewish women who monitor the checkpoints at the borders in Israel.  The discussion was led by a graduate student in the University of Michigan program on Jewish Communal Service who recently spent a year in Israel and participated in Machson. 

If you are interested in learning more about these groups or in forming a new group, please contact Marian Cohen at marianc@umich.edu or (734) 761-4578.

ICPJ Ann Arbor’s Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice (ICPJ) is a non-profit education/social action organization which brings together people of various faiths who believe the world is one family. ICPJ believes that love, commitment to future generations, wise stewardship of the environment and promotion of social, political, and economic justice are religious responsibilities. Established in 1965 events include the 28^th annual Crop walk  and a variety of task force groups focusing on racial and economic equality, climate change and earth care and peaceful resolutions of conflict. www.icpj.net  Contact Bob Milstein 734-688-8955, milsteinfamily@comcast.net

Jubilee is an interfaith effort to secure debt cancellation for highly indebted, impoverished countries.  The principal on most of these debts has been repaid many times over and the interest that continues accruing leaves these countries in permanent indebtedness and unable to properly care for the basic needs of their people.  Advocates intercede on their behalf with our federal government and representatives at the IMF and World Bank. www.jubileeusa.com  Susan Beckett 734-930-1772, susanlbeckett@gmail.com

Three Wishes is an opportunity for local youths to read stories from a book by Deborah Ellis, based on interviews of Israeli and Palestinian children in 2003.  The narratives describe how the lives of these children are impacted, on a day to day basis, by war and conflict.  The goal of this project is twofold: to listen to the voices of youth, the often neglected victims of conflict and to prompt the audience to look at this conflict through a different lens.  The students who have participated in these readings so far have been deeply moved.  The aim is to provide this learning opportunity for students to identify with one of these disheartened children.  Contact Irene Butter, ibutter@umich.edu.