Jewish Response to Housing Discrimination in America

As we build our sukkah and welcome guests into temporary shelters, this guide invites reflection on those who lack permanent homes in our communities. Through the lens of Sukkot, kavod ha’briyot, and the shmita year, explore the history of housing discrimination, systemic barriers that create homelessness, and concrete Jewish responses to housing injustice through respectful community engagement and direct action.

Sukkot: A Shelter of Peace

Explore the relationship between the holiday of Sukkot, and housing insecurity in America today.

During Sukkot we have a full week in which we can fulfill the obligation of “welcoming the stranger” into our temporary dwellings built to observe this holiday. This custom invites us to consider the needs of those who lack permanent shelter beyond the week of Sukkot. During this z’man simchateinu, season of joy, we are instructed to celebrate and provide so that everyone has what they need to celebrate Sukkot, regardless of their status in the community. How does this holiday invite us to consider housing insecurity in America today? This guide can be utilized during the High Holiday season to explore our relationship to our unhoused neighbors, in advance of or during Sukkot.

Ten Plagues of Housing Injustice

What modern plagues exist in our society that we ought to consider this Passover? Learn more about housing injustice in America today.

“We place a drop on our plates for each one to acknowledge that the joy of liberation cannot be completed while many continue to be oppressed.” During the Passover Seder, we recall events that took place as part of the Exodus from Egypt, one aspect of this is the ten plagues. Through this haggadah insert, supplement the traditional plagues and consider plagues of housing injustice affecting the American landscape today.

Women Fighting for Sustainability: Examining Grassroots Agricultural Solutions

Explore concepts of land ownership and food insecurity through the grassroots organizing of prominent female figures.

How do you create a system of change in your society? Explore the actions of three prominent female figures who, through grassroots organizing, created systems to address food insecurity in their communities. This guide can be utilized either in conversation on the subject of land ownership and food insecurity, or through food justice-oriented service work.

Bread of Affliction: Matzah, Hunger, and Race

This Passover, utilize this conversation guide to explore the relationship between vulnerable communities and lack of access to nutritious food.

“The barriers to buying, cooking, and eating healthy foods are real.” This Passover dinner conversation guide engages the oppression of the Israelites in the book of Exodus as a launchpad to discuss a lack of access to healthy and sustainable foods in modern communities. Utilize this guide in a group setting to discuss and explore your, and your community’s, relationship to food insecurity while considering the Passover season as an invitation to think about those experiencing food insecurity today.

This guide was created in partnership with Hazon, dedicated to creating healthier and more sustainable communities in the Jewish world and beyond.

Guide to Respectful Conversations

This guide provides tools to utilize when facilitating a space for difficult conversations surrounding identity.

“The first step in speaking about race and racism, and recognizing how it plays a role in our own lives and communities, is to talk about it openly and honestly.” In this resource you will find tips and tricks for facilitating difficult conversations. Whether you are discussing racial justice, or other potentially uncomfortable conversations surrounding class, gender, etc., you can utilize this resource to set ground rules and be aware of the vulnerability in which you and your participants are sharing.

General Facilitation Tips

Facilitating vulnerable conversations requires practice. Here are some tips to create a brave space in which valuable discussion can take place.

To be a facilitator, you do not need to be the expert in the room, but you do need to make space for folks to feel comfortable to share. This resource provides you with tips and guidance on facilitation; from framing, during the conversation, and how to respond when challenging situations arise.

Jews and the Civil Rights Movement

Jewish people were heavily represented in the individuals that participated in the Civil Rights Movement, what effect did this have?

The narrative of being slaves in Egypt was one prominently referenced as theJewish obligation for involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. How and where did Jewish people show up during this time, and what effect did it have on both the Black and Jewish communities? This Turn the Tables guide, intended to be utilized in chevruta (partnered learning), walks you through various points of view on this relationship. Explore your relationship to Black liberation through various narratives and discussions.

Addressing Hunger Together

Thanksgiving is often a time of indulgent eating for many. This Thanksgiving consider taking a look at food injustices in our society and the impact of food insecurity on those who experience it.

“Millions of people are living in hunger in the United States of America. For every given or chosen family that gathers around Thanksgiving dinner tonight, there are many who approach another meal with anxiety and hopelessness.” When expressing gratitude for what you have this holiday season, consider those in your community and across the country who might not experience abundance or even certainty around the source of their next meal. This Turn the Tables Thanksgiving guide discusses the root causes of hunger, who is impacted, and ways to address it.