Feb. 11, 2021
She’s Got Next: 30 Women Who Are Shaping Baltimore’s Future
This article originally appeared in Baltimore Magazine on February 11th, 2021.
The idea of tikkun olam—repairing the world—has been Dressin’s message ever since she became an ordained rabbi nine years ago. First, as founder and director of Charm City Tribe, an initiative to engage young adults interested in Jewish culture, and now through her work at Repair the World Baltimore, which mobilizes Jews to take action to pursue a just world.
“Jewish tradition teaches . . . that there are things we can accomplish together we could not possibly accomplish on our own,” Dressin says. Building relationships that are substantive and not just transactional is so important in a hyper-segregated city like Baltimore, she says. “The particular callings and imperatives of Judaism require me to work closely with those who are not like me—who don’t share the same faith, or the same skin color, or the same history—but who share in the work to build a more whole and just world for all people.”