Tuesday, February 22
Nadya Dutchin, the new executive director of the American Humanist Association, details the relationship between humanism and social justice. Building on the rich legacy of the humanist movement, we ensure the next generation of humanists have a powerful, active network that demands policies to ensure that safety, dignity, justice, equality, and agency are equally accessible to all people.

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The Issue: Justice Breyer is retiring from his lifetime appointment to the US Supreme Court, creating a new opening on the bench.  The Good News: We can make our voices heard to ensure President Biden nominates and the Senate confirms a qualified judge to our highest court.  Our Task: Tell your Senators to nominate a fair, independent, and qualified judge to the Supreme Court.  TAKE ACTION NOW The issue: Due to the global threat of increasing antisemitism, Congress updated the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act of 2004, elevating the role of the US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism to the rank of Ambassador and granting authority to coordinate efforts across the entire federal government to combat antisemitism abroad.  The good news: President Biden nominated noted Holocaust scholar Deborah Lipstadt in August 2021 to fill this important role.  Our task: Sign the petition to urge the Senate to prioritize filling this position!  TAKE ACTION NOW

Khevre,

The end of October is a crucial time in the fight to steer humanity off a path of self-destruction.

• Humanity’s current course will soon lock in at least 3 degrees Celsius of climate warming (about 5 and half degrees Fahrenheit). One study calculates economic impacts of $551 trillion if the world warms by 3.7C. That is more money than exists on earth. By taking dramatic action to tackle the problem, we may still be able to limit warming to 1.5C. The damages are calculated to be 10x less at that level but still cost $54 trillion. (reference)
• These dollar amounts alone do not convey the devastating impacts ahead for humanity if we do not take immediate, disruptive action.The difference between 1.5C and 3C of warming will determine whether an additional 300 million people living in coastal regions are displaced from their homes, and whether some cities are merely damaged or lost completely, including New York and Miami (reference). Those numbers determine how we will all be impacted by fires, flooding, storms, and food and supply chain disruption no matter where we live.
• To meet the magnitude of this crisis, the Build Back Better bill under negotiation in Congress originally proposed critical policy changes and spending (merely!) $3.5T (over 10 years, or $350B/year), paid for completely by taxes on corporations and the wealthy. The subset of changes dedicated specifically to climate action are widely supported and may be enough to put us on the path to 1.5C. $350 billion a year would be a small amount to pay for an enormous boost to the viability of our civilization, alongside other changes with broad appeal to the public. (reference)
• Whatever that top-line number ends up being after negotiations are complete, the critical factor is that a focus on climate action remains central, and that our strongest policy changes start NOW… Despite the popular desire for this plan to succeed, the entire bill is under threat by the 52 Senators who are refusing to take the action needed, including two Democrats and all Republicans.

There are elements here that are touchstones of Jewish history: Refugees. Social justice. Tikkun olam… The climate crisis needs every Jewish voice speaking out and demanding a commitment to action. We have three calls to action for TVCJ members today:

• Please make one call to Congress: https://call4climate.com/
  It doesn’t matter that we live in a blue state with Democratic Senators. They must hear our voices to know how strongly they must fight against those who would stop, delay, or water down climate action. Senator Diane Feinstein in particular has been cavalier about climate action, and claims it’s because she never hears from her constituents about it. We must change that!
• Please consider the Youth vs Apocalypse Climate Event on Friday, October 29th, and future events.
  Our kids have the most to gain or lose in the climate fight, and it’s not too early for them to get involved in demanding a better future. Talk to your kids about the youth-led movement, and support them if they want to participate. If you’d like to coordinate with other people from TVCJ who will attend the mural-painting and march in San Francisco on October 29th, mail culturaljews+oct292021@gmail.com.
• Please consider “liking” the Facebook profile for Dayenu.
  The TVCJ Board is working to coordinate more closely with other Jewish organizations for climate action through Dayenu. Increasing their Facebook presence helps further that goal.

After learning how Jews were treated in the various U.S. colonies, Jewish Culture School students wrote these notes for a letter to President Biden about why immigrants should be welcome in the United States.  They used some of the same arguments made by the Jews of New Amsterdam in their letter to the Dutch West India Company.

We’ve reached a critical and urgent moment.

The United States has almost concluded our military withdrawal from Afghanistan. Along with this pull-out is an emergency evacuation of Afghans who worked alongside the U.S. military over the past twenty years. These people and their families are now being targeted by the Taliban, and our country has an obligation to offer them safety and refuge. From just the first planeload of arrivals to Fort Lee, Virginia, JFCS East Bay committed to welcoming six large families to begin their new lives in the East Bay. And the arrivals will keep coming. By the end of this month, we will resettle more than 60 new refugees here in our community, with more to follow.

JFCS East Bay is here and ready to uphold the Jewish values of welcoming the stranger and caring for the vulnerable, as our staff and volunteers work with compassion to resettle these interpreters, drivers, and other workers and their families.

Our country has not undertaken a refugee evacuation of this size in many years, not since the Vietnam War. It is therefore time for JFCS East Bay to put our 144-year history of successful and dignified refugee resettlement into hyperdrive.

Our Refugee Services team will need a significant amount of support to pull off the demands of the next few weeks and months. This is an all-hands-on-deck moment. We are one JFCS East Bay, and this is the time to come together in service to our newest community members.

It’s time to mobilize. Here are some ways you can get involved and support our immediate refugee needs:

VOLUNTEER: Please fill out our Community Sponsorship Groups form. These groups of 4 to 6 volunteers will assist our case managers with tasks such as airport pickups, signing up refugees for their social services benefits, helping register children for school, providing ESL language support, and other related needs.

DONATE: Your financial donations are needed now more than ever to ensure we have the proper staffing to support new refugees. Please click here to make a donation to JFCS East Bay.

SUPPORT: Please consider purchasing something from our Amazon Wish List. These items are shipped to our office in Concord and put directly into the hands of refugees.

CONTRIBUTE: We are looking for gently used household items and furniture in excellent condition. Dishware, small appliances, and pots and pans can be dropped off at our Concord office by appointment. Mattresses, small nightstands, small dressers, lamps, and rugs must be delivered to our storage unit in Walnut Creek. Please contact Ami Dodson at adodson@jfcs-eastbay.org for more information.

Thank you so much for joining us in this urgent effort. Together, we can replace fear and displacement with a new home and renewed hope.

Our country has a history of systematic racial inequality, oppression, and forced subjugation. That history plagues us today in the horrific acts of the police, in economic inequality, and in extrajudicial acts of racist aggression by everyday individuals. The dehumanization, hatred and state violence perpetrated against Black Americans is an affront to their dignity and a threat to their lives. In just the past few months, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and countless others have been added to the long list of Black Americans killed because of the color of their skin.

As a Jewish organization and as individuals, we are committed to the inclusion of all people from diverse backgrounds and held identities. Our own oppressions and liberations have been historical turning points, as we believe today is a turning point for the Black community in America. As Jews, we hold a special responsibility to raise our voices to condemn the violence and systematic racism against people of color.

This is not just a statement of solidarity; it is a pledge to take action. As Secular Humanistic Jews, we commit ourselves to show up and to speak up. We will work together with other organizations who share our values of supporting the Black community and ending systemic racism in our society and institutions. We will support Black-led organizing. We will follow Black leadership. We will listen to Black voices.

The Tri-Valley Cultural Jewish Community extends love to and stands with our Muslim friends at this time of grief and mourning in the wake of the terrorist attacks on New Zealand mosques. No matter how far away a tragedy like this happens, we are all one human body, and this injury has been inflicted on us all. The wound is fresh now, and scars will remain, but we seek to help with treatment. Not only in healing but in continuing to campaign against hate and violence and show love to all.

Reach out to Muslim friends and neighbors now and show them they have your support. And consider donating to one of the organizations designed to help the families of the victims of this terrorism.

A body that hurts itself is one that does not function for long. A body in harmony is healthy. Caring for others is to care for oneself. This is how we, humanity, survive.

TVCJ members attended a vigil for the murdered anti-Nazi protester in Charlottesville.  May our lives always bring honor to her memory.

Tri-Valley Cultural Jews condemns President Donald J. Trump’s proclamation, delivered yesterday via Twitter, that transgender Americans will no longer be allowed to serve in the United States armed forces in any capacity. It seems apparent that President Trump is aligning with conservative and bigoted interest groups and is targeting a group that he deems as less valued to him. At TVCJ, we stand with our LGBTQ community and are proud of our guiding principles:

As Jews, we know all too well the suffering of war, oppression and hatred.  Our people have been refugees over and over, in every time and place.  We know what happens when refugees are refused admittance to safe countries, as happened to our people in the 1930s and 1940s, when xenophobia, fear and hatred denied European Jews safe haven.

Today’s refugees are Syrians, almost half a million of whom are displaced from their homes, terrorized by their own government, and victims of internecine hatred.  Thousands have been waiting in miserable refugee camps while they have been vetted for up to two years by the American government.  Those refugees have already been deemed safe to admit to America.

We call on the American government to admit Syrian refugees.  We call on the American people to welcome them.

Tri-Valley Cultural Jews.  Member community of the Congress of Secular Jewish Organizations.