Kol Ami mitzvah makers are ON FIRE this fall! DOING not Kvetching is our motto.
First, our new Combating Racism and Anti-Semitism Havurah!
We had our first meeting of this new Havurah (Friendship Circle) last week. We had a small but energized group of activists who are ready to take hold of the mantle of leadership. We are working as a community to eradicate hate. Big goal. I️ know. Might seem insurmountable but we are moving forward none the less. Now is not the time to drop the ball. Future generations are counting on us.
Here is what we are planning.
- Interrupting Bias Training in January 2018-we want to give our Kol Ami families and other local community members the hands on skills to interrupt bias when you see it. How do you step in, speak up? When is it the right thing to speak up and how? Look in HaKol for details. Let me know if you are interested in helping to plan.
- Our work is inspired and guided by the amazing and important work of the Southern Poverty Law Center. We are hoping to bring in a speaker from SPLC this winter or spring. Go to SPLC.org to learn more about this organization.
- Two of our Havurah members, Leah Kliger of Kirkland and Kate Gordon of Sammamish are seasoned community activists who have done amazing work during the past year. Leah is a leader in Kirklandsafe.com and Kate is the founder of Plataupians for Peace (Sammamish). We are looking to build on the existing work of their two organizations. We are looking for members in Woodinville, Bothell and Redmond who want to work to make our communities increasingly welcoming and safe for all people.
Our next meeting is the first Saturday in December (12/2) at 5pm. This is a doing group not a talking group. Our goal is to impact our communities and truly work to irradiate Racism and Anti-Semitism. Who is going to do it if not the people of this community?
Do not forget the wisdom of our ancestors: it is not your job to complete the work but you are not free to walk away from it either (my take on Pirkei Avot).
Kol Ami is also partnering with Bear Creek in doing outreach and mitzvot with recent Syrian refugees in Tukwila. We are donating money to individual women who will be making tasty treats from their culture and hand crafts to sell at Kol Ami/Bear Creek the weekend of December 3rd. We are going to the community center that serves the recent Syrian refugee families to drop off the gift cards for supplies and meet some of the families. We hope to develop an ongoing relationship with this community and be the loving and generous neighbors that our tradition requires of us.
Also do not forget our "traditional" holiday mitzvah projects providing gifts for Lifewire & Jewish Family Services. Look in HaKol for additional info.
This is what we are doing: educating and training, learning, advocating, supporting women at a micro level, bringing joy and warmth to people who have suffered from domestic violence. Doing. Not kvetching. That is who we are at Kol Ami!
Many blessings! Text me or email me if you are interested in any/all of our work.
Many blessings,
Rabbi Yohanna Kinberg
