Wednesday, January 12, 2022 |
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A Message from the CMM Community |
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I am sometimes asked, “What brought you to engage in climate action from a Jewish perspective?” The short answer is that I feel in my bones and in my soul that my need to be a climate activist and my Jewish self are totally inseparable. For more than 10 years I have been trying to figure out how to get involved in climate action, and I found that working in a secular context just didn't work for me. There was no active Jewish climate action organization, so after seeking out with other Jewish climate activists it eventually coalesced at the end of 2013 with the Jewish Climate Action Network.
All of our faith traditions speak strongly about our need to care for the earth since our entire human existence depends upon a livable planet. When people ask me how and where Judaism speaks to the importance of our connection to the more-than-human world, I know that it is everywhere. Beginning with the first words of Torah and the two Creation stories, through all the Genesis stories embedded in relationship to the land, the laws of the Sabbatical year, laws of agriculture, the Psalms, our pilgrimage holidays of Sukkot, Passover, and Shavuot, the cycles of months and years – our story begins in relation to the land. We lost much of that connection once in the diaspora. It is there for us to claim and reclaim and treasure.
Judaism tells me to care about the Earth in every way and my own soul feels so strongly that I am part of something larger than myself – this sacred Universe. I came from stardust and thereby am part of an interconnected whole whose end I cannot even begin to imagine. Thinking about my connection to the universe is like thinking about my connection to the Mystery.
I am not by nature an activist. After my rabbinical ordination in 2005, I became a chaplain. I am not a scholar, but an introvert and a sensitive soul. The call to try to make a difference both in the Jewish community and in the wider world stretched me beyond my comfort zone in many ways. I have considered all the work I've done as an organizer as chaplaincy work – helping to provide a vehicle for people, amidst increasing climate disasters, to hang onto their sanity and some sense of wellbeing through Jewish climate action. In my mind, as the climate spins out of control, the most difficult task for us becomes to rely on our compassion and our moral compass and to never give up striving to be the best that we can possibly be.
What does Jewish tradition teach me? To be true to myself, to continue to redefine hope, and to remember that all of my actions in this world matter.
JCAN-MA is now entering its second sabbatical year of existence. During the almost eight years of working together, the organization has touched hundreds of people. Our last major event was a national conference held in the spring and attended by over 500 people. Now, JCAN-MA is focusing on informing the Jewish community about state-level advocacy and action opportunities and helping build the cohort of early adopters of sustainable energy practices both at the community level and the individual level. We are holding programs online once or twice a month on decarbonizing, divesting from fossil fuels, and state-level issues and events. One regular program that happens weekly is Dig Deep: Affect Change with Stories from the Deep Voice, a weekly writing workshop taught by Dr.Thea Iberall. Whether you want to explain the science of climate change or the Jewish concept of repairing the world, learn to write from your deep, authentic voice. You’ll wind up writing your story which then becomes everyone’s story and creates a community to affect change. LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR WEBINARS HERE AND LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR CLASSES HERE.
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Rabbi Katy Allen is the founder of the Jewish Climate Action Network-MA and the founder and rabbi of Ma'yan Tikvah - A Wellspring of Hope in Wayland, which holds services outdoors all year long. She is a board certified chaplain and a former hospital and hospice chaplain and considers herself an eco-chaplain. She received her ordination from the Academy for Jewish Religion in Yonkers, NY, in 2005 and lives in Wayland with her spouse, Gabi Mezger, who leads the singing at Ma'yan Tikvah.
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Brandeis MLK Interfaith Day of Service 2022: Building Beloved Community Through Quantitative and Qualitative Change
Monday, January 17, 2022, 1 - 4pm
Online Via Zoom
(Registration ends at 12pm on the day of, and the Zoom link will be sent right after that)
Co-Sponsored by Brandeis University’s Center for Spiritual Life, Brandeis University Library, Myra Kraft Transitional Year Program, Department of Community Services, Brandeis Hillel, Waltham Group, and CMM (Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries)
Join us for the 12th Annual MLK Interfaith Day of Service on January 17th, from 1pm-4pm via Zoom, as we honor the life of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. through social justice discussions and advocacy projects. We hope you will help us live out King's vision of building a beloved community, through qualitative and quantitative change.
Schedule
- 1pm – Opening Speaker
- 1:30 - 3pm – Social Justice & Community Workshops
- 3:15 - 4pm – Advocacy Service Projects Fair
Representatives will be present from:
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Leaning into Challenging Conversations:
How to Listen, What to Say, How to Say it
"At My Neighbor's Table" series
Sunday, January 23, 2022, 5 - 6:30pm
Online via Zoom
Zoom link will be available on the event page and reminder emails
Following a short presentation by Liora Norwich, we will discuss and practice basic tips and troubleshooting skills for managing discussion dynamics based on addressing inter-personal conflict.
About the Presenter
Liora is passionate about advancing equity, inclusion, and diversity teaching and community education, and has 15 years of experience in nonprofits in coalition building, community outreach, and teaching workshops. Liora spent a decade in Israel and Palestine, working with local partners and international organizations to advance social justice and civic engagement through integrated community development initiatives. Dr. Norwich has a PhD in Politics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and an MBA in nonprofit Management at the Heller School for Social Policy at Brandeis University. She has been a lecturer at Brandeis University, the Hebrew University, and Concordia University in Montreal.
Sponsors: These groups have come together to support this event – Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries, Needham Baha’i Community, Christ Episcopal Church, Congregational Church of Needham UCC, First Parish in Needham Unitarian Universalist, Temple Beth Shalom, Wellesley Friends Meeting, Equal Justice Needham, Inclusive Westwood, League of Women Voters Needham, Needham Diversity Initiative, Needham Human Rights Committee, Neighbors In Action, Progressive Needham, World of Wellesley
At My Neighbor's Table events are supported by a generous grant from the Needham Cultural Council
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Upcoming Book Launch from Former CMM Board Member |
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Beacons of Hope by Sandra Dorsainvil
This 12-Day devotional is an attempt to give voice to 15 women lighthouse keepers of the 19th and 20th century. Poignant facts are told about their heroic efforts to keep the lights shining for the multitude of strangers at sea. Yet many women who sustain life go unnoticed for decades. The juxtaposition of scripture references of unnamed women of the Bible invites readers to discern their own faith journeys. This devotional is meant to be part of a beginning conversation about transformation, gender equity, dignity, and servant-leadership roles women have held for many centuries, whether publicly recognized or in the shadows. One has to wonder whose stories have yet to be unearthed. May this book be an inspiration to seek “the more” about God’s beloved.
- “Brave Beacons!” – Rev. Adrienne Berry-Burton, Zion Baptist, Lynn, MA
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“Rev. Dorsainvil draws together an intersection of women’s history, scripture and insightful questions with a call to justice. Beacons of Hope offers a practice of prayer and promises to point us towards taking action to light the way for others.” – Rev. Cindy Maybeck, Spirit Story Ministry
- “Rev. Sandra Dorsainvil shines a light on two groups who are often hidden from view: people who are behind the lights, in this case women lighthouse keepers, and unnamed women in the Bible. My only problem with the collection is not wanting to wait 12 days to read all of these beautiful stories and reflections!” – Rev. Nancy Willbanks, First Baptist Church of Littleton, MA
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Sandra Dorsainvil is first and foremost, God’s servant. She is a multi-lingual praying sister, mother, and grandmother, and an ordained minister. She also used to serve on CMM's board. She finds joy sitting at round tables where life’s journeys are shared and hearts listen. Her advanced degrees and cross-cultural up-bringing on three continents have taught her the value of giving and receiving generous hospitality. |
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Upcoming Community Events |
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"A Call to Repair: From Here to Equality" Online Webinar
January 12, 2022, 4 - 5:30pm
Racism and discrimination have choked economic opportunity for African Americans at nearly every turn. At several historical moments, the trajectory of racial inequality could have been altered dramatically. Perhaps no moment was more opportune than the early days of Reconstruction when the U.S. government temporarily implemented a major redistribution of land from former slaveholders to the newly emancipated enslaved. But neither Reconstruction nor the New Deal nor the civil rights struggle led to an economically just and fair nation. Today, systematic inequality persists in housing discrimination, unequal education, police brutality, mass incarceration, employment discrimination, and massive wealth and opportunity gaps. Economic data indicates that for every dollar the average white household holds in wealth, the average black household possesses a mere ten cents.” In their book, From Here to Equality, William "Sandy" Darity Jr. and A. Kirsten Mullen confront these injustices head-on and makes the most comprehensive case to date for economic reparations for U.S. descendants of slavery.
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Covid-19: Answering your questions on Omicron and More
January 13, 2022, 11 - 11:45am
Join Boston Globe Medical and Biotech editor Anna Kuchment for a conversation about the state of the pandemic with two leading health experts: Dr. Bisola Ojikutu, executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission and Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; and Dr. Jacob Lemieux of Massachusetts General Hospital. We’ll take participants' questions live.
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Extended Deadline – Call for Submissions
"Accessing the Divine: Disability, Embodiment, and Claiming Joyous Futures" Conference
Submission Deadline: January 17, 2022 (see below to download)
Most categories require 300-word (maximum) abstracts
Ableist perceptions of disability, embedded in religious structures, construe disability as suffering, tragedy, and/or something to be avoided at all costs. In contrast, we affirm that the body—including the disabled body—“is the preeminent arena for God’s revelation in the world, the medium through which [the Divine] is most clearly expressed” (Luke Timothy Johnson). Accessing the Divine: Disability, Embodiment, and Claiming Joyous Futures on March 25, 2022 (9:30 am - 4 pm @ Boston University [in-person & on Zoom]; Keynote at 11:30 am), invites participants to reimage what it means to be human through the lens of disabled embodiment. We welcome submissions addressing topics related to embodiment, limitation, disability, and/or the proclamation of joyful futures. We encourage submissions from graduate students, faculty, religious leaders, activists, and academics in a variety of fields, such as disability theology, practical theology, liberation theology, systematic theology, comparative theology, religious studies, disability studies, area studies, sociology, ethics, psychology, and related subject matters. For more info, please email: disabilityconference22@gmail.com
Keynote by renowned disability scholar, Dr. Sharon Betcher
Dr. Sharon Betcher is an independent scholar, writer, and disability advocate. She specializes in disability theology, urbanism, ecology, and progressive Christian theologies. She is the author of Spirit and the Politics of Disablement and Spirit and the Obligation of Social Flesh.
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