Dear Friends,
In moments like these, when so many communities are under attack and the work ahead feels heavy, Shabbat gives us a chance to come together. To recommit to who we are and what we owe one another, and to recharge for the important work ahead.
In the coming months, we’ll be marking two powerful Shabbats that speak to this moment. J Street is proud to partner with the National Council of Jewish Women for Repro Shabbat on February 13-14 and with HIAS for Refugee Shabbat on March 13-14.
Each offers an opportunity to ground our responses to these political and moral crises in Jewish values – and to show up in solidarity through learning, prayer and action.
Plan your Repro Shabbat with NCJW >>
Register for Refugee Shabbat with HIAS >>
This year, my congregation will also be marking Sisterhood Shabbat, with women stepping forward to lead the entire service. That feels especially meaningful alongside Repro Shabbat, as we lift up women’s leadership and, as a mother of three daughters, model what it looks like to affirm reproductive freedom as a Jewish value that honors their bodies, choices and futures with dignity.
Refugee Shabbat is personal for me as well. Not long ago, my family opened our home to an Afghan asylum seeker named Mostafa, who lived with us for six months as he rebuilt his life. That experience deepened my understanding of what welcoming the stranger really means – and why this moment for refugees and immigrants demands our urgent attention and care.
At a time when immigrant communities are facing violence and feeling unimaginable fear, and reproductive freedoms are being rolled back across the country, these Shabbats invite us to respond not with despair, but with intention to create a better world.
I hope you’ll join us by bringing one (or both) of these Shabbats into your community or home. May these moments of rest strengthen us for the work ahead and remind us that solidarity is a sacred act.
With gratitude,
Emily Kaiman
Director of Jewish Communal Engagement, J Street
