Detroit Jews For Justice

Hello DJJ! My name is Zach. I use he/him/his pronouns. I am a Repair the World Fellow in Detroit and have the great fortune of being partnered with DJJ several hours a week until July of 2019.

For those of you who don’t know, Repair the World (based off of the value of tikkun olam) is a national nonprofit that “works to make meaningful service a defining element of American Jewish life”. Here in Detroit, Repair the World has a cohort of 5 Fellows who live and work together.

On Tuesday September 25th, DJJ partnered with Birmingham Temple for Humanistic Judaism, the Workmen's Circle-Arbeter Ring Michigan, and Cohn-Haddow Center for Judaic Studies at Wayne State University to bring Daniel Kahn & the Painted Bird to a benefit at Marble Bar.

Here's the thing about a Daniel Kahn & the Painted Bird concert: You know you have more in common with the kind of people that'll show up than you do with your co-workers, friends, or family.  They're the kind of people who'll crawl over broken glass (or in this case, tornado warnings) to hear sweet Neo-Klezmer punk and poetry-infused songs that cry for a better world. 

You may have heard whisperings from DJJniks involved in grassroots fundraising efforts that fundraising = organizing. Here's a deep dive on what that means, and four concrete ways to plug into this important work.

Dyll Welch, Valeriya Epshteyn, Jake Ehrlich, Nina Chacker, and Nina's son, Oscar, attended Let My People Sing at Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center August 23rd-26th. They gathered together with a diverse, intergenerational group of 250 other lovers of Jewish song to share new and old music, connect to ancestry, and sing their way through healing, grief, joy, longing, and liberation.

Hello, DJJ!

My name is Lauren (she/her) and I am so pleased to be spending the next eight months at DJJ as a fieldwork intern.

Last night I had the pleasure of attending my first DJJ general meeting. 

While the direct action of the Poor People's Campaign has quieted, the movement continues to brew. As PPC arrestees consider going to trial and connect at a retreat focused on articulating next steps, relive the momentum with a video from Three Lyons Creative and a piece in the Detroit Jewish News.

Dear friends,

The morning after an incredible shabbaton of relationship and skills-building, over a dozen DJJ leaders schlepped to Lansing to participate in the Poor People’s Campaign. We were rolling deep because the day’s theme of Environmental Justice brings out the cause dearest to our collective heart: water.

The new year is fast-approaching, and one thing I hope I can be in it, is braver. True, in the approximately one year since involving myself with Detroit Jews for Justice, I have felt my courage growing. Though, I am not yet at a place where I feel comfortable using my privileges for tikkun - healing and rectification - in this world, in some of the ways I wish to.