DJJ Mission Statement

Our mission: We advance racial and economic justice by developing Metro Detroit Jews as community organizers who fight for transformative policy change in deep partnership with our neighbors.

Below are some documents that lay out the what, why, and how of our work. Our Core Principles were written as DJJ was getting off the ground in 2015/2016. Since then, we have done a lot of thinking and work to sharpen our analysis of DJJ's role in the ecosystem of social justice movements, resulting in our Theory of Change, our revised mission statement (above) and Israel/Palestine policy, all of which were finalized in 2024.

• Core Principles 
• Theory of Change
• Israel/Palestine Policy 

Introduction: What is this document for?

Jewish tradition offers us tools for how to study and engage with foundational texts. This Theory of Change will become part of Detroit Jews for Justice’s canon of documents – including Core Principles and other resources – that speak to why and how we do what we do. This document will support our decision making about what types of campaigns, partnerships and resources to pursue; where to allocate staff time and focus leader energies; and how to communicate our work. 

DJJ’s Theory of Change aims to guide our process and to test our assumptions. We know that each time we execute our activities and strategies, we learn more about how we can effectively build the world we want to see. As such, we recognize this document as a starting point from which to evolve, rather than as a perfect and all-knowing text. As Jews, we know that our guiding texts are most valuable when we engage with them: by debating the meaning of a word, integrating new insights as we learn them, and deepening our understanding through storytelling.

We also recognize the value of our Oral Torah – the meaning that our leaders bring to our work as they experience it – alongside the foundational texts that ground us.

Each year, DJJ will develop measurable goals that deepen our capacity to realize our Theory of Change and track our progress. At least every 3 years, the Board of Trustees will formally revisit the Theory of Change to assess progress, evolve the document as needed, and vote to re-approve. Non-substantive edits to make language more precise may occur in the interim. 

DJJ Theory of Change 

Vision Statement

Detroit Jews for Justice envisions a just and joyful future where we and our neighbors live with equal rights, dignity, safety, and access to the resources we all need to thrive.

Mission Statement

We advance racial and economic justice by developing Metro Detroit Jews as community organizers who fight for transformative policy change in deep partnership with our neighbors.

Connecting Mission to Vision

Why we organize in social movements: Social movements respond nimbly to present conditions and challenge existing systems of power. Grassroots communities are best positioned to elevate the leadership of those most impacted by injustice. When we build trusting relationships, we model the world we want and create powerful bonds that sustain our organizing. We focus on progressive policy change to transform the political and economic systems that shape how power and wealth are distributed. 

Why we organize as Jews: Organizing as Jews brings a deep well of wisdom, resources, and resilience to our movements. We look to our tradition for sustenance, inspiration, and challenge. We look to our community for supportive relationships and resources for mobilization. We look to our lived experiences and our multitude of identities – some privileged and some marginalized – as sources of strength and insight into the complex ways that systems of oppression hurt us all.

Why we organize for co-liberation: As Jews and as human beings, we are motivated by our responsibility to fight for the well-being of all people, across lines of identity. Anti-semitism is designed to alienate Jews from our neighbors, manipulating us into choosing conditional safety over mutual solidarity. Even when we are grappling with painful and complex disagreements, we reject the forces that aim to divide us and weaken our collective power. Only by acknowledging that we have a shared stake in dismantling all systems of oppression can we build honest and mutually accountable relationships to achieve lasting safety for everyone. 

Core Activities & Strategy Logic

Click here to view visual on Canva for better zoom/readability 

Core Values 

COMMUNITY: We are a vibrant, progressive, intergenerational, spiritual, Jewish community that is locally rooted. We connect authentically to our complex histories and to each other. Nurturing this community with care is essential to our resilience and persistence over time. We do this work together, celebrating victories and learning from setbacks. When we disagree, we deepen our relationships by compassionately holding each other accountable. We draw upon Jewish cultural tools and wisdom to nourish us and remind us of what is possible. 

ACTION: We show up consistently. We do the work within ourselves and our communities. We are in it for the long haul, sharing the collective responsibility of building a just and joyful future. We take time to rest and we return to the work restored, honoring the enduring wisdom of Shabbat. We mobilize our community to actively participate in grassroots progressive movements. Our core DJJ activities make tangible contributions to advance racial and economic justice in Detroit and Michigan. When we act in accordance with our mission and strategy and communicate about our work, we contribute to shaping narrative and public discourse in our communities. 

PARTNERSHIP: We are committed to building lasting, mutually accountable relationships with values-aligned, trusted partner organizations in metro Detroit. We build place-based partnerships, knowing the policy solutions we need at the state and national level will emerge from the expertise of our local communities. On every issue, we honor the leadership of those most impacted by injustice. Particularly in the context of our highly segregated region, where past and present policies have led to painful material outcomes in majority Black Detroit, we prioritize commitments to campaigns and coalitions that demonstrate an antiracist, equitable vision and approach.

DJJ is sometimes asked to make statements and join campaigns for justice in Israel/Palestine. This policy articulates how our Core Principles and Theory of Change guide those decisions.

Palestinians and Israelis deserve freedom and dignity

DJJ envisions a just and joyful future where we and our neighbors live with equal rights, dignity, safety, and access to the resources we all need to thrive. We extend this vision to all who struggle for freedom and dignity in Israel/Palestine amid ongoing violence, displacement and occupation – as well as to all people facing growing antisemitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Arab/Palestinian racism worldwide.¹ DJJ organizes for co-liberation.² Co-liberation means we have a shared stake in dismantling all systems of oppression: fighting for justice and equity alongside our neighbors is the only way to achieve lasting safety for everyone.

We need all of us to achieve transformative local policy wins

DJJ’s mission is to advance racial and economic justice by developing Metro Detroit Jews as community organizers who fight for transformative policy change in deep partnership with our neighbors. Big tents are hard, but necessary to build power for our movements. DJJ is a place where all Jews with a range of politics and relationships to Israel/Palestine come to fight for justice in Detroit. If you are committed to our vision for justice, affirm the humanity of all people, and are willing to learn and grow, you are welcome at DJJ. Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Arab/Palestinian racism – as well as racism and bigotry in any form – are never welcome.

We fight white supremacy in all its forms – including antisemitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Arab/Palestinian racism – in mutually accountable relationships

Pitting Jews against our neighbors is a longstanding tool of antisemitism and white supremacy. This makes us all less safe because it weakens our power to fight collectively for safety and justice for everyone.³ DJJ empowers our leaders to build relationships that can work through complexity and conflict, acknowledge differences in power and lived experiences, and work together to fight for co-liberation. We challenge binary thinking that forces us to choose the safety and rights of one community over another. We are committed to teshuva⁴, or repair, when our statements, actions, or inactions cause harm. We hold our non-Jewish partners accountable to understanding and fighting antisemitism.⁵ Similarly, we hold our Jewish partners accountable to disrupting islamophobia and anti-Arab/Palestinian racism – particularly when bad faith accusations of antisemitism are used to silence those advocating for Palestinian human rights.

We are focused on local policy change, but we are connected to movements for justice in Israel/Palestine 

Israel/Palestine is not a core focus of our organizing, but we know it greatly impacts our community and our work. Our ability to organize for local justice issues is impacted by U.S. politics on Israel/Palestine, including efforts to discredit progressive leaders of color, growing police brutality and repression, and increased antisemitism, Islamophobia and anti-Arab/Palestinian racism. As a tiny organization, we can’t do it all. Here’s how we relate: (1) We do not silence our staff and leaders when they draw connections between Israel/Palestine and our local work. We embrace learning from one another. (2) DJJ is a space where leaders can share information from other movements. We hope that as folks organize with us, they find relationships and onramps into other justice work. (3) DJJ occasionally partners with organizations working for justice in Israel/Palestine when campaigns directly focus on the local progressive policy space and/or target antisemitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Arab/Palestinian racism in our communities.

¹ Article on the distinction between Islamaphobia and Anti-Palestinian Racism
² One of our teachers in Detroit, Tawana "Honeycomb" Petty, offers the invitation to "move from ally-ship towards co-liberation, with the belief that we can only make systemic change if we understand our liberation is tied up with one another's." Mama Lila Cabbil Tribute: Pushing Us Toward Deeper Thought, Still
³ Understanding Antisemitism: An Offering to our Movement
⁴ Tshuva in the context of multi-racial, Jewish organizing
⁵ DJJ’s current statement on antisemitism will be updated by the end of 2024.

After a year and three-quarters, my time on staff at DJJ is coming to a close. I leave with so much gratitude for the relationships I’ve built and experiences I’ve had in this role, and a deep sense that the projects I have worked on for almost two years are only getting harder. 

Our very own Rondi Brower created this helpful cheat sheet for understanding the current Water Affordability legislation. Check it out!

On March 23rd, 2024 DJJ leaders performed an original Purim Spiel, re-interpreting the Book of Esther in the context of housing crises in Detroit and Israel/Palestine. The spiel imagines how Mordechai and Esther's lives would have unfolded had they been forced to leave Shushan, and fled to the lands that hold the greatest number of Jews today: Israel and the United States. You can watch the spiel, and some of our local housing partners talk about their work here. Here are some of the character's reflections: 

On Thursday, February 8th, the Detroit Planning and Economic Development Committee held hearings on the Future of Health proposal. Some of our members attended the hearing, but did not get a chance to make public comment due to the hearings' length and other obligations. As such, we are posting their testimonies here. 

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2023 was an incredible year for DJJ. We organized, celebrated, mourned, strategized….and many more cool verbs. But the question that has been flooding my inbox over the last week: what was best? Just kidding, literally no one has asked me this, but rankings are fun, so here are the five best things DJJ did in 2023.

To the Michigan Legislature:

Undocumented Michiganders deserve dignity and security—one critical step to making that a reality is to restore driver’s licenses for all. Over the last seven years, undocumented Michiganders and their allies have gotten the Drive SAFE bills introduced five times, but the bills have never passed. That wait cannot continue. We, the undersigned Michigan Rabbis, call on the Michigan Legislature to pass the Drive SAFE bills in this legislative session. 

Ro'eh - Visionary

Patti Aaron

Harriet and Alvin Saperstein

Macher - Mover and Shaker

Lori Lutz and Greg Gamalski

Roslyn Schindler

Susannah Goodman and Aaron Mondry

Tzadik - Righteous One

Adina Lopatin

Mary Freeman and Andy Levin

Ozer - Helper

 Beth and Barry Goldstein

Justin Sledge, Alana, Gregg, Merrill, Sarra, Aaren, Adina Alpert, and Micah Shapiro 

Janet McAuliffe

Linda and Jim Kohlenberg

Amud - Pillar

 Rabbi Ariana Silverman

Wendy & Elliot Wagenheim

Steve and Miriam Wolock

Andy Nickelhoff and Jo Rosen

Dan Korobkin

Erica Peresman and David Jaffe

Reverend Edwin Roe

Caryn Noveck

Daniel Perlmutter

Victoria Kohl

Andrea and Rob Teitel

Audrey Sasson, Executive Director of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice 

Hayley Sakwa, DJJ Board Chair

Daryl Toby

Alice Audie-Figueroa and David Hecker

Stuart Batterman and Gloria Mason

Marcia and Martin Baum

Michigan Welfare Rights Organization

Thanks to our generous sponsors!

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With gratitude,
Detroit Jews for Justice Staff: Allie Zeff, Eleanor Gamalski, and Solomon Medintz

2023 Myra Wolfgang Awards Planning Committee: Ammara Ansari, Hannah Berger, Jocelyn Cohen, Levi Teitel, Lisa Tencer, and Ronit Wagman 

We are delighted to invite you to join them and become a member of our Host Committee to make it a success. Host Committee members also have the opportunity to join our speakers and honorees for an intimate reception at 6:30pm ahead of our scheduled programming. Here’s how Host Committee members will be able to support our exciting event and ongoing work:

1. Purchase a ticket at one of the host levels on behalf of yourself, or an organization;
2. Invite your colleagues, friends, and neighbors to purchase tickets at a guest or host level. (See next page for more information.)

We hope that your generous investment sparks or maintains a long and satisfying journey of annual support of our work.

Our staff is ready to answer your questions at (847) 990-0207.

Join our Host Committee! (All host committee members will receive an invitation to a private reception with the honorees before the start of the event.)

You all demonstrate what it means to invest in a Jewish left capable of fighting for collective liberation. Thank you for believing and investing in our work here in metro Detroit!

If you have any questions, please contact Allie Zeff at [email protected] or (847) 990-0207.

Last Saturday, the People's Water Board Coalition hosted the premiere of Kate Levy's recent film, 'Whose Water', at the Wayne County Community College NW Campus.

Jews For Racial & Economic Justice, Jewish Community Action, Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, Detroit Jews for Justice, and Carolina Jews for Justice released the following statement in response to the Biden Administration's historic announcement of a national strategy to combat antisemitism:

Thank you for visiting the DJJ Purim 2024 donation page! While there is no required fee to attend, your contribution helps us make this event a reality.

$0-36 sliding scale tickets! 

This shabbos, I have a lot to celebrate!

Thank you so much for your generous gift! Your support makes this work possible.

If you would like to become a monthly sustaining donor to DJJ, please click here. 

Here is a copy of the joint fundraising email we sent out yesterday, in partnership with Michigan Voices:

CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO DJJ AND MI VOICES

Here is the mass email we sent out the day after Election day: 

Public Transportation: A Jewish Value

Source Sheet by Rabbi David Polsky and Detroit Jews for Justice; Translations adapted from Sefaria

To access a printable version, click here

We are so thrilled to announce the formation of DJJ's first Board of Trustees!