This month on the podcast we’re talking with Rebecca Kirzner the HIAS Campaigns Director of Community Engagement, about the work HIAS does and how it has been dealing with the wake of the shooting at Tree of Life synagogue. We also talked about how synagogues can and should deal with security, and about the play Observance, by Elyssa Nicole Trust.
Further reading
HIAS
HIAS, the Jewish Agency Criticized by the Shooting Suspect, Has a History of Aiding Refugees by Miriam Jordan in the New York Times
A tiny Jewish congregation grapples with security issue by Erika Meitner on CNN.com
Community Safety Pledge from Jews for Racial and Economic Justice
After the Tree of Life Attack, Synagogues Seek Balance Between Safety and Openness by Nicole Javorsky on CityLab
Notes From the Field: After a Shul Shooting, Keeping Our Multiracial Jewish Community Safe by Ilana Kaufman in eJewishPhilanthropy
MaNishtana’s facebook post about making Jews of Color feel safe on “Show up for Shabbat”
‘When This Happens, You Get a Wake-up Call’: U.S. Jews Turn to Firearms Training After Pittsburgh Shooting from Reuters in Haaretz
Observance
OBSERVANCE Comes to FringeNYC in Broadway World
‘Observance’: A Touching, Relevant Play About Modern Judaism by Alan Zeitlin in the algemeiner
A ‘Baal Teshuvah’ Takes the Stage by Gabriella Geselowitz in Tablet
Endorsements
Mimi recommends the Mayyim Hayyim Living Waters Community Mikveh, and the magazines she reads there: Moment and Lilith. She also recommends the song We Rise by Batya Levine.
Zahava recommends Dahlia Lithwick’s interview with Becca Heller of the International Refugee Assistance Project on the one-year anniversary of the 2016 election (begins at 1:07:00), and the song Besorot Tovot, by Hanan Ben-Ari.
Tamar endorses the song Shnei Meshugaim by Omer Adam, and the poem Poem Without an End by Yehuda Amichai.