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Dear JALSA Community,
This is a moment for reflection. And a moment for action.
It is a moment for re-committing ourselves to our moral values:
- Welcoming our neighbors
- Treating others as we would want to be treated
- Recognizing that every person is deserving of dignity and respect
It is a moment for embracing JALSA's fundamental core value -- we do everything in coalition because it is the relationships that we make through working on issues that strengthens our impact and allows us to fulfill our obligation to build a better world.
Make no mistake about it: the vision that you and I share for this world now faces enormous challenges. We will likely see a federal government wanting to retreat, that will take away the right that people have to be fully who they are, and will undermine people's liberties and freedoms. We have seen the playbook, with Project 2025 telling us all we need to know about the new Administration's view of the world. And we know that we will have to fight against efforts to stoke fear based on racism, antisemitism, xenophobia, misogyny, transphobia, and homophobia.
It is at this moment that JALSA needs to step up in ways beyond what we may even have thought imaginable just days ago.
JALSA is, first and foremost, a community. We are here for one another as we continue the vital work toward social, economic, environmental, and racial justice. And that work will never stop.
Over the next four years (and beyond), we will no doubt be called upon to be repairers of the breach, helping to mend broken systems that may cause harm to those we hold dear and who bring value to our lives. And, while difficult, let’s not forget that this moment also carries the potential to ignite powerful actions for ourselves and our community. For example, we did manage to protect abortion rights in seven states on Tuesday, including in Colorado, where hundreds of JALSA callers filled over 400 phone bank shifts over many months.
To everyone who volunteers their time with JALSA to stand up for our shared values, I thank you. What we do here in Massachusetts, and across the country when we are needed, matters. To all who are looking to get more involved, now is the time. So let's regroup, heal, and be there for one another because the work must continue as we seek to create the world we know is possible.
Your compassion and generosity never fail to move and inspire me to keep on fighting.
With profound gratitude and in anticipation of what we must do moving forward,
Cindy
P.S. In this moment, let's hold fast to what is said in Pirkei Avot and put it into action: "Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world's grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it."
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