Weekly Update • Thursday, October 8
Session 6: The Movement Continues
Tuesday, October 13, at 11am Central
Join the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life (ISJL) on Tuesday, October 13, for a conversation about the Civil Rights Movement in 2020. The Civil Rights Movement didn't begin with Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, and it certainly didn't end with the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. The movement continues in the present.

During Tuesday's session, we will meet people who are currently working to advance racial justice and voting rights. We'll chat with Jews working for justice and equity about how Judaism plays a role in their work. This conversational session features the Southern Poverty Law Center, Carolina Jews for Justice, and other organizations fighting for a more just future for all of us.

Yale Hillel students at the Isaiah T. Montgomery House in Mound Bayou, Mississippi.
Past Program: Visit Selma, Alabama
Nora Katz, ISJL Director of Heritage and Interpretation, brought us to Selma, Alabama, one of the most important sites in Civil Rights history.

If you missed the session, it's available any time on our website.

We learned about Selma's Jewish history, key Jewish figures who played a role in the Selma to Montgomery March, and the complexities of Confederate commemoration. Then we followed in the footsteps of Dr. King, John Lewis, and many others who fought for voting rights in 1965.

Learn more about Temple Mishkan Israel, home to Selma's historic Jewish congregation, on their Facebook page, and support their historic preservation efforts via GoFundMe.
Selma to Montgomery March
Image credit: James Karales, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University
Go Deeper
Each week, this space will include opportunities to engage with southern Jewish history and the topics we've covered in the week's session. Have suggestions for the kinds of information you'd like to receive in this email? Have more questions about one of our live streams? Email us at [email protected].
Watch
Learn more about Selma's Jewish community in their own words with this excellent short film by Ronnie Leet and Amy Milligan, produced by Blue Magnolia Films.

Listen
Need a moment of inspiration? Go back in time to the Stars for Freedom Rally at the end of the Selma to Montgomery March on March 24, 1965, with this playlist—featuring artists who performed at the rally at the City of St. Jude.

Read
Next week, we'll learn about the Southern Poverty Law Center's important legal and advocacy work across the United States. Civil Rights leader Julian Bond served as the organization's first president. The SPLC also operates a Civil Rights Memorial Center just blocks from the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery. Read Julian Bond's words of hope and reverence delivered at the opening ceremony of the memorial in 1989. Bond's words provide a powerful overview of so much of what we've learned over these past few ISJL Virtual Vacation sessions. He acknowledges the long history of the Civil Rights Movement and summarizes what activists have always known—that no one achieves anything alone.

Bonus
Forward this email to someone who you think would love the ISJL Virtual Vacation—we appreciate your help spreading the word about this program!
"These Are My Roots," a short film about Selma's Jewish community produced by Blue Magnolia Films.
Southern Jewish Heritage Tour participants outside of the Southern Poverty Law Center Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama.
To support this program and others like it, please consider donating to the ISJL.
Welcome to the ISJL Virtual Vacation!
We're excited to introduce you to the South’s vibrant cultural heritage, the big themes of southern Jewish history, the folks working to advance social justice in the South, and our region’s natural beauty, music, and food. There’s so much to explore—join us for a summer vacation from the comfort of your home!

Weekly digital events—live on the ISJL Facebook page and available any time on the ISJL Virtual Vacation website—feature museums, historic sites, scholars, chefs, and more from across the region.

Sign up now to join the journey. We're excited to travel with you, wherever you are.
Start your virtual southern Jewish journey with ISJL resources designed to provide engaging windows into the history of the Jewish South.
The ISJL's Virtual Road Trip Through the Jewish South is an interactive collection of online resources accessible from anywhere. Check it out and get inspired before you begin the Virtual Vacation!
We'll travel again soon! When it's safe to hit the road, the ISJL can build a variety of trips through different southern states, emphasizing southern Jewish life, Civil Rights history, and southern culture. It's never too early to start planning your group's next adventure!