This Tisha B'Av, join our friends at Inside Out Wisdom Action (IOWA) on Sunday, July 18th, at 1:00pm for a film screening of 40 Days of Teshuvah, and a panel discussion of our 40-day protest for Black lives last summer. For 40 days last summer, we cried out to the heavens, blew the shofar, and protested the constant assault on Black communities and Black people.

Filmmaker Hannah Roodman created a short film about the 40-day action. Watch the trailer here.

On Tisha B’Av we commemorate the darkest moments in our Jewish history and move from brokenness towards redemption. It is a universal redemption we seek and, by necessity, will come about through righteousness and justice as the prophet says, “צִיּ֖וֹן בְּמִשְׁפָּ֣ט תִּפָּדֶ֑ה/Zion will be redeemed through justice” (Isaiah 1:27). We now have a fresh opportunity to reengage in the work of repair both at the level of our intimate communities and in the broader society. Primary among these areas needing repair are the racial injustice and disparities laid bare by the pandemic and George Floyd’s brutal murder one year ago.

The 40 Days of Teshuvah film offers a powerful model for integrating Jewish spiritual tools and technologies like prayer, teshuva and Mussar into the work of social change in general and racial justice in particular. This Tisha B'Av, IOWA is organizing screenings of the film and hosting a panel discussion with Yehudah Webster, who conceived of and led last summer's 40-day protest. Please join us.