Listen to our webinar recordings:

See below for context about what we've been up to over the last month:

We hope you’ve had a sweet start to the new year!

We invite you to join us in a membership-wide process to define the future of JFREJ’s Campaign for Police Accountability. Join us for an important decision-making gathering at our Membership Assembly on Tuesday, November 13th from 6-9pm.

Over the course of the next few months, we’ll celebrate and share the near 30-year history of JFREJ’s organizing against police brutality--including, in our more recent history, as part of the city-wide coalition, Communities United for Police Reform (CPR). Through house meetings, webinars, and a survey, we will engage in education and conversation about the future of safety, security, and policing in our city. We’ll think together about the critical role that Jews can and must play in decreasing the impact, reach, and reliance on police in our city. We’ll grapple with a strategy of invest/divest, imagining what it would look like to resource nourishing systems rather than punitive ones. Finally, we’ll make decisions about our police accountability priorities for the next five years. Together, we’ll get ready to continue building a powerful grassroots movement for dignity and safety for all New Yorkers in the years to come.

There are multiple ways for you to participate in this exciting process leading up to the November 13th Assembly:

Fill out this Membership Survey about your experiences with NYPD and 911, your beliefs about what institutions/services should be prioritized in our city budget, and your hopes about JFREJ’s work moving forward. We ask that you complete this survey by Friday, October 26th.

Join us for three educational webinars to delve into some of the important decisions we’ll be making on November 13th:

Webinar: What is Invest/Divest? Join us on Wednesday, October 17th from 12-1pm to learn from some of our most brilliant allies: Marbre Stahly-Butts of Law for Black Lives and Kumar Rao of the Center for Popular Democracy, two of the authors of Freedom to Thrive: Reimagining Safety & Security in our Communities. Listen to the recording here.

Webinar: What’s next for New York’s Movement for Police Accountability? Join us on Wednesday, October 24th from 12-1pm to hear more about our movement’s emerging goals and priorities for the next 5 years, and to be briefed on the potential areas of focus for JFREJ. Listen to the recording here.

Webinar: What’s the Jewish case for Invest/Divest? Join us on Tuesday, October 30th from 12-1pm to delve into what our Jewish traditions and histories can offer an Invest/Divest strategy. Listen to the recording here.

Attend a house meeting in your neighborhood to dig into these questions in community, and in depth! We’re hosting house meetings all across the city throughout the month of October to engage key constituencies and geographic areas on these important issues. Join us at house parties for:

Social Workers & Health Practitioners: Join us on Sunday, October 15th from 6-9pm in Washington Heights, hosted by Shoshana Brown. RSVP here.

Young People: Join us on Wednesday, October 17th from 6-9pm at Barnard College, co-hosted by Lea Jean-Francois and Cassaddee Sicherer. RSVP here.

General Queens: Join us on Sunday, October 21st from 3-6pm in Jackson Heights, hosted by Deva Estin. RSVP here.

Educators & General Uptown/The Bronx: Join us on Tuesday, October 23rd from 6-9pm in Washington Heights, hosted by Yael Sacks. RSVP here.

Rabbis & Clergy: Join us on Thursday, October 25th from 6-9pm on the Upper West Side, co-hosted by Rabbi Mira Rivera and Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg. RSVP here.

People with Disabilities & General Brooklyn: Join us on Sunday, October 28th, from 1-4pm in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, co-hosted by Sarah Klevan and Melanie Flaxer. This building and apartment are wheelchair accessible. RSVP here.

People with Disabilities: Join us on Tuesday, October 30th from 6-9pm in Hell’s Kitchen, hosted by Maya Orli Cohen. This building and apartment are wheelchair accessible. RSVP here.

Last but certainly not least: please mark your calendar and be sure to join us at the Assembly itself on November 13th from 6-9pm to take part in the culmination of this membership process. At the Assembly, members will vote to adopt new strategies and priorities for our police accountability work.

In this critical moment for JFREJ and the entire police accountability and anti-criminalization movement in New York and nationally, this Assembly and all the events leading up to it will be key opportunities to gather as JFREJ members, build unity and momentum, and make vital strategic decisions about the future of this work. We hope to see you at one of these events soon!

Shana Tovah,

The Assembly Planning Team

Martha Ackelsberg, Melanie Flaxer, Sara Goldberg, Sarah Klevan, Rachel McCullough, Keren Soffer Sharon, Sierra Spingarn