Social Justice

See to it that you do not spoil and destroy My world: for if you do, there will be no one else to repair it. (Midrash Kohelet Rabbah, 1 on Ecclesiastes 7:13)

The TBB Climateers are a group of energized community members working together to take action on the dire climate emergency; no one can take this on by themselves.

We are also an official chapter of the national Jewish organization Dayenu, “a Jewish Call to Climate Action” focused on “mobilizing Jewish support for critical federal and state climate policies that create the structural change … we need.”

We participate in actions that bring attention to local and national environmental issues. We host Climate Fair programs that inform people about different aspects of climate change and what we can do to stop it, on a personal and political level.  For example, we hosted a Climate Fair program on local composting programs; another one in which TBB members shared their experiences with transitioning to solar panels, heat pumps, and electric vehicles; and another about pending state legislation.

For information, contact climate@templebnaibrith.org. Check out upcoming and past events on the Climateers page.

[If] a woman who was having trouble giving birth…. her life comes before its life.  (Mishnah Ohaloth 7:6)

Healthcare, including safe, legal abortion, is a Jewish value. The decision by the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade resulted in a reproductive health care crisis in the United States. The Social Action Committee has sponsored educational programs with our Rabbi and opportunities to send voter education postcards to states where reproductive justice is on the ballot.  We have joined in efforts with JALSA to support the Location Shield Act in Massachusetts, which would shield users’ cell phone location data from being tracked by anti-abortion organizations.

The greatest level, above which there is no greater, is to support a person so as to strengthen their hand until they need no longer be dependent upon others. (Maimonides Law of Charity)

Our congregants engage in advocacy projects around economic justice and social issues such as mobilizing for workers’ rights, minimum wage, quality care for low-income people, quality education, health care for all, and affordable housing.  In the Spring of 2023, the Social Action Committee sponsored a program with TBB member Professor Debbie Belle discussing her newly published textbook: The Psychology of Poverty, Wealth, and Economic Inequality.

Among other projects, in collaboration with JALSA (Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action) and the Jewish Labor Committee, we support the One Fair Wage Ballot campaign, which aims to raise the minimum wage for tipped workers.