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Action: Take Action

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Campus Education and Allyship Grants Pool

CJP’s Center for Combating Antisemitism (CCA) is actively inviting applications for our new Campus Education and Allyship grants pool. This initiative is seeking up to four grants of up to $50,000 each to kick-start projects aimed at antisemitism education and fostering allyship on campus.

Eligible initiatives include those that:

  • Educate Jewish and non-Jewish students
  • Educate campus administrators, staff, and faculty
  • Cultivate allyship between Jewish student organizations and fellow campus groups, including faith-based and affinity organizations

We’re looking for proposals that are innovative, impactful, and demonstrate a plan for sustained engagement and education, ultimately increasing understanding or building bridges across campus communities. These grants are specifically for projects in the 2024–2025 school year.

Deadline for applications: Friday, May 3, at 5:00 p.m. ET.   
For more details and to apply, please visit this form.  

To learn more about CJP’s work to combat antisemitism, please visit: https://ma.cjp.org/antisemitism-initiative  

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Ally Challenge Grant

CJP’s Center for Combating Antisemitism (CCA) is excited to invite applications for grant funding to support community allyship work, through our new Ally Challenge. To support community based allyship work to support combating antisemitism, grant funding may be provided to up to four projects of up to $50,000 each to aid in launching or catalyzing progression of a grassroots-led project that furthers community bridge building or allyship work.

Funding will be one-time for June 2024–June 2025.   

Project proposals for this period could include joint civic rights mission to the South, interfaith youth service projects, cross-community advocacy, or art projects. We invite creative proposals to support specific projects within this time period that would have shown impact on cross-community relationships and allyship.

Applications are due by 5:00 p.m. ET on Friday, May 3.  
For more details and to apply, please visit this form.  

To learn more about CJP’s work to combat antisemitism, please visit: https://ma.cjp.org/antisemitism-initiative  

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Empowering Teens to Recognize and Respond to Antisemitism

Sunday, April 28, 2024
3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Jewish Community Center of the North Shore
4 Community Road
Marblehead, MA 01945

Register

Knowledge is power! Learn to identify and confront antisemitism! Don’t miss this incredible opportunity to hear from TribeTalk, a nationally recognized organization dedicated to helping teens and college students feel confident and competent in recognizing and responding to antisemitism. Through engaging discussions and interactive scenarios, we’ll learn about antisemitism: how to recognize it, how to respond to it, and how to remain strong in our Jewish identity.

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21st Annual Connie Spear Birnbaum Memorial Lecture

Sunday, April 14, 2024
6:45 p.m. — 8:00 p.m. ET


Jewish Arts Collaborative
1320 Centre St.
Newton Centre, MA 02459
and on Zoom

Register

Now in its 21st year, thousands of people have come together at the Birnbaum Lecture from all parts of Greater Boston’s Jewish community to hear from some of the most prominent and inspirational scholars and leaders of our time – always in an atmosphere of openness, inclusion and mutual support.

After his opening lecture, William Daroff will be in conversation with three area Jewish campus activists addressing “NAVIGATING UNCHARTED WATERS: War, Anti-Semitism, and the American Campus.”

Music has always been a major component of the Birnbaum Memorial Lecture. As in the past, beautiful choral selections and classical chamber music will again be featured at this year’s lecture. The Zachor Choral Ensemble will offer lovely melodies, harmonies, and gorgeous solos to provide a musical ambience to an evening of learning, commemorating, and community.

For security and planning purposes, advance registration required for those attending in person. Can’t attend in person? Join us virtually.

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“Auschwitz. Not Long Ago. Not Far Away.” Debuts on March 15

By Kara Baskin

On Friday, March 15, “Auschwitz. Not Long Ago. Not Far Away.” premieres at The Castle at Park Plaza. It’s the New England debut of a harrowing exhibit that has captivated and devastated audiences around the world.

The exhibition spotlights more than 700 original artifacts gathered from the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and others. The objects are devastatingly personal: child-sized shoes, dolls that would never be held again, suitcases packed by deportees—everyday items imbued with horror.

Then there are the artifacts from the chambers: barracks, gas masks, bunk beds, a Model 2 freight car used to transport Jews to the camps, striped prison uniforms: now set behind glass cases, out of context but haunting in their spareness.

“The difference between a good historical museum and an ordinary museum is that a historical museum uses artifacts to tell a story. Some museums tell the story of the artifacts. We believe that a museum tells a story, and the artifacts are the tools with which we tell the story,” says Rabbi Michael Berenbaum, one of the exhibit’s consultants. He has served as deputy director of the President’s Commission on the Holocaust and project director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

(Photo: Courtesy “Auschwitz. Not Long Ago. Not Far Away.”)

There are also the painfully ordinary stories of victims: The museum displays what’s known as the Lili Meier album, depicting the arrival of Hungarian Jews and the selection process imposed by the SS. Meier and her family were sent to Auschwitz from Bil’ki, Ukraine, then part of Hungary. They arrived on May 26, 1944, coinciding with professional SS photographers. Meier survived Auschwitz, forced labor in Morchenstern and later a transfer to the Dora-Mittelbau camp, where she was liberated. She brought the original album with her when she immigrated to the United States. 

But there’s also the Hoecker album, a stark juxtaposition showing laughing SS officers socializing and having fun, likely assembled by SS Obersturmführer Karl Hoecker, chief to the commandant of Auschwitz, SS-Sturmbannführer Richard Baer.

“We see the perpetrators of Auschwitz at play in their leisurely camp, a retreat center outside of the camp—the way in which they sang, the way in which they sunned themselves, the way in which they flirted,” Berenbaum says.

The voices of survivors are also woven throughout the exhibit, including those who endured the Sonderkommando, forced to dispose of gas chamber corpses. They describe the horror of deportation and killings, but also their hope for the future.

(Photo: Courtesy “Auschwitz. Not Long Ago. Not Far Away.”)
(Photo: Courtesy “Auschwitz. Not Long Ago. Not Far Away.”)
(Photo: Courtesy “Auschwitz. Not Long Ago. Not Far Away.”)
(Photo: Courtesy “Auschwitz. Not Long Ago. Not Far Away.”)
(Photo: Courtesy “Auschwitz. Not Long Ago. Not Far Away.”)

“We’re in the twilight. We’re one minute to midnight in the life of the survivors, and we’re now about to move from lived memory to historical memory,” Berenbaum says. “Auschwitz should be far away and long ago. But we’re hearing echoes of hatred, echoes of venom, echoes of antisemitism throughout society.”

And in an era when antisemitic incidents are on the rise, particularly in Massachusetts, it’s a stark reminder that the past isn’t far away at all. As part of CJP’s initiative to combat antisemitism, CJP is providing funding for 7,000 public school students to visit the exhibition to deepen education about the Holocaust and contemporary antisemitism. 

“I’d like visitors to understand where hatred can lead and where venom can take us as a society and as individuals,” Berenbaum warns. “We have a section on the rise of Nazism. A photographer went through Germany, city by city, town by town, village by village, and photographed all the antisemitic signs that were found throughout the towns: ‘Jews not wanted,’ et cetera. They put it in a photo album to demonstrate the pervasiveness of this venom. When you see that in its entirety, you realize that these have the potential not to be isolated instances of hatred but can morph into something much more explosive.”

The exhibit is recommended for visitors 12 and up. 

Tickets are expected to sell out; buying in advance is recommended at theauschwitzexhibition.com.

“It’s not an easy exhibition, but it’s an important exhibition. And for a family to spend quality time with something that’s deep, that’s important, that’s relevant—I’m sorry that it’s relevant—and has to be seen through the prism of rising antisemitism and rising hatred in our society, it’s an important opportunity to go as a family,” he says.

Kara Baskin is a writer for FaceJewishHate.org. She is also a regular contributor to The Boston Globe and a contributing editor at Boston Magazine. She has worked for New York Magazine and The New Republic, and helped to launch the now-defunct Jewish Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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How College Students Can Address Anti-Israel Activity on Campus

By Rich Tenorio

In recent decades, pro-Palestinian students on American college campuses have incorporated “Israeli Apartheid Week” into their activism. This year, amid the fallout from the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel and the ongoing Israeli response, there is a chance of increased anti-Israel and anti-Zionist demonstrations on college campuses.

For Jewish students who identify as Zionist, this may create or heighten an uncomfortable atmosphere. There are resources that exist online that can help students who might feel unwelcome on campus during this period. The most important thing for students to remember is that they are not alone.

Accusations raised against Israel

Anti-Zionism at colleges and universities has been documented by multiple organizations nationwide. The American Jewish Committee (AJC) examined campus anti-Zionism earlier this decade, including with reference to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, and noting that all criticism of Israel was not necessarily antisemitic. The Anti-Defamation League has documented anti-Zionism on college campuses in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks—from Students for Justice in Palestine rallies in the immediate aftermath of the attacks to campus walkouts in late October to cause for further concern by the end of 2023.

How to respond

Students may feel unsure or uncertain over how to respond to anti-Zionist arguments. There is advice available through many organizations; here are some resources to access first.

  • The Israeli American Council has a downloadable activism resource packet regarding the Israel-Hamas war.  as well as  the Mishelanu program for college students. The latter has two categories – Fellows and Ambassadors. IAC New England currently offers Mishelanu at four campuses in the region: BU, Brandeis, Northeastern and UMass-Amherst.
  • The AJC provides a downloadable advocacy guide for students facing anti-Zionism called “Know Your Rights.”
  • Students at Brandeis University can apply for a fellowship to battle Jew hate from the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism.
  • The Zionist feminist organization Zioness has a 58-page toolkit on campus antisemitism and anti-Zionism, including tips on deescalation.
  • Hillel International, an organization devoted to Jewish campus life worldwide, has an extensive resource website on antisemitism, including anti-Zionism.
  • AJC New England has a “Campus Library” resources section for students in both college and high school.

The ADL has many tools for dealing with antisemitic and anti-Israel incidents on campus, including:

  • “Think. Plan. Act.,” a resource hub for facing antisemitism on campus.
  • Recommendations on how to counter antisemitism at colleges and universities gleaned from campus surveys pre- and post-Oct. 7.
  • Six specific tips for combating campus antisemitism.
Parents’ concerns

The Jewish fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi has a downloadable booklet of resources for parents regarding antisemitism on campus.

For faculty, administrators and staff
  • The National Education Association has an article on its NEANow site that shares tips for how educators can deescalate antisemitism on campus and how they can prevent anti-Israel criticism from crossing over into antisemitism.
  • Hillel International runs the Campus Climate Initiative, a program that educates college administrators on how to fight antisemitism and insure inclusion of all students on campus.
  • Both Zioness and the historic Jewish fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi also have advice on allyship for campus administrators.
For students applying to college
  • The organization TribeTalk seeks to inform high school seniors about the climate at the colleges and universities they are considering. One way it does this is through workshops on antisemitism and the ways it can intersect with anti-Zionism.
  • Hillel International has a series of webinars for Jewish high school students and their families about the college prep process, including in the changed atmosphere of today. One webinar focuses on antisemitism on campus.
  • Adam Lehman, the CEO of Hillel International, penned an opinion piece for Newsweek offering advice on how to choose a school during a campus antisemitism increase.
  • The Lappin Foundation has a program called Leaders for Tomorrow for high school juniors and seniors. Its goals include teaching about the dangers of antisemitism, and how to be a leader in high school and college.
Advice for allies

For non-Jewish administrators and students on campus, there are ways to show support.

The ADL offers a guide, “6 Ways to Be an Ally,” that encourages you to do the following:

  • Support targets, whether you know them or not.
  • Don’t participate.
  • Tell aggressors to stop.
  • Inform a trusted adult.
  • Get to know people instead of judging them.
  • Be an ally online.

Students should not face anti-Zionism or antisemitism alone. They are encouraged to reach out to their local Hillels on campus, and also to report antisemitic incidents to the ADL.

Rich Tenorio covers antisemitism news for JewishBoston.com. His work has appeared in international, national, regional and local media outlets. He is a graduate of Harvard College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He is also a cartoonist. Email him at richt@cjp.org.

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Supporting and Protecting the Next Generation

By Combined Jewish Philanthropies

Nurturing and engaging the next generation in Jewish life has always been an integral component of CJP’s mission and values. However, fears about rising antisemitism and the backlash against Israel following the terror attacks of Oct. 7 have left many parents, teachers, and caregivers concerned for the safety and well-being of students, faculty, and staff at Greater Boston’s 14 Jewish day schools and 40 early childhood centers (ECCs).  

To continue this important work and as part of our ongoing 5-Point Plan to combat Jewish hate, CJP’s Communal Security Initiative (CSI) has allocated new one-time surge grants to these schools and centers totaling $515,000. All funds will be distributed in early February and will go toward supporting each institution’s unique security needs.  

Even before the terror attacks, CJP’s Communal Security Initiative has been working with these schools and centers to ensure that educators, parents, and children feel seen and safe, giving them the right tools to succeed.  

“We’ve been building a foundation of safety and security through first aid, CPR, active threat trainings, and on-site assessments and consultations through our partnership with the CSI team,” says Jodi Jarvis, senior director of family engagement at CJP. But antisemitism is on the rise and anxiety and fear of the families of these children is causing stress for the entire community. Jeremy Yamin, vice president of security and operations at CJP, notes that although they’ve been working with day schools and early childhood centers for years, now was the time to increase focus on safety and security for these important constituencies, especially the ECCs. 

“The CSI program is a long-term investment by CJP in the community. And for everything we work toward at CSI—the goal is to be proactive, holistic, and sustainable. But there are certain moments in time when we’re able to add more to our programs.”  

Thanks to the generosity of our donors, this is the largest investment CSI has been able to offer preschools.  

“We’re excited to offer this type of support to our networks and to continue to build a foundation where families feel safe and secure with where their children are,” says Jarvis.   

The schools and centers that received the grants were also excited. Amy Bolotin of Frances Jacobson Early Childhood Center at Temple Israel of Boston said, “It has been essential that we increase security presence at our school this year. The CJP grant has supported our ability to cover that cost. Our parent and educator communities are deeply grateful for CJP’s support and the peace of mind knowing we are doing our best to keep our children safe.” 

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SEA Change Boston Info Session

February 1, 2024 – 12 p.m. EST – Zoom Session

Register Here


Come learn more about SEA Change, a 7-month cohort for clergy and lay leaders proven to develop the capacity of your community’s current and future leaders as we learn together how to make a big impact on racial equity issues within the congregation and beyond. Participants engage in a series of highly-interactive trainings on topics of belonging, racial equity, and community organizing, while working on teams to put this learning directly into practice.

Since 2020, 10 congregations and 150+ individuals have participated in SEA Change in the Washington, D.C., metro area, including major Reform, Conservative, independent, and Reconstructionist congregations. As a result of SEA Change, these synagogues have participated in meaningful community-based campaigns to increase affordable housing and win paid family medical leave alongside their neighbors, while also expanding membership, recruiting new board members, and introducing popular new adult education programming.

At this session, you’ll get a taste of what SEA Change is all about, hear from SEA Change trainers and alumni, and have a chance to get your questions answered.

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Apply for the SEA Change Program

Organized by JOIN for Justice 

Supported by a CJP grant given to organizations fighting antisemitism, SEA Change is a 6-month cohort to develop current and future clergy and lay leaders who will learn together how to make a big impact on racial equity, inclusion and allyship issues within your congregation and beyond. Contact David Schwartz with any questions. 

Learn More