CSS Social Action Email: September 18

May we all be inscribed for good.
May we all be inscribed for joy.
May we all be inscribed for justice.
May we all be inscribed for liberation.
May we all be inscribed for inspiration.
May we all be inscribed for love. 
May we all be inscribed for hope.
Shana Tova. Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg   
 
 
CSS SOCIAL ACTION EVENTS:
CSS Social Action Update:
Yom Kippur Discussion with Emilio de Torre: “Communal Responsibility: Being an ally to our Immigrant Neighbors”. At 4:30 at FUS. Emilio De Torre, Director of Community Engagement for the American Civil Liberties Union in Wisconsin, will tie together the Yom Kippur message of communal responsibility to the immigration crisis, focusing on the importance of allyship and showing up for other communities. More details here.
 
House Parties for Voces de la Frontera:
Two years ago CSS made a commitment to Voces de la Frontera to raise money so Voces could have a Dane County organizer. We were able to make our goals for the past two years. We are gearing up to raise money in early 2020 for the Voces Madison organizer.  We will start this organizing after the High Holidays – and plan for parties from January to March. If you are interested in hosting a house party, have connections/ideas for people outside the congregation who might be interested in hosting a house party – please contact Jen Rubin at rubinjen@gmail.com.
 
Friends of State Street Families meal:
For the past several years, CSS has provided a meal every other month for the homeless population in Madison. Kimberly Wilson is the point person that organizes this meal for CSS and could use more people to cook food and/or serve the food. It you don’t have the time or interest in cooking/serving food but would like to contribute – it is very helpful to contribute a financial donation to reimburse people that want to cook but don’t have the means to pay for the large quantity of food. You can contact Kimberly Wilson at kimberlyRwilson@gmail.com or call her at 608-287-6710 if you have any questions. 
 
Collaborating with Black Olive Community Theater
Oroki Rice is an alumni of the UW Odyssey Project and a founder of Black Olive Community Theater. CSS is partnering with the Odyssey Project and FUS to support its November 16th staged reading of “A Raisin in the Sun”. We are looking for people that want to volunteer to help promote the performance, help set up and clean up for the performance. (As I side note – I have been a volunteer tutor with Odyssey for years and have been to every Black Olive Community Theater performance in Madison and highly recommend seeing it and supporting an Odyssey Project alumni. You will be happy that you attended it and supported the performance.) 
 
EVENTS AROUND TOWN:
Well it is no secret that this world, our country, Wisconsin and sometimes Madison can be a depressing place to live and be part of. So, in addition to sharing action-oriented events happening in Madison - I will try to be a bit more intentional about mentioning events that I think are part of actively making Madison a better, more inclusive and equitable community.
 
October 1: Organizing Meeting for National Day of Action
Hosted by the Madison Coalition to Close the Concentratoin Camps at the Central Library branch from 6 pm – 7:30 pm. “Join the Madison chapter of the Coalition to Close the Concentration Camps as we organize to bring people to Chicago on Oct 13 for the National Day of Action against the immigrant detention camps and those who profit off of them.” More details here.
 
October 6: Know Your Rights Training
The Dane Sanctuary Coalition’s Community Resource Team is presenting a Know Your Rights training on Sunday, Oct. 6, 12:30 – 2:00 at Madison Christian Community, 7118 Old Sauk Road, Madison. This training is open to anyone, but required for anyone who volunteers to be on-site when we have someone in sanctuary. Please RSVP to Corkey Custer at jcorkey.custer@Lfg.com.   
 
October 8:  Racial Disparities in the Criminal Justice System
This is the start of a three-part series hosted by the Nehemiah Center for Justice and Reconciliation. More details here.  
 
October 9: “Aliens, Immigration, & Other Evildoers”
Dane Arts in partnership with East High School and Centro Hispano welcomes New Orleans performance artist, Jose Torres-Tama for a night performance on Wednesday, October 9, 7 P.M. at East High school. The public is invited. The price per ticket is $10 adults, $5 for students with ID. More details here.
 
October 19:  Voces Madison Membership Meeting / Junta de membresía de Madison
Details on the monthly membership meeting here.
 
November 16: A Staged Reading of “A Raisin in the Sun” with Oroki Rice and the Black Olive Community Theater. Performance starts at 6:30 at FUS. More details to come but I have attended every Black Olive Community Theater performance in Madison these past few years – and highly recommend attending.  
 
ACTION ITEMS:
Add Your Name: Wisconsin Jews demand Milwaukee police and local law enforcement agencies across the state stop collaborating with ICE.  Wisconsin Jews for Immigrant Justice is circulating this petition.
 
F-35:The Air Force extended F-35 comment period by 30 days. So there is still time to get your comments in. Here is the environmental impact statement.  Here are Jeff Spitzer-Resnick’s thoughts on the F-35. You can submit comments here.  
 
Fair Fight 2020: From Crooked Media: “We spend a lot of time focused on which Democratic candidate to nominate, what they believe, and how they can beat Donald Trump. But none of this will matter if we don’t focus a hell of a lot more on what may be the greatest vulnerability that Democrats face in 2020: The Republican War on Voting. Stacey Abrams is on the case, and she’s got a plan. It’s called Fair Fight 2020, and it will fund, staff, and train voter protection teams in 20 battleground states. These team members be hired locally, so they’ll know the vulnerable communities they’re trying to protect, and will start a full year before the 2020 election".  Learn more out Fair Fight 2020 here and consider supporting this effort. 
 
SERVICE:
Dane Sanctuary Coalition’s Volunteer Driver Project
“Are you looking for a great way to help immigrants deal with the legal system? Consider volunteering as driver to give rides to immigration hearings and appointments. The Volunteer Driver Project of the Dane Sanctuary Coalition has provided over 30 rides since it began last December. About 2/3 of the rides were to the US Customs and Immigration (USCIS) office in Milwaukee and 1/3 to Immigration Court in Chicago. Immigration attorneys have been ecstatic about the assistance this service provides.” The training will be on Monday, October 7, from 7:00-8:30 PM at First Baptist Church, 518 N. Franklin Ave, Madison. Please RSVP by October 4 if you plan to attend. Email Dorit Bergen at elanor3560@att.net.
 
Winter Coat Collection
Shaarei Shamayim is participating with Jewish Congregations for Social Justice in donating gently used winter coats for refugee children (ages birth through 18) and men. You may bring them to any of our High Holiday services, take them directly to Jewish Social Services, or drop off at the home of Roseanne Clark. Please contact her at 608-213-1544.
 
Emerson Elementary School Tutors Needed
If you can spare an hour each week during the school day you can make a positive difference in a child's education. Jewish Congregations for Social Justice is looking for adults who want to work with young children on beginning reading skills and basic math concepts. Training and materials will be provided. For more information, contact Marcia Vandercook at marcia.vandercook@gmail.com.
 
MISCELLANOUS:
**Check out this week’s episode of Inside Stories, a podcast I co-host with Takeyla Benton. We feature a story from the UW Odyssey Project’s writing class -- Victor’s story of crossing the Mexico/US border when he was 16. 
 
**Ari Bloomekatz from the Never Again Movement is interviewed on Riverwest Radio to talk about why we should be supporting Voces de la Frontera campaign to end collaboration between Milwaukee police and ICE. You can hear the conversation here.  
 
**If you haven’t listened to Greta Thunberg’s speech at the UN Climate Action Summit – here it is.
 
**Happy Holidays everyone. I hope you all have a sweet new year and an easy fast. I am taking a couple week break from this social action email because I am going to Barcelona this weekend for ten days. In trying to find a congregation to join for Kol Nidre services and realizing how much money I would need to spend to attend services - I was reminded how special a congregation Shaarei Shamayim is by keeping its doors open to all for the holidays.  L’Shanah Tova