Since 1998, Jews United for Justice (JUFJ) has worked to put “labor” back into Labor Day by engaging local Jewish communities in a collective conversation around religious texts, historical experiences, and the challenges facing working families today. This year, more than 19 congregations across Maryland and DC joined JUFJ in uplifting the issue of fair taxation through discussions, panels, and torah studies for Labor on the Bimah.
Our Jewish texts and traditions teach us that we are obligated to support the needs of everyone in our community, and that everyone should have the resources necessary to thrive, no matter our race, faith, wealth, or zip code. Jews in the United States have been organizing for rights in the workplace and beyond as far back as at least the mid-nineteenth century, forming mutual aid groups and trade unions across the US (some of which still persist to this day). For over two decades, JUFJ has worked closely with local labor unions and workers fighting for better wages, fair pay, paid time off, worker protections, and the right to bargain collectively and be treated with dignity. Across jurisdictions, we and our partners have come together to win worker protections and benefits including paid family and medical leave, an increased minimum wage, labor rights, and more.
Since our earliest days, the Labor on the Bimah program has been an essential part of our organization — one where congregations and communities have come together to discuss how Jewish tradition goes hand in hand with labor, as well as encouraging folks to join the fight for workers’ rights and economic justice.
Across Maryland, our communities took action. Rabbis and union leaders spoke from the Bimah about the importance of the relationship between social equity and economic justice in Judaism. JUFJ staff discussed our work with the Fair Share Maryland coalition – a group of more than 30 organizations, including labor unions — focused on passing legislation in Maryland that would require multinational corporations and wealthy residents to pay their fair share in taxes. In Baltimore, JUFJers discussed the importance of the Baltimore for City Not for Sale campaign, which is fighting a ballot measure in Baltimore that would deprive city residents of power by shrinking City Council in half. In DC, synagogues highlighted the upcoming release of the Tax Revision Commission’s once-in-a-decade recommendations for DC Council on how to change the District’s tax system, and how to get involved to push Council to pass legislation for an inclusive economy rooted in community care.
Throughout the programs over the weekend, JUFJ leaders spoke about their close relationship to labor rights. “For me, economic justice in Judaism starts with the word Tzedakah. It often gets translated as charity, but the word Tzedek means Justice. So giving to others isn’t about charity, it’s about doing what is right or just,” remarked JUFJer Heidi Rhodes during her drash at Oseh Shalom. Other JUFJers like Emily Blank spoke about how legislation like the Fair Share for Maryland Act would help improve education by helping fund public schools. JUFJer Michelle Engelmann shared in our resource packet how testifying on behalf of JUFJ helped support early childhood educators in DC: “I asked the [DC] Council to raise my taxes so I could pay my fair share for a more equitable DC budget. The Council passed the tax increase which enabled early educators to receive the salary increases and health care benefits they so deserved and prevented the daycare system from imploding.”
This year’s Labor on the Bimah showed just how passionate JUFJers and congregations across our region are about economic justice and fair taxation. Thank you to everyone who participated and contributed, and to the 19 congregations that helped uplift our message. We look forward to fighting alongside you for a more fair, just, and equitable world. And if you want to join the fight, you can get involved today:
