Jews United for Justice turns 25 this year. A generation has grown up since 1998 when we first began as a tiny spark of an organization. Over the last 25 years JUFJ has grown to be a political home for thousands of people in DC and Maryland. We’ve won huge victories, persevered through many challenges, and have learned an enormous amount that informs our work today.
A quarter century of work deserves celebration! Join JUFJ for our 25th Anniversary Celebration and the 2023 Heschel Vision Awards on Sunday, November 19.
About the event
| WHAT: | JUFJ’s 25th Anniversary Celebration and Heschel Vision Awards |
| WHEN: | Sunday, November 19, 2023 5:00-7:30 PM for in-person attendees 5:15-6:30 PM for virtual attendees |
| WHERE: | In person program and reception at the Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center (7995 Georgia Ave, Silver Spring, MD) and live-streamed on Zoom |
Tickets to this year’s event are free! Please select the number of tickets and if you’ll be joining us in-person or virtually. ASL and Spanish interpretation will be provided at the venue. CART captions will be provided in English and Spanish on Zoom.
Taking on new opportunities and challenges requires capital. Please consider adding a sponsorship package along with your ticket registration. Your commitment makes it possible for JUFJ and our partners to work in solidarity for a more just and equitable region.
2023 Heschel Vision Awards Honorees
CASA
for their powerful organizing on campaigns for migrant justice, renters’ rights, and so much more in Montgomery County and across Maryland.
DC Councilmember Janeese Lewis George
for being a champion of fair taxation, housing security, and real public safety for all DC residents.
Tracie Guy-Decker
for her leadership and dedication to pursuing justice in Baltimore, always grounded in a deep sense of Jewish values.
Register
About the Heschel Awards
In 1998, a small group of longtime activists and younger community organizers founded JUFJ after being inspired to action at a class on the teachings of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel. Rabbi Heschel saw the teachings of the Prophets as a call for social action in our time, and he was a prominent leader in the civil rights and antiwar movements of the 1960s.
Many of the hallmarks of JUFJ’s work—commitment to multicultural and interfaith coalitions, and concern for the most vulnerable in our society—are founded on Heschel’s teachings and the movements he helped lead.
For many of us the march from Selma to
Montgomery was both protest and prayer…
Even without words, our march was worship.
I felt my legs were praying.
— Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, 1965
About the Elissa Froman Heschel Vision Award
In 2010, we honored Elissa Froman z”l, a civil rights activist and JUFJ leader, with a Heschel Vision Award. Elissa embodied not only the best of Rabbi Heschel’s teachings, but also the core of JUFJ: building relationships and (sacred) community, and then working collectively to make change. Elissa passed away, far too early, in 2013. We honor her memory, and her passion and commitment to community and justice.
“And what does the Creator require of you but to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with your G-d.” — Micah 6:8
“With humor and humility, Elissa did more to heal our fractured world in her short life than most can hope to do in a lifetime. She will forever be missed, but always remembered as our social justice hero.” — Remembrance of Elissa Froman by Joanna Blotner, 2013
Previous Heschel Honorees
Abigail, Emma, and Zoe Levine
Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation
Ana María Archila
Rabbi Arthur Waskow
The Bainum Family Foundation
Barbara Kraft
Ben & Beth Wikler
Betsy Krieger & Karen Kreisberg
Rabbi Bob Saks
Bruce and Susie Turnbull
Claire Landers
David (z”l) & Carla (z”l) Cohen
David Fishback
David Krakow
Rabbi David Shneyer
The DC Initiative on Racial Equity and its Coordinating Committee, accepted by co-facilitators Alicia Wilson and Dushaw Hockett
Eli & Kavitha Kasargod-Staub
Elissa Froman (z”l)
Councilmember Elissa Silverman
The England Family Foundation
George Derek Musgrove
Gustavo Torres
Heather Booth
Ilyse Hogue
Isabel “Liz” Dunst
Representative Jamie Raskin
Jerry Levine & Sarah Pokempner
Jessica Champagne & Max Toth
Senator Jill P. Carter
Jo Shifrin
Joanna Blotner
Joanna Silver
Joelle Novey
Jonathan Stern (z”l) & Karen Paul
Joslyn Williams
Attorney General Karl A. Racine
Kesh Ladduwahetty
Margie Klein
Governor Martin O’Malley
Mary Ann Stein
Nicole Berner
Nikki Cole
Roberta “Bert” Ritvo
Roxie Herbekian & Ken Zinn
Rubie Coles
Ruth Messinger
Ruti Kadish
Sam Rosen Jewler
SEIU 32BJ
Shelley Moskowitz
Simon Greer
Tara Huffman
Tikkun Olam Women’s Foundation
Toni Holness
UFCW Local 400’s Political & Community Affairs Team, represented by Dyana Forester and Kim Mitchell
