In the Torah, we are taught to accept others, without prejudice or bias: “You shall not hate your kinsfolk in your heart. Reprove your kinsman but incur no guilt because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against your countrymen. Love your fellow as yourself: I am the Eternal” (Leviticus 19: 17-18). Our Jewish tradition illuminates various instances of moral reckoning when we are asked to be present and accounted for.  

As a Reform Jewish community, we are committed to the spirit of this ongoing teaching. Of late, numerous factors have contributed to a cultural storm of unrest, driven by a real-time and long-overdue reckoning with systemic racism in our country. Even in the Jewish community, we are just beginning to recognize the need to have conversations about how we internalize structural racism.   

In response to the above, as we introduced over the High Holy Days, we invite you to join in our inaugural B’Makom: Courageous Conversations Series. This first series will lay focus to the structural racism that is embedded in our society and in ourselves. How can we as individuals and a congregation, both learn to work and advance justice for all people, regardless of race or ethnicity? 

If you are interested, we invite you to click here to fill out the Interest Form. Please note, space is limited and you MUST commit to ALL six sessions. The form must be submitted by Sunday, November 1st, 2020.  Participation will be confirmed and login credentials will be provided prior to the first session.

B’Makom: Courageous Conversations Series on Racial Justice  

• To increase of our racial literacy and to lean into conversations around race 
• To have the opportunity to explore our own biases and privileges 
• To strengthen ourselves and our community in service of a more just world 

Session Topics:

1. Setting Our Purpose (November 4, 2020) Why are we here? What will keep us here? 
2. Understanding Our Own Identities (December 2, 2020) How do I identify? Where do those identities come from and how were they formed? How do my identities shape my story? 
3. Anti-Semitism and Race (January 6, 2021) How do both my racial and my Jewish identities intersect to shape my understanding of the world? 
4. Systemic Racism & Whiteness (February 3, 2021) What is systemic racism, really? What is whiteness and how does it function to uphold racism? 
5. Bias (March 3, 2021) What is bias? What is the relationship between individual biases and systemic racism? 
6. What Now? (March 24, 2021) Where do we go from here? What have we learned? What are our next steps as individuals, as a Jewish community and as a society? 

Facilitators:

Rachel Wegner is the Director of Curriculum and Professional Development for John Muir Charter Schools and has been an educator for 18 years. She has supported her school staff in learning to talk about race as an important part of identity and recognizing the ways in which we are all impacted by implicit bias and systemic racism. She believes that just as we name and discuss other aspects of our identities, race is a foundational component of identity that is under-discussed and often controversial. She strives to create brave spaces that allow for deep, personal work and strong human connections to flourish when understanding race. More recently, Rachel has been doing her own work on understanding the intersection of her whiteness and her Jewish identity. Rachel has been a member of the Beth Israel community for three years and has three children, two of whom are actively involved in religious school. 

Rabbi Jason Nevarez serves as Senior Rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel in San Diego. Originally from New York City, he was ordained by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York, earning Master’s degrees in both Hebrew Literature and Jewish Education. 

As part of his congregational portfolio since ordination, Rabbi Nevarez has had the opportunity to do extensive educational and justice work in Israel, Latin America, and the U.S. He has also been able to marry his global learning experiences with his passion for innovation and immersive learning/education across the generations he serves. Rabbi Nevarez served as Chair of the Northern Westchester Interfaith Council, where he spent years in fellowship with clergy and multi-faith community partners, which sparked his interest to endeavor into Undoing Racism workshop facilitation and training.