Why Were Committed to Building Progressive Jewish Identity Today

Our progressive movement this past year has placed great demands on us all. We have been forced into the position of fighting off a barrage of attacks on worker protections, civil liberties, immigrant rights, healthcare reform, taxation, and the list goes on.

At their root, all of these government and 1%-driven attacks are attacks on workers. They are a thinly disguised attempt by the 1% to widen the economic divide, and keep the bottom 99% disenfranchised and weak. So, the greatest challenge facing us today is also perhaps the greatest opportunity: to unify and grow our base amongst the 99% and to take back political power for the progressive movement. It is especially encouraging to see so many women activists and leaders rising to this challenge.

Economic justice for all has been a driving value of the Workmens Circle since our founding. One of the most effective ways to close this divide is through well-resourced public education available for all.

This issue led to the historic ties between the Workmens Circle and the American Federation of Teachers and United Federation of Teachers, for example. Excellent education for all is an issue that Randi Weingarten, who we recently honored at our Winter Benefit, has been fiercely fighting for, for decades. She is a key leader in todays national resistance movement, a leader who has spent her lifetime fighting for teachers, students, and workers everywhere.

Today, the Workmens Circle proudly continues our activist tradition as a social justice organization with the 21st century mission of powering progressive Jewish identity through Jewish cultural engagement, Yiddish language learning, multigenerational education, and social justice activism.

And, as has been the case for over a century, our mission is not just words, but our guiding principle every day of the year.

Its why today we operate the largest Yiddish language program in the world, connecting thousands of people to their heritage.

Its why we celebrate our Jewish cultural heritage at our Taste of Jewish Culture series with over 15,000 people each year on the streets of New York and across the country.

Its why we resource and grow a network of eight childrens schools all committed to passing on our values of fairness and economic justice to the next generation and our Camp Kinder Ring, which just concluded their 91st summer season.

Its why we have developed a new teen social justice program that so far has connected to over 800 teens and engaged them around our activist traditions.

Its why now we are building and resourcing a coalition of teen activists to serve as energized change makers and leaders in our world.

And, its why everything we do is linked to our commitment to building progressive Jewish identity marked by secular ideals and cultural traditions.

As part of our work against the onslaught of hate, bigotry, and anti-worker legislation being put forward on a daily basis, we have organized and marched this year: on Spectrum picket lines; for a living wage for all; demanding a clean Dream Act; for gender equality; for LGBTQ rights; for quality and affordable healthcare for all, and against the rise of racism, Islamaphobia, fascism, and anti-Semitism.

As a Jewish organization, we have a special obligation to fight the rise of anti-Semitism in the United States. However, we know, that the only way to defeat this new white supremacism, is to fight anti-Semitism alongside racism, anti-LGBTQ, anti-immigrant, and all of the connected issues of bigotry that have pervaded the United States.

Because all of these issues rise from the growing economic divide that the 1% has propagated. Economic inequality that is the breeding ground for the disingenuous appeal of fascism in the United States today, and the only way we can defeat this plague, is to close this divide and empower the bottom 99% of the country.