Community Organizing
Rabbi Sharon Brous calls us to reclaim “the moral heart of our tradition.” We bring the IKAR community together to fight for social justice, inspired by Torah.
Join us for our monthly virtual Community Organizing meetings on the third Tuesday of each month to learn how you can participate in our campaigns.
Our Previous Campaigns
Ballot Measures
Thanks to all of you for making calls to get out the vote, and for working on our campaigns throughout the year, the three ballot measures we supported won!
Measure ULA: IKAR partnered with United to House Los Angeles in support of a tax on properties that sell for over $5 million. Learn more at United to House LA
Proposition 1, to codify the right to Abortion.
Measure A, for Sheriff Accountability.
SB 679
We are excited to announce that SB 679, which will create the LA County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency to address the housing crisis by streamlining the building process and raising funds, was signed into law.
AB 2244
The bill IKAR co-sponsored, AB 2244, authored by Assembly housing chair Buffy Wicks (D- Oakland), was signed by Governor Newsom on July 19! AB 2244 will expand affordable housing by reducing parking requirements for religious institutions (like IKAR) that want to build affordable housing. Read about it here.
Campaign for A Pathway to Citizenship
Minyan Tzedek Community Organizing volunteers recently met with the offices of every congressional representative representing IKAR members. We urged them to include a Pathway to Citizenship for all undocumented workers, especially those who risked their lives as essential workers during the pandemic, in future legislation.
Campaigns for Justice System Reform
We continue to work with our partners at LA Voice to encourage our City and County to adopt a moral budget that supports the neediest among us rather than criminalizing poor people and people of color. We are currently researching other legislation and will soon share more information.
Campaigns to Address Systemic Racism
We have been fighting against systemic racism since our inception. We continue to work with our partners at LA Voice towards a more just and ethical society. Currently, we are working to reimagine public safety in our city and state, by working with our elected leaders toward a moral budget that redirects funds away from police to social services in underserved communities. We are currently researching other legislation and will soon share more information.
Know Your Reps Meetings
Hosting our elected representatives for Shabbat Services and discussions lets them know who we are and the values we share and helps make our voices heard from City Hall to Sacramento to Capitol Hill. Guests have included: Congressman Adam Schiff, Congresswoman Karen Bass, Congressman Ted Lieu, City Attorney Mike Feuer, State Senator Ben Allen, and State Senator Holly Mitchell, among many others.
We host Zoom meetings with our local and state representatives to encourage them to support the issues we care about. Check out our calendar for upcoming meetings and Know your Reps sessions. You can also find out if upcoming reps are your representatives by clicking here.
Organizing is about coming together as a community to build power, and to use that power to advocate and realize meaningful policy change. We work primarily at the local and state level, although we have taken on national calls to action when it made sense. We have encouraged IKARites to write their representatives, to vote, and to show up with our partners for marches, meetings, and vigils.