“What’s the Jewish Future You Believe In?”: Systemic Strategies for Structural Change with Jordan Mann of the Jewish Liberation Fund

I was pretty rapt listening to Jordan Mann articulate the Jewish Liberation Fund’s (JLF) vision for a progressive Jewish future – and not only because “power,” “systemic strategies,” and “structural change” are my love language. Jordan’s personal connection to the work, both the crackling passion he brings to it and the personal journey that brought him there – from his childhood as the son of a Jewish father and black mother in “very white and conservative” central Illinois (“The reform synagogue would have evangelical Christians come in to teach us about Muslims”), to working with college students in a stint with Hillel (“Doing Purim&Dragons with Jewish college students at Hillel helped my clarify my own Jewishness more than any synagogue”), to running 90-100 miles/week (!) as a professional track athlete – made the time fly and left me with a whole new basket of questions for the next time we speak. 

SERIES! 

JLF is currently holding a political education series that still has one remaining installment. What We Need to Win centers three progressive Jewish funders, asking them: Why is values-aligned funding important for you and your movement?

The fourth and final session, about the critical yet underdiscussed role of collective giving and funding in movement-building, is upcoming—Thursday Sept 7. Hope to see you there!

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“I wish that wearing this kippah around didn’t mean I was right wing on Israel. I wish that wearing this kippah around signaled that I was someone who would be someone who would be showing up at a Black Lives Matter rally. Or someone cares about making sure that we have a higher minimum wage.”

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“For us the Jewish future we believe in is one where all ppl are free from different forms of oppression. Whether it’s identity based, whether it’s economic oppression. Making sure that we have a world where the Jewish philanthropy ppl do is about not just making sure Jewish ppl are safe, but making sure the Jewish people are safe in solidarity with other safe ppl, in community with them, fighting for them — willing so stand beside just about everyone in the fight for a just world.”

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“What kind of Judaism is one that’s just all about fear of annihilation? Celebrating through marching in the street for an increase in the minimum wage, or fair pay for care workers, or environmental Justice, reproductive rights: that’s a really compelling vision of Judaism for me. If Judaism means that, I think there would be a lot more people who would be a lot more excited about it than I’d we were just talking about annihilation.”