"A little bit of light dispels a lot of darkness.”
From the desk of Lynn Davis, Director, Rabbi Joseph H. Gumbiner Community Action Project
A little bit of light dispels a lot of darkness.
-Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi
I’ve just returned from a whirlwind trip to Washington, D.C., during which I got to participate in the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) Summit on Coalition and Bridge Building, experience my first lobby day on the Hill, and reconnect with more than 150 amazing community relations colleagues and lay leaders from around the country.
The summit featured a broad spectrum of leaders working in many different areas of Jewish life: communal professionals who are tackling antisemitism on campuses and online; religious leaders who are nurturing robust multifaith relationships; and those who are on the front lines in advocacy spaces, fighting for the safety and security of the Jewish community. You can learn more about some of the speakers in the resources below.
Though the visit was enlightening and energizing, there were somber moments as well. The summit was held at the Capital Jewish Museum - a site chosen months ago because of the crucial work it does documenting Jewish history and resilience - now made more poignant by the horrific murders of two Israeli Embassy staffers, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgram, just three weeks before. It was a special gift to gather in this space and honor their memories alongside other Jewish communal professionals, all people who have dedicated their lives and their careers to making the world a better place.
The following day, as we kicked off our advocacy day with breakfast in the Rayburn House Office Building, we not only heard from Congressman Jamie Raskin, D-Md., but also from Yehuda Cohen, whose son, Nimrod, has been held hostage in Gaza for over 600 days. Yehuda travels incessantly, urging people around the world to lobby for a hostage deal that would bring his son home. As the mother of a son only a year older than Nimrod, it’s hard to imagine the pain and horror that the parents and loved ones of hostages are suffering, and I was grateful to bear witness to this small piece of it.
In this time of rising antisemitism and growing threats to democracy, we gathered in D.C. to affirm that Jewish safety is inseparable from the fight for a just, inclusive, and pluralistic society. Over two days of learning, strategizing, and advocacy, we deepened our shared commitment to Jewish safety and values, to equity, and to democracy—and left more prepared to meet this moment with courage and clarity.
To learn more:
Jewish Community Relations and Multiracial Coalitions: Strategies for a Secure Future
Ilana Kaufman, Founder and CEO of the Jews of Color Initiative, and Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, examine how strategic partnerships and diverse Jewish leadership could strengthen Jewish safety, solidarity, and civic engagement.
Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, Ph.D., of Park Avenue Synagogue, An Empathy Deficit, sermon of Jan. 11, 2025.
Dr. John Eaves, Founder & National Director, Black and Jewish Leaders of Tomorrow
Rabbi Shira Stutman’s Chutzpod, the podcast that presents “a frank and wide-ranging conversation on how to build a good life, using real-life quandaries and millennia-old Jewish wisdom.”