JCUA Urban Mitzvah Corps 2006 Comes To a Close

“There are pressing problems with human faces, and I gotta get goin!”—UMC participant

January 1-8, 2006 thirteen college students came from around the country to participate in the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs (JCUA)’s Urban Mitzvah Corps program. They were from cities and towns from Kansas to Connecticut, public and private universities and colleges, men and women, secular to orthodox. The week was designed to introduce these emerging Jewish social justice leaders to social justice work going on in Chicago, and to help them develop a deeper understanding of Jewish approaches to social justice and of the issues facing low income communities. “I thought I’d be doing some talking to homeless and soup kitchen working,” wrote one of the participants. “I never expected to take all this away. I have moved from follower to leader.”

The week’s programming included hands-on service work, issue advocacy, and community organizing training. The group stayed together in Uptown and focused their work there, learning about Judaism and social justice with local rabbis and teachers, visiting local community organizations, and contributing to work on important social justice initiatives. Inspirational leaders taught and learned with the group including JCUA founder Rabbi Robert Marx, author Alex Kotlowitz, corner day laborers from the Albany Park Workers’ Center, Jewish poet and performer Kevin Coval, former alderman Leon Despres, strikers from the Congress Hotel, JCUA Board members, and local organizers and activists. “This program has given me a way of humanizing huge problems within our society. It has made them more personal, manageable, and far less overwhelming,” writes another student, “I have been given the steps and know-how to tackle issues in my community. It used to be that I never knew where to begin. Now I know what it means to ‘think globally; act locally.’ I can put more focus on the local so I don’t get overwhelmed and distraught. I’m not looking to change the world in one fell swoop. I need to make change person by person.”

The program concluded with a Shabbaton, a Shabbat retreat at Camp Henry Horner, allowing students to take the time and space to reflect on their experiences, celebrate together, and solidify the community they developed over the week-long program. One highlight of the weekend was the extra time the students got to spend with Alderman Helen Shiller, also a JCUA Board member. Through stories, conversations, questions, and study, the students connected their experiences in Uptown to their own lives and to the Jewish values that guide JCUA’s work.

The students designed programming on Shabbat themselves, sharing their expertise and experiences on their respective campuses with the whole group. They then chose real issues that are faced in their campus and/or home communities and as a condition for participation in the program, students will be expected, to conduct one program on their home campuses based on what they have learned. “I have more confidence that I am capable of organizing and leading change. With this experience behind me and the continued support I expect from the group, I am more excited and optimistic to get involved, where I was cynical before.”

This years Urban Mitzvah Corps participants included:

Matt Adler, Washington University in St. Louis
Rebecca Allen, Wesleyan University
Helaine Alon, University of Vermont
Rachel Gerson, Barnard College
Jessica Kent, Brandeis University
Davida Klein, University of Maryland
Bridey Maidhof, University of Kansas
Benjamin Maslow, Rutgers University
Josh Rosenthal, Brandeis University
Arielle Sklar, New York University
Hana Staub, Warren Wilson College
Helene Zucker, SUNY New Paltz

For more information about JCUA’s Urban Mitzvah Corps, including this year’s schedule, go to http://www.jcua.org/umc