BRING ON THE LIGHT CENTER FOR LOVING KINDNESS

from Squirrel Hill Magazine Winter 2021 Issue

HOLIDAY EVENT GUIDE

BRING ON

THE LIGHT

IN THIS CONVERSATION, Rabbi Ron Symons and Melissa Hiller, Founding Director and Assistant Director, respectively, of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh’s Center for Loving Kindness and Civic Engagement, reflect upon the history, philosophy, and activities of the CFLK.

MH: It’s hard to believe that the Center for Loving Kindness and Civic Engagement (CFLK), the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh’s social justice arm, will celebrate its fifth year in 2022. Its seeds were planted even before 2017 as we considered how the JCC could respond to the widely reported public ambivalence towards participating in civic life, loss of confidence in the future of the U.S., and flagging trust in public institutions. At a hyperlocal level, even conversations at the JCC showed us that people were feeling alienated and deeply concerned about racial justice, equity, systems that make it impossible for neighbors to thrive, and the future of democracy in our country…and that they want to wrestle with these pressing and complicated issues.

RS: When we launched CFLK in August 2017, those concerns ignited us to draw upon the JCC’s history as

Marching through JCC. Courtesy of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh.

a community hub for convening, gathering, and forging bonds. From the beginning, we envisioned CFLK as a place where neighbors can live in community with one another based on our shared humanity and through real and perceived differences. We amplify the long-held values of ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ and ‘Do not stand idle while your neighbor bleeds.’ We redefine ‘neighbor’ from a geographic term to a moral concept.

MH: These ideals are so intertwined with the JCC’s overall mission—Community is our middle name—that it made sense to establish a formal civic engagement model within it.

RS: The launch date of CFLK is significant to us because certain August historical events are emblematic of our highest ideals and our worst selves. On August 28, 1963, during the March on Washington, Rabbi Joachim Prinz, a Holocaust survivor, immigrant, and civil rights leader, called on demonstrators with a mandate that underpins our own mission: “Neighbor is not a geographic term. It is a moral concept. It means our collective responsibility for the preservation of man’s dignity and integrity.” On the other side of the

spectrum, August 11, 2017, was the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., that ended in deadly violence. Our first event, on August 28, 2017, was an interfaith Clergy Forum of Social Justice Sermons inspired by the 1963 March. More than 150 local spiritual leaders convened at the JCC to unite as neighbors and agents of love, not hatred, in the face of emboldened racism and bigotry. We shared excerpts from the sermons of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Muhammad, and Rabbi J. Leonard Levy of Rodef Shalom (early 20th century). We then marched through the JCC ‘main street’ to join in spirit the thousands of others gathered in Washington, D.C., at the same time.

MH: The deep work we did at the beginning prepared us. We were ready to have hard conversations and build authentic, ongoing relationships with community partners like Center of Life, the Christian Church of Wilkinsburg, and Christian Associates of Southwest PA, among so many others.

RS: When we think about the complexities of living in community in the 21st century, we know that being a change agent comes with articulating the theory behind change. Six principles articulate our beliefs:

• We break down geographic, cultural, economic, and racial neighborhood divides to build community connectivity. • We ignite people of good will to action. • We support neighbors on their journeys towards more open minds and new and different perspectives relating to living together in our diverse community. • We inspire people to move beyond their interfaith differences. • We create safe spaces in which Pittsburgh police officers and spiritual leaders can build relationships, seeing each other as human beings. • We encourage neighbors to talk to each other through their different political partisan affiliations.

MH: What runs through these principles is the ability of community members to make an impact. The COVID-19 pandemic created opportunities for impact through our UPstander volunteer program, a bright spot amid unprecedented uncertainties. During the rollout of the vaccine in early 2021, communities throughout Pittsburgh, particularly neighborhoods with majority Black and Brown residents, experienced challenges communicating eligibility information and navigating the appointment registration process. By late February, CFLK UPstanders and AgeWell at the JCC volunteers were working with community leaders and the Community Vaccine Collaborative to share registration details with eligible residents. By March, UPstanders were providing onsite support at vaccination clinics throughout Pittsburgh.

Overall, more than 70 UPstanders made 3,000+ registration and reminder phone calls to people without internet access and participated in more than 20 vaccination events amid overwhelming feelings of isolation. One UPstander’s written sentiments summarize beautifully what it means to make tangible impact: “We didn’t just help people navigate the complex and confusing process, we touched them emotionally. We got to talk about birthdays and grandchildren, we got to be human. We would do this again.”

RS: When we conceived the UPstander program, we wanted it to provide acknowledgement, understanding, and support for neighbors facing challenges because of hateful acts, natural disasters, violence, or intolerance. We’re now mobilizing to welcome and support Afghan

Upstander at Vaccine Clinic. Courtesy of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh.

HOW CFLK STRENGTHENS

THE FABRIC OF COMMUNITY

• 500+ faith leaders belong to CFLK’s ministerium; previously, there was no single organization in Pittsburgh that brought faith leaders together for conversation, relationship building, and action.

• 72 individuals participate in its

UPstander volunteer program; they were actively involved in communitybased COVID-19 vaccination programs.

• A vaccine clinic offered with

Allegheny Health Network and 30 community organizations ensured vaccine access to frontline workers, immigrant and refugee communities, and community members from Black and Brown neighborhoods.

• Parents, teachers and students from

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High

School (Parkland, Fl.) joined members of Pittsburgh’s Jewish Community for three days of healing, resilience, and community building via From

Parkland to Pittsburgh in April, 2019.

• In September, 2019, CFLK hosted a forum on religious freedom, The

First Amendment for the 21st

Century, featuring Nina Totenberg (NPR) and Michael McConnell (Stanford Law School) along with local leaders.

refugees, as well as the resettlement agencies that meet myriad housing and employment needs. These are our newest neighbors. Of course, we know there will be other emerging issues.

MH: The tenets of our origin story have been our North Star as we navigated through some profoundly dark days, sometimes leading and guiding when the tragedy was at our front door, other times showing up for our neighbors who needed us to stand with them. I still think about showing up outside the Islamic Center in the aftermath of the Christchurch, New Zealand massacre to stand in solidarity, support, and protection of our Muslim neighbors.

Our commitment to sharing experiences with people from different backgrounds also enabled us to celebrate wonderfully joyous interfaith occasions; we might be the only JCC to have organized a Social Justice Disco for Hannukah. This is all really about love and a conviction to shared belonging in a city, a community, we all call home.

MH: Speaking of the Disco—the holiday season is now upon us, and there is something about a holiday that sparks interfaith wonder and curiosity.

RS: It was so wonderful to gather in large and diverse community both in the audience and among those performing and sharing. We were blessed to witness the beautiful musical traditions and stylings of Native Americans, Cubans, Black Christians, Jews, Drag Queens

Social Justice Disco. Courtesy of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh.

and so many more in celebration of LIGHT. With thanks to Liz Berlin and Phat Man Dee, who helped us connect, we illuminated ways that our collective light is brighter when we join together. Holding so many candles lit from the same original flame, we witnessed the truth that MLK continues to teach us: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”