Dear BWC Community, 

In reflecting on our community over the past year, a quote from revolutionary thinker, activist, and transgender Jewish ancestor, Leslie Feinberg (z’’l), carried particular resonance. Leslie wrote that we must “use an old key to unlock new doors.” 

It is clear that in the deep brokenness of the world as it currently is, we desperately need to be able to open new doors. The people and institutions that have long held power are failing to meet this moment as injustice, war, violence, and fascism continue to mark this time.  

Yet, I have so much hope seeing the ways in which everyday people around the world are coming together to take care of each other, protect each other, and bring us closer to the world we want to live in and pass down to the next generation. This is a vision of a world where everyone has what they need to thrive, where everyone is able to live in peace and dignity, and where everyone belongs. 

I’m asking you today to find your belonging here at BWC by joining as a member today.

I have been so inspired by the way in which our community, using the “old keys” of our 126 year history as a community with a vision for care and for systemic justice, has responded to these hard times and has come together to support each other and build a better world in big and small ways. This year BWC members have: 

• Built up our mutual aid team, creating better systems for meeting each other’s needs and building a culture of deep care. 
• Took action together–fighting alongside each other for immigrant justice, multi-racial democracy, and peace with justice in Israel/Palestine and around the world. 
• Refreshed our Shule curriculum so it better meets this moment, and passes along our lineage and values to the next generation. 

Another quote from our history and tradition teaches that, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” (Psalms 112). It is us together that are building the cornerstone for the Jewish community and the world we so desperately need. And we need each and every one of us in our strong, scrappy, and courageous community to make that vision possible. 

With gratitude,
Rebecca Zimmerman Hornstein
BWC Executive Director