We Have Been Here Before: Building a Besere Velt, A Better World
Dear BWC Community,
As we enter Khanike together as a community, we grieve and hold the horror of two mass shootings over the past weekend that hit so close to home: The shooting at Brown University, an institution many of our members are connected to, and the antisemitic shooting at a Khanike candle lighting event at Bondi Beach in Australia.
Today, our hearts are with those directly impacted by this senseless violence, and those impacted by violence around the world.
Below is a note from BWC member Jeremy Menchik, grounding us in our history and our ancestors’ vision of the world. This Khanike, we rededicate ourselves to fighting for a future in which all people are safe, free, and have what they need to live lives of dignity.
With care, solidarity, and wishes for a freilichen khanike,
Rebecca Zimmerman Hornstein
Executive Director, Boston Workers Circle
“And while we take pride in the accomplishments of our past, we must continue to play a vital role in Jewish and American life — and in doing so, our ideological position must be a positive one. Not only are we against… fascism, against McCarthyism and every other form of reaction and dictatorship! But we must let the world know what we are for! For social democracy, for freedom of thought and speech and action, for a dignified Jewish status in every phase of life; for the development and strengthening of a secular or “veltliche Yiddish Kultur” in Yiddish, so that future generations may have the opportunity of sharing in its wealth and continuing Jewish creativity. For liberalized immigration. For better education. For a federal health and welfare program. For elimination of all discrimination against minorities of any kind.”
– Jacob T. Zuckerman, 1954
Dear Boston Workers Circle,
We have been here before.
In his 1954 address as the new President of the Workmen’s Circle, Jacob Zuckerman recognized that the fight against McCarthyism could not be solely defensive. Boston Workers Circle continues that legacy of fighting fascism by envisioning a more beautiful and better world, a shenere un besere velt.
As in our past, Boston Workers Circle is building a better world by investing in our youth through the Teens Acting for Social Change (TASC) program and Shule, our secular Jewish Sunday school. At BWC, kids not only learn about Jewish culture and Jewish traditions of social justice, they take leadership roles in organizing efforts.
We also continue the legacy of Zuckerman and the Workmen’s Circle through the organizing efforts of our members. Our Immigrant Justice Committee is building a world where refugees and immigrants are loved. Our Israel/Palestine Committee and Jewish Muslim Solidarity Committee are crafting coalitions for collective liberation. The Ritual Committee and the Yiddish Committee are teaching our traditions and preserving and expanding our Jewish culture. In recent decades, these traditions have grown to reflect the multicultural diversity of our members, including Ladino songs, Indigenous knowledge, and Sephardic and Mizrachi culture. We thrive by celebrating our racially diverse, queer, and LGBTQIA+ families. Our tradition grows stronger by enacting a joyous vision of solidarity and belonging across differences.
Join me in the fight against fascism by helping us build a besere velt, a better world. Please make a donation to Boston Workers Circle today!
In gratitude,
Jeremy Menchik,
BWC Member & Shule Parent
Thank you to Miriam Priven for her Yiddish translation work that made this research possible.
