CBCO Personal Stories: Cathy Levine

In this video, Cathy Levine, a lay leader at Tifereth Israel in Columbus, OH, reflects on her involvement in Congregation-based Community Organizing, a model of social justice work.

Today, increasing numbers of synagogues are engaging in CBCO, joining interfaith campaigns on vital issues of local concern such as expanding health coverage for low income workers and building affordable housing.

Three core components of the synagogue organizing model are essential to the CBCO
process: * congregants engage in one-to-one conversations within their synagogue, and often with other congregations, about their social justice passions. * leaders engage in extensive clergy and lay leadership training and development. * synagogue leaders work side-by-side with dozens of faith institutions and progressive organizations in their community, across lines of race, class, and faith.

Each of these components strengthens lay leaders, is a vehicle for congregational development, and builds strong bridges between Jews and other community leaders and institutions. Eventually, as this model grows deeper roots in synagogues across the United States, we hope it will create a strong synagogue-based voice for creating healthier communities. Examples of this work could include calling for universal health care, a higher minimum wage, or more affordable housing.

The Jewish Funds for Justice supports synagogue engagement in CBCO through leadership development, a synagogue organizing e-newsletter, phone consultations, publications and
resource materials , grants, trainings and educational programming, local and national gatherings.

For more information, visit http://jewishjustice.org/jfsj.php?page=2.5

Video produced by Seth Bernstein at eideticproduction.com

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