On March 8, Department of Homeland Security agents abducted Mahmoud Khalil, a U.S. permanent resident and student activist for Palestinian rights, from his New York apartment. Mahmoud was targeted for his political speech and activism in support of Palestinian freedom and for an end to Israel’s violence against Palestinians in Gaza. 

The Trump administration is attempting to carry out deportations like Mahmoud’s in the name of fighting antisemitism. The truth is that this has nothing to do with Jewish safety – and everything to do with crushing dissent by any means, including by violating our constitutional rights.

Dear Beloved CJJ Community:

I have made the bittersweet decision to step down as Executive Director of Carolina Jews for Justice (CJJ), with March 27 as my last day.  It’s hard to leave an amazing job, one that has brought much learning, meaning, and connection.  And yet, right decisions are often hard.  Serving in this role has been more than an honor; it has been an answer to many questions I have held.  

I began laboring for my second child’s birth on June 17, 2015, the day of the racist massacres at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC.  Breathing deeply, I prayed that this baby would arrive on a different date. She did, and through my tears I began to seek guidance on how to healthfully and joyfully raise Black and Jewish children in this country.  The answer came in deepening community connections and fighting together for olam haba - the better world we know is possible. I realized I was not, and we are never, powerless.

I am full of gratitude for the opportunity to work alongside all of you in building a more just and compassionate North Carolina.

CJJ is more than an organization—it is a community, a movement, and a sacred space where Jewish values guide us in the fight for equity, dignity, and collective liberation. Together, we have built bridges across differences, mobilized for justice, and stood resolutely against forces of oppression that seek to harm the most vulnerable among us. We work to make our state one that reflects the values of tikkun olam—repairing the world—and our shared vision of a more inclusive and equitable future.

Being part of this Jewish social justice ecosystem has been an anchor for my soul and a source of profound inspiration. Sitting shiva in the streets for people who died in detainment at the border to stop ICE collaboration in NC; lobbying legislators to fight an abortion ban that impinges on our religious freedom; bolstering Jewish business owners to support community safety alternatives to policing; challenging Christian nationalism and antisemitism alongside clergy of many faiths; engaging voters and providing safety at the polls; watching people join and grow in their leadership to effect change. I didn’t know I could be Jewish in this way! 

In this challenging political climate, our potential, experience, and relationships give me confidence that CJJ is well-positioned to rise to the moment. This organization is powered by a resilient and passionate community of leaders, volunteers, and partners who are deeply committed to our mission. With the strength of our staff, the guidance of our board, and the wisdom of our grassroots network, I know that CJJ will grow and thrive in the years ahead.

My transition does not mean a departure from this work. While I will no longer serve as Executive Director, I remain deeply committed to the fight for a better North Carolina and to the values that have guided our shared journey. 

Thank you for trusting, challenging, and standing alongside me in the fight for greater justice. I will continue to champion CJJ and participate in the vibrant, transformative work ahead. 

Peace/L’Shalom,
Abby Lublin

...and now a word from CJJ's Board Co-Chairs!

Rochelle Sparko and Cheryl Lester here. We are pleased to introduce ourselves to you as the new Co-Chairs of CJJ’s Board of Directors. Rochelle is a longtime CJJ Board Member and an attorney with an even longer record of public service, currently as Special Deputy Attorney General in the Consumer Protection Division of the office of NC Attorney General Jeff Jackson. Cheryl is a recent CJJ Board Member and Jewish Durhamite, retired professor of literature and former Jayhawk, and devoted Bubbe. Cleverly dubbed RoCheryl by Abby, we have each created our Jewish lives through an eclectic array of experiences, values, and commitments, and these have happily led us both to CJJ. 

Abby has been far more than a good steward as Executive Director these past three-plus years. Thanks to her passion, charisma, foresight, and bridge-building strengths as a leader, CJJ has both the financial resources and the cultural capital to make an orderly transition to new leadership. Though a change in leadership brings different strengths and styles, we can count on what Abby has bequeathed to us: healthy finances and strong relationships across the state and nation to enable and guide us through this transition. 

With Abby’s help, we have a plan to recruit and hire a new Executive Director. We will post the job description and share with local and national partners this month. If you know someone you would like to see as the next ED of CJJ, please encourage them to apply! With our committed board members, dedicated staff, and motivated volunteers we look forward to continuing to build a vibrant Jewish justice organization in North Carolina.  

L'Tzedek,
Cheryl Lester and Rochelle Sparko
Co-Chairs of the Board of Directors

Have a fire for working together to get what we all need?  Appreciate a well-devised spreadsheet?  Love the diverse ecology of North Carolina?  Inspired by living your values in service of greater justice?  Have a knack for creative problem-solving?  This is the job for you! 

In October, CJJ-Triangle Member-Leader Diane Bellamy - along with Mary Thompson, a member of the Raleigh Human Rights Commission, and John Shuford of the Raleigh Quaker Community-Meeting - met with Raleigh City Council members as organizers of the Proposal for Reparations to the Raleigh African American community. 

After discussing the history of the proposal and the actions that have been taken to date, the team was advised to “have a staff member funded specifically to the Reparative Justice Commission as stated in the original Proposal allocated in the budget” in order for the Commission to be established. 

Though the budget has already been approved, we continue to encourage you to to reach out to City leaders, emails below, in support of the Proposal for Reparations to the Raleigh African American community and:

1. Establish Reparative Justice Commission/Taskforce, comprised of organizations and individuals with expertise in anti-racism practices, to meet regularly with the City Manager and The Raleigh Office of Equity and Inclusion to develop short, medium, and long-term recommendations to remediate the harms to the African-American community, through actions such as increasing African-American home ownership, expanding access to other affordable housing, increasing minority business ownership and career opportunities, developing strategies to grow equity and generational wealth, closing the gaps in health care, education, employment, wages, neighborhood safety and equity within the criminal justice system;

2. Call on the City Manager to produce a report for the City Council with preliminary recommendations within 180 days of the passage of this resolution;

3. Establish a formal bi-annual review process to review and assess the progress of work pursuant to this resolution, including engaging the public in feedback on these reviews.

Subject Line: Raleigh Reparative Justice Commission

[email protected] - Raleigh City Council

[email protected] - Raleigh Mayor

[email protected] - City Manager

You can read more about these efforts at this link. If you have any questions, contact Diane Bellamy at [email protected]  Thank you very much for your support!

September 11, 2023 Update:

In balancing the continued threat of the COVID variants and organizing needs, CJJ gatherings take place virtually and in-person, recommended outdoors or indoors with masks as determined by individual comfort and community agreements. 

For everyone’s safety we ask that you please take a rapid COVID test the day of or a PCR test the day before attending any in-person CJJ or community partner event. If you feel sick, keep the community safe by staying home. 

Should you discover a potential exposure at a CJJ event, please be in touch immediately so that we can take the appropriate actions: 919-301-9692.

You can review historical policy at this link.

Many of us are thinking what kinds of risks we are willing to take as individuals to regain our reproductive rights. Dr. LeRoy Carhart, whose obituary appeared in the May 1, 2023 edition of the New York Times, was a man who lived with a target on his back because he was an abortionist— a label he did not eschew. His obituary probably also appeared in the Omaha-World Herald, because it was in Nebraska where he dedicated himself to women’s health, specifically contraception and abortion.  More specifically, late-term abortions.

As you will read in the Times’ obituary linked here, he made women’s health his life’s work after a 1991 fire destroyed his farm, and killed his dog, cat and 17 of his 21 horses. The fire had been set in retaliation for his performing abortions.  As is said in his obituary, Dr. Carhart waxed philosophical that a perfect world would have no abortions; and yet he recognized that he did not live in a perfect world. He believed that no one —except mothers —knew when life began.  The obituary concludes with his daughter estimating that over the course of his life, her father “trained 300 - 500 doctors in how to perform an abortion.” 

Just an FYI:  Dr. Carhart was a Methodist, a 21-year veteran of the Air Force, and a registered Republican.

Diamond Staton-Williams is a registered nurse, small business owner, mother of three (which includes two teenage girls), and a member of the North Carolina State House of Representatives. Before SB 20 was adopted by the Republican majority, Staton-Williams shared her abortion experience with her fellow legislators.  This was met with a retort by Rep. Keith Kidwell that Staton-Williams was “going to the Church of Satan.” Kidwell, who in March 2023 was the primary sponsor of a bill that would ban legal abortion in NC except as necessary to save a mother’s life,  later issued an apology and resigned his deputy whip position.  

In February, during Faith Based Advocacy Day, a group of us from Temple Beth El met with three legislators: Diamond Staton-Williams, Frances Jackson, and Laura Budd.  We shared with Staton-Williams that our Jewish faith, dating back to the Torah, does not view abortion as murder, and that abortion at times is required in Judaism when the life of the pregnant person is at stake. Staton-Williams then shared her abortion story with us, telling us that she sought guidance from God before she made her decision.  Regarding Kidwell’s comment, Staton-Williams’ response aligned with our Jewish values:  “I think as a person of faith, and believe as a person of faith,” and she was disappointed that Kidwell's faith couldn’t recognize that she could have her “own faith” and her “own beliefs."

Read more about Kidwell at this link.

by Judy Leavitt

Abortion Bans Are Against My Religion – that is the message magnet I attached to my car. From the National Council of Jewish Women, the message clearly proclaims a fundamental First Amendment and Jewish perspective on abortion – Jews do not want to be governed by policies that reflect a majority Christian view. Since the Dobbs decision by the Supreme Court that overturned a constitutional right to abortion, these messages have been amplified by policies that states are instituting.

On my way into a store a few days ago, a woman came up and wanted to know what the magnet message meant. Before I had a chance to explain, she was already screaming that life begins at conception. I walked away annoyed, but realized it is the first time in almost a year that anyone had reacted so vociferously to the magnet. When I got home and walked around the back of the car on the way into the house, I looked at the magnet: written across in
indelible ink, Baby Killer!

It clearly was a reminder that we live in a community where, as Jews, we are a religious minority. For me, it was a motivator to continue the fight that I began more than 50 years ago in upstate New York when I worked for my Assemblywoman, Constance Cook, who cast the deciding vote in 1974 that legalized abortion in New York state. That law was the basis for the Supreme Court decision, known as Roe v. Wade.

Women were finally able to receive excellent reproductive healthcare from qualified providers The law resulted in a dramatic decrease in women’s mortality from botched and illegal abortions and enabled women to get a full range of reproductive care. 

At the time I was volunteering as a maternity and pediatric nurse at our local Planned Parenthood and became aware of how many women were seeking abortion services, which were still only available by a few physicians. My own OB/GYN was the medical director of the clinic. As we shared our observations, we decided that we needed to create abortion services at Planned Parenthood – and the first such clinic was opened in upstate New York. For the next 50 years, women and men assumed those services would be available despite the gradual restrictions that many states instituted.

Now in 2023 the Republican super-majority in the Legislature has passed a bill that outlaws most abortions after 12 weeks and makes it exceedingly difficult to obtain one before that time. It will cause most abortion clinics to close.

What does a draconian abortion ban mean for each of us, our children, grandchildren, and childbearing folks? Until now North Carolina has had the least restrictive abortion laws of any southwest state in terms of access to abortion and reproductive care, including for LGBTQA+. That all could change. For updated information go to: this link here.

We need to be informed about these changing laws and speak out in support of expanded access to care.

Kesher Connection is an online forum to learn about current justice issues, what CJJ is working on, and how you can get involved! Check out the recording below from April 2023 online statewide gathering. Make sure to listen to member leader Lia Kaz present on the HEART crisis response pilot. Convened by Durham Beyond Policing, CJJ is an integral part of a core group of activists committed to expanding this program, which you can learn more about starting at 14:20 below.

We build the organizing power of our progressive Jewish community in North Carolina through activation around the social justice issues that matter to us. One of the ways the coordinating team at CJJ would like to build power over the next year is by supporting our members developing their skills as organizers and advocates. Jewish Organizing Institute and Network (www.joinforjustice.org) offers an online course called Don’t Kvetch, Organize in community organizing skills that has been helpful for a number of our members, and we'd like to bring together a group of folks at CJJ to take the course together. You can register for the course at this link.

The course was designed for people who are either relatively new to organizing, or who have been organizing for several years without having had the benefit of sustained training. It can be especially eye opening for people who have some experience under their belt, and it's invaluable having an organizing context to think about how to apply the concepts in the course. The course teaches organizing fundamentals like the difference between organizing and direct service, what a campaign is and how to build power, and how to think about working in coalition with other groups, all essential parts of how CJJ shows up. You can register for the course at this link.

The course is entirely online, it will begin in mid-April and run through the first week of June. Most of the course content is pre-recorded videos that you can watch on your own time - requiring under two hours of your time per week. You would be taking the course in a group of about 20 - 30 people. There will be a live training each week where you'll get to talk about the content from the course and practice some of the skills, which will be recorded if you can't make the time. You will also be able to post on a discussion forum responding to a prompt each week. You can register for the course at this link.

Registration for the course is on an income-based sliding scale, from $175 - $345. Send an email to [email protected] or let a staff member know if additional support is needed, or if you have any questions. Thanks for making CJJ your Jewish social justice home.