Mishkan Blog
Hanukkah: Defying Darkness
You might remember the story of Hanukkah in Billings, Montana in 1993. Years of anti-Semitic rhetoric, pamphlets, and talk from the local Ku Klux Klan chapter culminated in someone throwing a cinderblock through a Hanukkah-decorated window of a 5 year old Jewish...
Chicago City Budget Vote Recap
On November 26, Chicago City Council passed a budget with a vote of 39-11. While the budget does include modest funding increases for mental health services and homelessness prevention, it does not reflect the values and priorities we and our allies at ONE Northside...
Redeeming My Racist Ancestors Vayetse 5780 | 12.6.19
When I was in college and really starting to explore my Judaism and where I came from, I once asked my Dad, “How did your Southern, Christian family first react when they found out you were engaged to a Jewish woman from New Jersey?” And he told me this story: It...
Justice Organizing Team: A City We Believe In
Budget Proposal Recap: Chicago’s Aldermen are currently reviewing Mayor Lightfoot’s budget proposals, with a deadline of December 31 set for the vote for the 2020 budget. Some of the key points are: - $50 million in cuts (a hiring slowdown, cuts in health spending and...
An invitation.
There’s a famous story about a brilliant young man who entered Harvard Law School at the age of 18. It was 1875, a time of anti-Semitic discrimination and quotas. The young man was repeatedly told he could have an extraordinary legal career - maybe even serve on the...
Rosh Hashanah 5780: Holding on While Breaking Away
There’s a famous story about a brilliant young man who entered Harvard Law School at the age of 18. It was 1875, a time of anti-Semitic discrimination and quotas. The young man was repeatedly told he could have an extraordinary legal career - maybe even serve on the...