Open Door Judaism

ESPCoalition is incredibly honored to be showing the documentary ‘It Is Up To Us’ by directors Stephen McKinley Henderson and Stephen Rosenthal. This locally-made and award-winning documentary is a brief history of racism in America, created with a hope of promoting equity. As we near the four year anniversary of the dreadful shooting at Tops on Jefferson, it is as timely and important as ever to understand how we got here and what you can do to help.

Short Q&A to follow—
with one or both🤞🏽directors!

Free and open to the public.

Donations for our weekly Saturday 11:30am WUFO 📻 show are gratefully accepted.

🗓️ Wednesday 5/13
⏰ 6pm showing; doors at 5:30pm
📍 955 Main St (enter at Main & High)
Jacob’s School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences

https://www.opendoorjudaism.org/thinking/what-our-faith-demands-episode-2

What Our Faith Demands, Episode 2 — Open Door Judaism Rev. Raquel Alston, Rev. Tanya Spencer, and Rabbi Jonathan Freirich, talk about the problems with power, the challenges of polarization and what to do about it, not raising our voices, being present and listening, and so much more. Join us for blessings and a deep dive into What Our Faith Demands.

It does seem like it has gotten more difficult to work in the world of “doing good” as a Jewish person.

American Jews have long been disproportionately represented in the nonprofit sector, with 16% of American Jews working for nonprofits, according to a 2021 Pew study, filling roughly 4% of the nonprofit workforce despite making up an estimated 2.4% of the American population.

But a new study indicates that American Jews may be pulling away from the wider sector over antisemitism and discrimination.

“A lot of Jews choose to work in the nonprofit industry because it really reflects their Jewish values and aligns with their desire to make the world a better place,” Sharon Leslie, founding executive director of the newly launched Blue Compass, which combats antisemitism in the nonprofit sector, told eJewishPhilanthropy.

The survey released by Blue Compass found that over a third of Jewish nonprofit workers working for non-Jewish nonprofits have considered leaving their jobs, that nearly 40% of workers have witnessed antisemitism at work and that 41% feel uncomfortable expressing their Jewish identity at professional events.

Full story: https://ejphil.com/4m8uq

https://www.opendoorjudaism.org/thinking/the-power-to-read

The Power to Read — Open Door Judaism “Reading into or reading out of: reading scripture should make us uncomfortable and ask us to learn.” [First given as a sermon on August 24, 2025] Find this interesting? Please register for the upcoming class inspired by it: Original and Amendable: Reading the US Constitution in Light of Rabbin

An important reminder of an important anniversary.

Lincoln's re-reading of the Declaration of Independence went much farther than Jefferson ever intended. And so did Dr. King's re-reading.

Authentic thinking about the American project includes progress on our rights, and requires creative re-reading of our source documents.

Otherwise our society will continue to unravel, trying to be an 18th Century Democracy entirely ill-equipped for 21st Century opportunities and challenges.

November 18, 2025 For three hot days, from July 1 to July 3, 1863, more than 150,000 soldiers from the armies of the United States of America and the Confederate States of America slashed at each other in the hills and through the fields around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

You are a good Jew — Jewish And We are enough. We are good Jews. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!

Shabbat Shalom and a Happy New Year to come next week!

You are a good Jew — Jewish And We are enough. We are good Jews. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!

Peanut Butter, Chocolate, and Getting Along — Jewish And Getting along takes accepting that different people like different things and we all still need to work together to build family, community, our nation, and our world.

Discover a New Approach to Spiritual and Rabbinic Counseling — Jewish And “You not only provided guidance, teaching and ever-important questioning during my conversion; you also gave me the tools to find a place of peace and ways to connect with God, the universe, and my own self in very difficult times.”

A new approach to spiritual and rabbinic counseling - explore with me.

Discover a New Approach to Spiritual and Rabbinic Counseling — Jewish And “You not only provided guidance, teaching and ever-important questioning during my conversion; you also gave me the tools to find a place of peace and ways to connect with God, the universe, and my own self in very difficult times.”