Dear Friend of JCUA —
We thank you for being an instrumental part of JCUA. The time, energy, and resources you dedicate to this organization make our Jewish community a powerful force for justice. Because of you, we are making waves across Chicago and Illinois.
At this time last year, I invited you to look back on JCUA’s impact over the last seven-year Shmita cycle. We recounted the connections we’ve formed, the power we’ve built, and the campaigns we’ve won since taking on a member-driven organizing model. This celebration of everything we’ve built together has inspired further reflection. We now find ourselves looking to the future, asking fundamental questions about the work ahead.
Where does JCUA's power come from? Our power comes from our people. Each one of us arrives with our own unique background and identities. We marshal our individual experiences, skills, and relationships toward a larger, collective endeavor. All of us make the courageous decision to challenge the status quo, call out injustice, and fight alongside our neighbors. This power, brought together, is a formidable force for change.
How does JCUA organize? Organizing is about transformation. As we work to transform the world around us, we transform ourselves in the process. This dynamic emerges across JCUA’s work. As we confront unjust systems of immigration, safety, and housing, we reflect on our experiences with these systems as Jews and how they have shaped our lives. As we train members to recognize and respond to antisemitism and white supremacy, we deepen our commitment to antiracism as an organization. As we fight for multiracial democracy, we celebrate and sustain the diversity within our Jewish community.
Why do JCUA members stay involved? Earlier this year, we invited you to share what JCUA means to you. You spoke of JCUA as a space to integrate Judaism and social justice. A space for community and social connection. A space to connect across differences. A space to channel fear and anger into action. My favorite response was that JCUA is like a family. We see ourselves as a home for all Jews across our beloved community, and like a family, we strive to support our members and challenge them to become powerful leaders and individuals.
Where is JCUA heading? The streams of JCUA’s work — from our campaigns to our youth programs to our Community Ventures Program loan fund — take different paths, but they are flowing toward the same destination. We often refer to this as the world as it should be. It is a future where everyone has the resources they need to flourish, where the Jewish community and our neighbors stand in solidarity and mutual support, where Chicago and Illinois are safe and enriching places for everyone.
It will take more work to get there, but we can find inspiration and guidance from the prophet Isaiah, who says, “If you do away with the yoke of oppression... then your light will rise in the darkness... you will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.”
We ask that you generously support JCUA’s members, our organizing, our vision, and our collective power. This work requires all of us to give what we can. Your continued participation sustains our organization, and your contribution will allow us to make waves in the years to come.
L’Shalom,
Judy Levey, Executive Director
