Jews for Urban Justice

Jews for Urban Justice

Post-Holocaust American Judaism Collections

2015

Moshe Kornfield, Scott Meyer, Elias Sacks, Stephanie Yuhas, Andrew Violet, Jane Thaler

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English

Jews for Urban Justice The Freedom Seder was sponsored by Jews for Urban Justice (JUJ). The group was led by Mike Tabor and sought to create change within the Jewish community. JUJ formed when Jewish activists realized that many of the segregationist apartment developers in the Washington, D.C. area suburbs were Jewish. In 1968, after two years of informal meetings, the group assumed the name Jews for Urban Justice and organized a series of actions aimed at pressuring the Jewish community on issues such as the 1960s grape boycott, desegregation, and suburbanization. Arthur Waskow’s 1969 entry into the group and the observance of the Freedom Seder were pivotal moments that brought energy and national attention to JUJ. After the Freedom Seder, JUJ became increasingly focused on blending spirituality and political activism. While Jews for Urban Justice was short-lived, Fabrangen, a Jewish countercultural center closely connected to JUJ, remains active today and the group’s integration of spirituality and politics has had a lasting influence on American Jewish life.