A piece I wrote for the Jewish Advocate here in Boston...

...and one I thought you guys might like:

Many of us spent Christmas Day volunteering – at a local soup kitchen, a homeless shelter, or at some other organization working to help those less fortunate than ourselves. I am proud that so many Jews see Christmas Day as an opportunity to reach outside of our community and give both emotional support and real elbow grease to make the holidays a time of joy for those who are currently down and out. It’s the right thing to do, and the fact that it’s a community norm, across denominations and political ideology, reminds me how special the Jewish community really is. It demonstrates to me the potential power our community has when we come together to make change.

And that’s why Christmas Day volunteering simply whets my appetite for more collective action. Because, fundamentally, I take this lesson from such one-time activities – being “just for a day” is not enough. The challenges our society faces are too big, are too entrenched, are too systemic. They require that we go deeper. And while they can seem overwhelming, the organic way in which our people come together on Christmas to help others shows me that we have only scratched the tip of the iceberg in terms of our community’s potential.

In my little piece of the Jewish Community (the Moishe/Kavod Jewish Social Justice House in Brookline), we have attempted to move beyond the day of service model, but I am the first to admit that we are still figuring out how to do it. Nonetheless, let me tell the story of one of our most successful initiatives – a partnership with a tenants’ rights organization in Boston called City Life/Vida Urbana. About six months ago, City Life recognized that due to the current foreclosure crisis, tenants – who usually have nothing to do with the fact that their buildings are in foreclosure – are very vulnerable, often forced out of their homes in the middle of their leases due to unscrupulous, speculative landlords and uncaring, corporate banks.

So now, twice a month, about 15-20 young Jews go out and canvass tenants living in foreclosed buildings in partnership with City Life. Each time we go out we let tenants know that they still have rights, despite the circumstances of the foreclosure. But just as importantly, we let them know that tenants throughout Boston are organizing to try and get these huge banks to put people before profit, to agree not to evict tenants immediately, and to instead sell the foreclosed units back to community-based nonprofits that can help keep tenants in their homes.

It’s an ambitious agenda, but it doesn’t feel like window-dressing. It feels like we are trying to prevent homelessness before it starts. And so when I think about how much more we could do if the entire Jewish community took our Christmas Day mentality and made it year-round, I get excited.

I know there are lots of folks who feel the same way, and have been doing this work for much longer than us at the Moishe/Kavod House. So all I’m saying is this: in 2008, let’s keep thinking big, because there’s no doubt in my mind that together we can, in fact, change the world.