With Election Day approaching, it’s time to get out and vote — and help others do the same. Our Jewish tradition is clear: “A ruler is not to be appointed unless the community is first consulted” (Babylonian Talmud Berachot 55a). Voting is one of the many ways we can live out our values, and as a congregation rooted in progressive Jewish values it’s an opportunity to make meaningful impact, to strive towards a more just world. 

So, let’s make our voices heard: 

• Plan your vote: Make a plan to vote early in person or on Election day, and invite others to join you. To find detailed information on how, when, or where to vote, visit the Minnesota Secretary of State’s website for guidance. 

• Volunteer: Join Minnesota Votes this Saturday to knock doors in St. Paul’s Ward 5 from 10am-1pm launching from 2324 University Ave, Suite 101, Minneapolis or register to phone bank on Election Day at Shir Tikvah! 

• Engage and support: Know someone who might be unsure about voting? Offer a listening ear and talk through the complications, try to work from the place of deep knowing: we are not alone.     

• Care for yourself within community: Don’t carry the weight of election season alone; join us for services and reach out for pastoral care or stop by community office hours if you need grounding or quiet time in the sanctuary. As a reminder to our JAMI families, T’filah Noar on Wednesday nights is our space to pray and process together.

• Live our values: Let this election be a reminder of our collective commitment to equality, justice, and the well-being of all. 

• Learn:

  “Our legs uttered songs:” the conflicted history of American Jewish Protest (Zoom)

  Register here; Tuition: $54, Teacher: Rabbi Joey; Thursdays, Oct. 31, Nov. 7th, Nov. 14th 12:00-1:00pm

  Inspired by figures like Abraham Joshua Heschel and Emma Goldman, American Jewish communities often frame their involvement in mass protests as a courageous stand on "the right side of history." In this course, we’ll consider the texture that has always existed underneath Jewish engagement with civil disobedience. What arguments have Jewish communities made for and against participation in protest? What sacrifices have Jewish leaders been willing or unwilling to make in the name of justice? How have Jewish activists and young people challenged Jewish institutions? In the lead up to and in the wake of November’s election, we’ll engage with these questions as we evaluate risk, safety and our moral responsibility within today's movements for justice.

  Embodied practices for bridging individual and social transformation. Workshop in the lineage of generative somatics:

  Registration is required here; Saturday November 9th 3-5:30pm; Teacher: Becka Tilsen

  We know how change that resides in our minds can leave us unable to take new actions despite our strong desires and solid conviction. We know that ancestral inherited trauma and systemic oppression have shaped the idea that our bodies are, at best, carrying cases for our brains and, at worst, something to dominate and control. But, how do we transform ourselves individually and collectively? Generative somatics is a politicized modality that works with the body as the site for change and offers concrete tools and practices for how we move from a ‘good idea’ to embodied change. 

  This workshop was originally offered on Yom Kippur but had to be rescheduled. We are repurposing it as a post election resource for us to face the political reality together, no matter what happens. 

  Becka Tilsen is a congregant, born and raised in the Twin Cities. She has been a student of generative somatics for 14 years and a practitioner for 10 years. Other things about Becka: she is a parent, she is a queer person, and a life-long organizer. She loves living room dance parties and she thinks she is very funny. 

  If you want more information about Becka’s somatic workshops happening this fall email her at becka[at]beckatilsen.com.

  Please register so we can prepare for our numbers.