Purim at Adat Israel our first night in Guatemala. Visiting the ancient Mayan city of Iximche. Ziplining at Lake Atitlan! Our hike up to Concepcion outside of Panajachel. Town hopping on Lake Atitlan by boat! Our day in San Juan La Laguna. We visited La Voz Organic Coffee Collective and Casa Flor Ixcaco Women’s Weaving…
Watching my Bosses get Arrested for the Cause
The past few weeks at CLUE (Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice) have been great. I have been able to work on job skills such as time management that I will benefit from in college and the future. But it has also taught me many lessons on how to be an activist and ways…
GUATEMALA: Our time with the Jewish Communities in Guatemala
One of the most pleasantly surprising parts of our trip to Guatemala was our visit to Adat Israel, a reform synagogue just over ten years old with around six families. To our luck, our visit happened to align with Purim. Adat Israel proved you don’t need a huge and rich congregation to have a fantastic…
My Time with the Talk Project
This year, I have had the privilege to attend some Talk Project meetings. The Talk Project is a program of the Los Angeles Branch of the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) aimed at encouraging and destigmatizing the discussion of stopping sexual violence on high school campuses. On a Wednesday night, I joined the NCJW and…
Dinner at the Alexandria House
On Monday, May 1st, we set our collective record for most people fed with one meal at around twenty five. We cooked the meal for the women and children of Alexandria house, one of our community parters. Alexandria house is a transitional shelter in Koreatown for women and children who are in the process of…
Thoughts on our trip to the Mikveh
Most Reform Jews I know don’t consider a Mikveh part of their daily lives. The whole concept was certainly a mystery to me growing up, however complex my current feelings are surrounding the tradition. Such essential parts of my Jewish identity stem from values I learned in my Reform synogauge. My parents, Rabbis, and most…
Peter Yarrow & Nahko – A Concert of Unity And Restorative Justice
On Monday night, Tzedek America got the chance to go to Pico Union Project for a concert with Peter Yarrow, in unity and restorative justice for Standing Rock. Going in, I couldn’t have been more excited, my Dad had brought me up on Peter Yarrow’s songs, my favorite being “Light One Candle.” It was remarkable…
GUATEMALA – Empowering Communities and Individuals
“What is the purpose of traveling to Guatemala?”, asked family members, friends, and other donors along my crowdfunding journey.
GUATEMALA – A Visit to San Juan la Laguna
During our last week in Guatemala, we took a boat out to San Juan La Laguna. A quiet town that had been built completely up from the bottom. When we first arrived, I could immediately feel the collaboration of the people who lived there. Everywhere you turned you could see shops with handmade hammocks and…
Home Stay at Leo Baeck Temple
The other week I joined a Reform family for Shabbat and Yom Limmud at Leo Baeck Temple. As always, it was very nice to learn about the various Jewish traditions. We drove to a modern house on the top of a hill overlooking Santa Monica and the Pacific Ocean. Our kind hosts, Toni, Marc, and…
The Big Bang Theory
A couple of weeks ago, we got the chance to see a live taping of the Big Bang Theory! I was thrilled! This show has always been something close to me because it was the first television series that I watched as a teenager that showed me funny and smart women. When we arrived, we all…
The Youth Count
The Youth Count was an engaging and helpful way for us to get involved in combating homelessness in Los Angeles. Through an initiative orchestrated by Safe Place for Youth, or “S.P.Y.”, we helped to survey homeless youth in the Venice area so that SPY and other organizations could better distribute funds and resources. After a…
Tzedek America 