Blog | Civic Engagement Under the Sukkah in Santa Monica

During the recent Jewish holiday of Sukkot, Jews gathered in a sukkah on the sand on September 30, in Santa Monica, to celebrate the holiday and discuss the significance of voting yes on California’s Proposition 30 on Election Day. They are supporters of Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice, which is supporting Proposition 30, a ballot initiative that would establish a system of progressive taxation to increase opportunities across California. Under the sukkah, Bend the Arc launched its 2012 get-out-the-vote efforts by discussing its voter guide and urging participants to support voter outreach and use the guide to educate friends and family.

Sukkot commemorates the annual pilgrimate made during the temple era and is celebrated by dwelling and eating in the sukkah structure.

Bend the Arc linked Sukkot – when Jews build structures that provide shelter but are inherently fragile – to the building of societal structures which sustain us but are also fragile and require our investment and commitment (i.e. schools, public works, and a fair criminal justice system).

Bend the Arc’s campaign to garner yes votes for Proposition 30 is known as Progressive Taxation for the Common Good, and is a joint effort of the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable, a network of 25 Jewish social justice organizations including the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. 

Since it was first established in 2009, the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable has worked its way from a fledgling network to an influential voice in the Jewish advocacy world whose leaders coalesce around social justice issues such as worker justice, health care, affordable housing, and sustainability and food justice.

The Roundtable currently includes American Jewish World Service, AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps, Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice, Hazon, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action, Jewish Community Action, Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, Jewish Labor Committee, Jewish World Watch, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, Jews United for Justice, JOIN for Justice, Keshet, MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, National Council of Jewish Women, New Israel Fund, BBYO’s Panim Institute, Rabbinical Assembly, Rabbis for Human Rights-North America, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Repair the World, Union for Reform Judaism/Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism/Just Congregations, Uri L’Tzedek, and Workmen's Circle.