A roundup of upcoming events and meaningful actions
Yesterday, finding resonances in the proximity of Martin Luther King Day and Tu B’Shvat (the Jewish birthday of the trees) Rabbi Nate reflected on how vibrant social movements, like great living forests, are made up of far more beyond the most prominent pillars among them. Meaningfully, they both rely on deep, interconnected networks — countless branches and especially deep root systems of grassroots volunteers, neighbors, families, regular people, each uniquely playing their role.
As we return from the King holiday, thinking about and uplifting that crucial ecosystem of people who do the work of keeping Democracy alive, we are glad to have an especially full calendar of upcoming opportunities and actions to share with you all.
Scroll down below to find 7 different events coming up in the next several weeks (in chronological order) that you can take part in — some co-sponsored by The Shalom Center and our partners, some featuring our close contributors. Join us in speaking out on the critical issues facing our communities and our neighbors, sharing and learning from one another, and finding spaces in which to spiritually renew and explore, all keeping us collaboratively connected in the struggle.
Read on below — we are sure you will find something to inspire you!
Thursday, January 22
12:30pm ET // 9:30am PT
Call With Us - Hold ICE Accountable!
The Shalom Center is proud to co-sponsor an urgent action program with Jews for a Secular Democracy, “Call With Us: Hold ICE Accountable!”
Congress is once again debating funding levels for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)—and for many communities, this debate is not abstract. ICE’s tactics—raids, detention, surveillance, and family separation—have terrorized immigrant communities and created fear that extends far beyond those directly targeted. These harms are reinforced by white Christian nationalist rhetoric that frames exclusion and punishment as moral imperatives.
For Jews and other minorities, this should raise urgent alarm. The same worldview that enables ICE to terrorize immigrants undermines genuine religious freedom, erodes pluralism, and promotes a vision of America rooted in exclusion and religious supremacy rather than constitutional democracy.
This national “Call With Us!” program will:
Share timely information about congressional debates over ICE funding
Explain how ICE’s actions harm communities and undermine religious freedom
Provide talking points grounded in pluralism and dignity
Bring participants together to call Members of Congress - right during the event
This is an interactive program. After we make our calls, we’ll debrief together.
Visit bit.ly/cwunoice for more information and to register for this urgent call, or click below:
Saturday and Sunday
January 24–25
Brooklyn, NY (in-person)
Big Jewish Gathering
The Shalom Center is celebrating the excitement around the upcoming Big Jewish Gathering, a two-day spiritual convening weaving immersive ritual, embodied learning, and creative renewal. All the enthusiasm for this new bold new experiment in Jewish spiritual and cultural life means that the event itself has already sold out, but it is still possible to join a waitlist in case openings become available
The Big Jewish Gathering is not a retreat. It's not a synagogue service. It is a two-day spiritual laboratory, a practice ground for connection, creativity, and renewal, open to anyone interested in vibrant, meaningful engagement with a Judaism that is embodied, relational, and grounded in tradition.
The Shalom Center is especially proud to be part of the Big Jewish Gathering mishpacha, with two Cohort א members, Becca Goldstein and Charly Jaffe, as co-founders of this momentous event and additional Cohort א members, Shalom Center board and advisory council members, and various friends and collaborators among the spiritual leaders, artists, ritualists, and teachers bringing this into existence.
Read more about the event and join the waitlist here!
Tuesday, February 3
Online
Tu Bishvat Virtual Lobby Day for Climate Solutions
This Tu Bishvat, join Jewish Earth Alliance, The Shalom Center, members of our community, and Jews from across the country to urge the 119th Congress to act for ethical climate policies and solutions that protect people and the planet.
This is a critical moment. Congress has the power to stop efforts to weaken bedrock environmental laws and roll back regulations. We will meet virtually with US Senators or their staff to share our values and push for policies that safeguard our future. These focused, half-hour meetings take place online, and you will receive everything you need to participate with confidence.
Tu Bishvat is the Jewish Earth Day. Let’s use it to make our voices heard.
If you have any questions, you can reach out to jewishearthalliancelobbyday@gmail.com
Register for Tu Bishvat Virtual Lobby Day here.
Wednesday, February 11
1:30-2:30pm
ICE Headquarters, Washington, DC (in-person)
Jews Against ICE
The Shalom Center is joining T’ruah, Bend the Arc and other co-sponsor organizations in an event that will bring together over 75 Jewish clergy from across the country, as well as dozens of Jewish communal leaders and community members, to demonstrate that the Jewish communal consensus is clear: we completely reject this immigration system that dehumanizes people. We demand ICE leave our cities.
Grounded in our sacred teachings, we will make the moral case that this system is both a failure of policy and of conscience, and that it does not have to be this way.
The action highlights the leadership of rabbis and cantors in order to show the moral failure of this enforcement system, but we are asking all Jewish community members to show up to reinforce this broad consensus.
Stay informed on the Jews against ICE action via the T'ruah website at truah.org/events/jews-against-ice-action or click the button below:
Thursday, February 12
9:00am-5:00pm ET
Boston University, Boston, MA
In-person OR via livestream
Conference on the Jewish Left
Founded in 2024, Boston University’s annual Conference on the Jewish Left gathers together scholars, students, and global partners of the Jewish left. At a time when foundational principles of justice and democracy are under attack, the conference provides an educational space to bridge the academic-community divide, and to explore the Jewish left’s values, institutions, and impact. The conference aims to tackle pressing public questions and to empower the next generation of leaders to make a real-world difference in the critical challenges facing humanity and the earth today.
Among the scholars, faith leaders, and national organizations heading up the Conference plenary sessions and sixteen online and in-person workshops are several close friends of The Shalom Center and other familiar faces.
See the full schedule, workshop details, speaker and workshop leader bios, and register for the free conference at bit.ly/jewishleft or click below:
February 13-14
(Parshat Mishpatim)
Repro Shabbat 2026
Once again, The Shalom Center is proud to partner with National Council of Jewish Women on Repro Shabbat, coming February 13-14 (Parshat Mishpatim).
There are many ways to engage on Repro Shabbat. You can host Repro Shabbat in your community, with a gathering of family or friends, or even a quiet celebration for yourself.
Repro Shabbat provides an opportunity to honor the important Jewish value of reproductive freedom as we read Parshat Mishpatim, the portion of the Torah commonly used as the foundation of Judaism's approach to reproductive health, rights, and access. We invite you to join in community, to pause in the collective, and to honor the Jewish value of reproductive freedom. Learn more about Repro Shabbat and get involved today: ReproShabbat.org
Tuesday - Friday
March 24-27
Garrison Institute, Garrison, NY (in-person)
Conscious Change Forum
The Conscious Change Forum is an in-person retreat presented by the Garrison Institute's Spirituality & Social Change Program and Conscious Change Collective, exploring how inner work drives social change. Our own Rabbi Nate has been working with the Spirituality & Social Change Program and Conscious Change Collective as a Co-Creator.
The Conscious Change Forum will be a unique opportunity to meet fellow practitioners from around the world who share values and who are working in innovative ways across a range of social issues and modalities. Rabbi Nate, who has been helping to plan the forum, will also be taking part. The group will practice together, share approaches, deepen their collective insight, and help illuminate the field where consciousness guides social transformation. Over three days of dialogue, storytelling, experiential engagement, spiritual practice, and community learning, they will explore what connects their work. Together, the group will surface the wisdom emerging from our unifying field and imagine what becomes possible when we act together. The Forum will also feature several special guest speakers, including Michelle Alexander, Bayo Akomolafe, Deepak Bhargava, and others.
Find all the details and register at www.garrisoninstitute.org/event/conscious-change-forum or click below: