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10 March 30 • 2017 jn Avodah's work toward social change attracts many Detroiters. Pursuing Justice P erhaps it is because they grew up just outside a city that has seen its share of poverty and segregation or maybe it's their strong desire to find meaningful ways to express their Jewish values through pursuing social justice causes. No matter the case, many Detroit millennials have taken the direc- tive "Justice, justice you shall pursue" (Deuteronomy 16:20) to heart by spending a year participating in New York-based Avodah's Jewish Service Corps. They said Avodah shaped not only their career paths in standing up against poverty and discrimination, but also forged a new and inclusive Jewish identity for them. For nearly 20 years, Avodah has worked on social change and anti-poverty issues in New York, Washington, D.C., New Orleans and Chicago. More than 1,000 have participated in its Jewish Service Corps program. In the last four years alone, at least 15 of the organi- zation's alumni hail from Detroit, says Steve Bocknek, the organiza- tion's senior director of external affairs, who is also a native Detroiter. Executive Director Cheryl Cook also is from Detroit. Rabbi Alana Alpert of Reconstructionist Congregation T'chiyah participated in Avodah in 2006. The program inspired her to become a rabbi. In rabbinical school, she continued to organize communities for change on a range of causes, including prison reform, Palestinian rights issues in Hebron and in the LGBTQ community. "I can't imagine my career happening without Avodah," said Alpert, also co-founder of Detroit Jews for Justice, a group that strives to make social change central to the life of Congregation T'chiyah and then spread these efforts into the entire Jewish community of Metro Detroit. "I was empowered to do serious work at my placement right out of college," she said. "I gained skills for leadership and self-care that sustain my work, and I joined a Jewish community that continues to nourish and support me." Just as she does with other Jewish holidays, Alpert engaged mil- lennial Jews this Purim with a spiel that sits at the intersection of tradition and current events. Last year's theme centered around the poisoning of the water in Flint. This year's Haman was portrayed by Secretary of Education Besty DeVos threatening the schoolchildren of Detroit. According to Alpert, this project is led by Jews in their 20s and 30s. They do not see synagogue membership as a mechanism to their Jewish identity, she says, but are making Judaism relevant to them. They want to immerse themselves in social justice causes, and this is the language and framework to which they respond. Alpert said within Detroit's younger generations of Jews there is a great desire to heal the rift that occurred between urban and sub- urban populations during the '60s and '70s. She says Jews for Justice wants to help heal Detroit. However, she cautions that alleviating the short-term symptoms of poverty — like collecting food and school supplies — may feel good to the volunteer, but real change will only come by influencing policy change at the city, county and state levels. She is looking to inspire a Jewish generation that is into social change and justice for the long haul. While Avodah attracted transplants like Alpert, a California native, to make a go in Detroit, it also led others elsewhere. Native Detroiter Elizabeth "Lizzy" Lovinger, 28, participated in Avodah in 2010 and now lives in Brooklyn. A longtime activist in the LGBTQ community, her work through Avodah with the Gay Men's STACY GITTLEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER jn jews d in the continued on page 12 2015-2016 New Orleans Corps member graduation, with Corps members and alumni. Lisa Tencer of Huntington Woods is seated, third from left.