Racism & the Black Community • LGBTQIA+ Rights
Tzedek, tzedek tirdof (Justice, justice you shall pursue) — Deuteronomy 16:20
As a Jewish organization with a heritage built on an unambivalent call to justice, the PJCC takes a firm stance against the injustice, inequality, and hate that blights our society.
Our Guiding Principles state: “We embrace the diversity of culture, opinion, religion and identity in our community, and we strive to make the Center an accessible space where it feels safe to be oneself.”
We affirm that human rights should be experienced by and preserved for all individuals — here and around the world — and we will work toward building a just and free society, where equality is the reality for all.
#equality
#inclusion
#diversitymatters
“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
~ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.”
~ Elie Wiesel
The PJCC stands in solidarity with the Black community and with everyone who demands an end to racism, violence, and oppression.
We are grateful that the PJCC is a place where people of all ages, backgrounds, ethnicities, sexual orientations and identities, and faiths come together in friendship. We are a wonderfully diverse community that “welcomes all with joy”, creating connections among people and building bridges between communities.
As an organization guided by Jewish values and experiences, we are obligated to shelter the stranger and defend the threatened, because not long-ago Jews were both. We are committed to work with civic, faith, and political leaders to address racism and support equality.
We know that we need to turn within and examine our own biases and behaviors. We also need to listen respectfully and invite education and guidance from people of color within our community, as well as thought leaders across the country. As a community we stand for justice and embrace a culture where we actively work for respect and safety for all. We hope you will join us.
Educate Yourself and Take Action
If you are not personally free to be yourself in that most important of human activities…
the expression of love… then life loses its meaning.
~ Harvey Milk
Let justice well up like water and righteousness like an everflowing stream.
~ Amos 5:24
The PJCC stands with the LGBTQIA+ community and affirms the rights of all people to live freely, peacefully, and empowered — we celebrate sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression as part of our unique humanness.
We believe that everyone belongs here with us, and we celebrate the right of all people to joyfully live as their whole and true selves.
The PJCC proudly leans upon five Guiding Principles, which form the pillars of our community: Jewish Life (Chavaya Yehudit); Welcoming All (Hachnasat Or’chim); Our Community of Family & Friends (Kehilla u’Mishpacha); Wholeness of Body, Mind & Spirit (Shleimut); and Repairing the World (Tikkun Olam).
