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Leading Michigan Poor People’s Campaign

T

his summer,
interfaith clergy
and lay leaders
gathered to revitalize
the legacy of Martin
Luther King Jr.’s Poor
People’s Campaign
(PPC) through six acts
Valeriya
of nonviolent civil dis-
Epshteyn
obedience paired with
songful, impassioned
rallies.
Each weekly action
in May and June focused on one of the
many intersecting issues of violence,
racism, environmental devastation and
poverty. Leveraging the age-old tactic of
creative performative arrest, the mas-
sive wave of PPC actions shed light on
these injustices all over the country.
Across the nation, Jewish institutions
got on board with this historic move-
ment: The Jewish Council of Public
Affairs, Union of Reform Judaism, Bend
the Arc, T’ruah and Reconstructing
Judaism endorsed the PPC.
Locally, Rabbi Alana Alpert, executive
director of Detroit Jews for Justice (DJJ)
and rabbi at Congregation T’chiyah,
worked to cultivate a robust Metro
Detroit Jewish voice within the PPC.
Thanks to Alpert’s recruitment efforts,
the Metro Detroit Jewish community
participated in Michigan PPC actions in
Detroit and Lansing in solidarity with
those directly impacted.
Metro Detroit Jewish clergy were
trained by the PPC legal support team

and spirit leaders of the PPC in order
to safely risk arrest at the days of
action. On Mondays in May and June
in East Lansing, Alpert was arrested
along with Rabbi Aura Ahuvia of Shir
Tikvah and Rabbi Ariana Silverman of
the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue.
DJJ leaders Seth Archambault, Daniel
Hurwitz-Goodman, Jake Ehrlich, Dr.
Justin Sledge, Dan Klein, Hannah Lewis,
Eleanor Gamalski and Valeriya Epshteyn
were also arrested.
Rabbis who risked arrest included
Rabbi Brent Gutmann of Temple Kol
Ami and Rabbi Becca Walker, rabbi
at Michigan State Univiersity Hillel.
Rabbi Jeff Falick and members of the
Birmingham Temple were regular par-
ticipants as well.
“It is important for the Jewish com-
munity to be a visible part of the Poor
People’s Campaign because Jewish
values are human values,” said Ahuvia.
“And, to me, it feels important to pub-
licly affirm that. I’m also proud to par-
ticipate as a religious minority because
it reminds the world that Jews are an
important part of the conversation. We
want to be allies in repairing the world.
This proclaims that desire visibly.”
Jews have a longstanding history of
fighting for social justice since Abraham
Joshua Heschel marched with Dr. King
to Selma, Ala. Of course, the social
justice veins of the Jewish people run
deeper than the 20th century.
Gutmann asserted that the impetus
to take action is rooted in our holi-

Contributing Writers:
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S. Cohen, Shelli Liebman Dorfman, Adam
Finkel, Stacy Gittleman, Stacy Goldberg, Judy
Greenwald, Ronelle Grier, Esther Allweiss
Ingber, Allison Jacobs, Barbara Lewis, Jennifer
Lovy, Rabbi Jason Miller, Alan Muskovitz,
David Sachs, Karen Schwartz, Robin Schwartz,
Steve Stein, Joyce Wiswell

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PHOTO BY NINA CHACKER

Dozens of rabbis and lay leaders join together for social justice.

Metro Detroit Jews at a Poor
People’s Campaign event

est text. “Torah is filled with mitzvot
designed to create socioeconomic pro-
tections — peah, shmitah, al titosh ger,
yatom, v’almanah,” he said. “Moreover,
the prophets’ overarching message is
religious ritual without derekh eretz,
common decency, is contemptible. With
all these Jewish principles, is it possible
not to feel a sense of religious obligation
to help the poor of our country? What
purpose does our faith serve if not in
helping us become agents of change in
demanding a more compassionate and
more just world?”

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Added Silverman, “The work of the Poor
People’s Campaign is deeply resonant
with Jewish values and our obligations
to care for the vulnerable in our com-
munities. It is also vital that we work
in partnership with other clergy and
people of faith in Metro Detroit as we
work together to improve the lives of all
Detroiters. I admire and am grateful for
Rabbi Alana Alpert’s leadership in the
PPC. I am honored to do my part as we
do this sacred work together.” •

Valeriya Epshteyn is a program associate at Detroit
Jews for Jstice.

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