Avodah

Sparking Jewish Leaders, Igniting Social Change

For more than 20 years, we’ve been inspiring Jewish leaders to commit to a life of social change, promoting a vision of Jewish life rooted in justice, and engaging the broader Jewish community in some of the most pressing issues facing our country at a local and national level. Avodah Corps Members serve at nonprofits across the country (in NYC, DC, Chicago, and New Orleans) for a full year, directly impacting their communities for the better, while learning how to create systemic change.

06/18/2026

Mazel tov to our 2025-2026 Avodah Justice Fellowship cohorts in Chicago and NYC!

Over the past few weeks, our Fellows gathered for their siyyums (closing celebrations) to celebrate a year of deep conversation, community, and social justice work rooted in Jewish values. Each Fellow presented a JLO (Jewish Learning Opportunity), sharing the ideas and questions that shaped their year.

Jada, a data scientist working in anti-carceral research, created an interactive digital map of Chicago tracing the politics of violence, extraction, and resistance across the city. Abby, who works at a kosher food pantry in NYC serving war refugees and Holocaust survivors, asked what a Jewish framework for economic justice could look like there.

These were just a glimpse into the incredible insights our Fellows brought to their siyyums and into what the Avodah Justice Fellowship is all about: a space for young Jewish professionals doing social justice work to come together, build community, and connect what they do with who they are.

To every Fellow who showed up, asked the hard questions, and built something real this year, we are so proud of you!

06/17/2026

We heard y’all love the Soup Bracket, so we made a tote—sturdy enough to schlep home ingredients for your own bracket!

In case you missed the lore: this year's NOLA cohort competed in a Soup Bracket where they’d make a soup and score the creation out of 400—because 400 is the gematria (numerical value) of the word “soup.” This year’s lineup was strong, but in the end a soup called “True Potential Black-Eyed Pea prevailed.

Donate $36+ by June 27, 2026, and you’ll receive our limited-edition NOLA Soup Bracket tote.

Your gift also helps us expand our NOLA cohort next year, growing our capacity to serve New Orleans’ most vulnerable communities by 30%.

Click here to donate and grab your Soup Bracket tote: https://donate.avodah.net/campaign/812786/donate

06/16/2026

America is a country of immigrants. So why has immigration become one of the most divisive issues in our politics?

Chicago immigration attorney and Avodah alum Aaron Lawee has spent years working inside the U.S. immigration system, and he has a clear take on how we got here. His observation is simple: “It’s especially easy to blame immigrants when they can’t vote.”

In this clip, Aaron breaks down how immigration has shifted from a shared American value to a partisan wedge issue, arguing that targeting a group of people with no political recourse is entirely intentional.

06/11/2026

When our DC Corps Members need a good cup of coffee or a place to get some work done, they have their favorites. Corps Member Oscar’s pick? Zeke’s Coffee—their go-to “work-from-home not-from-home” spot where, as he puts it, they’re “constantly running into each other and tapping each other on the shoulders to surprise each other there.”

DC locals and Avodah alumni, where were your go-to spots during your service year? Drop your city and favorites below!

06/09/2026

Gen Z is showing up in Jewish communal life with new expectations around leadership, belonging, and what it means to have real impact. For many organizations, that’s both exciting and challenging. So the question becomes: how do we move beyond surface-level youth engagement to something rooted in authentic collaboration? That’s exactly what we’re digging into at Lehrhaus on June 22!

Join Avodah’s Chief Program Officer Emilia Diamant for a workshop on engaging Gen Z as genuine partners in leadership.

🗓️ Monday, June 22, 2026 | 8–9:15pm EDT
📍 Lehrhaus, Somerville, MA

Click here to register: https://events.humanitix.com/who-s-afraid-of-young-people-gen-z-milennials-and-more

06/08/2026

Antisemitism is linked to the same systems of oppression that harm everyone—and our movements are stronger when we combat it together. Avodah’s Chief Program Officer Emilia Diamant breaks down what it means to approach antisemitism training from a social justice framework, and why our communities need it now.

This conversation is part of why we’re so excited to announce the launch of Community Engagement & Learning (CEL), Avodah’s new external education initiative. After 27 years of training social justice leaders, we’re bringing that expertise to Jewish and secular nonprofits, multi-faith communities, and Jewish professionals in our broader community, equipping them with the tools they need to hold complexity, bridge generational divides, and sustain values-led action.

Click here to learn more: https://avodah.net/community-engagement/

06/05/2026

We asked our New Orleans Corps Members Maddie and Lena to share some lore from the NOLA bayit (communal house), and this one might be our favorite: The Soup Bracket. Every housemate makes a soup, and everyone scores each creation out of 400—because 400 is the gematria (numerical value) of the word “soup.” It’s equal parts community building, friendly competition, and the strong belief that soup rocks.

06/04/2026

Gen Z is refusing to be gerrymandered out of democracy, and Avodah alumna and board member Samantha Pourciau is making sure lawmakers hear that. Sam has now testified twice before the Louisiana Senate in defense of fair redistricting maps. As a Senior Attorney at Avodah placement, Promise of Justice Initiative, Sam’s message was clear: when Representative Larvadain III asked whether people of younger generations would make Louisiana their home under these conditions, the real question was: Will you settle down and accept this proposed injustice as the new status quo? Sam’s answer was emphatic: “No, people will leave. Or not even come.”

Click here to read the whole story: https://avodah.net/gen-z-refuses-to-be-redistricted-out-of-their-future/

06/01/2026

This May, DC’s current Corps Members got to meet the people who had lived in their same house, served at their same placements, and came out the other side still doing justice work and still showing up for each other. It was a reminder that the relationships forged in the bayit don’t end when the service year does; they only continue to grow

Read about what that weekend looked like: https://avodah.net/beyond-the-bayit-dcs-first-joint-alumni-and-corps-members-retreat/

05/29/2026

Promise of Justice Initiative is one of our placement partners where Avodah Corps Members serve. PJI is currently litigating VOTE v. LeBlanc, a class action lawsuit against Angola Prison for the dangerous and degrading practice of the “Farm Line,” a practice rooted in slavery that forces incarcerated people to labor in the fields under armed supervision, in extreme heat, and under threats of punishment.

Yesterday’s ruling confirmed that these conditions are unconstitutional, but the court refused to order lasting protections. Modern day forced labor cannot be normalized. Dignity does not disappear at the prison gates.

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Brooklyn, NY
11201

Telephone

+12125457759

Website

http://www.avodah.net/

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