JALSA in Jewish Journal on Its Mission of Pursuing Justice

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Justice, justice shall Jewish law, social action group pursue

Over scrambled eggs and challah toast in a Harvard Street deli, Cindy Rowe explains that her organization, JALSA, thrives because it is a Jewish Alliance for Law & Social Action.

The group, she says, fulfills its “very big mission” – the pursuit of social, economic, environmental and racial justice – in a number of ways, including legislative advocacy, community organizing and educational programming. “We do it all in coalition. The thread that runs through it all is the relationships that we create, working on these issues with people in many settings – figuring out where we might overlap in our interests and how we create relationships that work today.”

For example, two of JALSA’s top priorities are affordable housing and immigration. So, part of its work involved lobbying for the $5.4 billion housing bond bill the Legislature passed in 2024, which included money for towns to create “additional dwelling units,” or ADUs. Now, Rowe says, JALSA is partnering with Jewish Family Services of MetroWest on a pilot project to build ADUs in the backyards of seniors, particularly those who need healthcare, for home healthcare aides to live. “To take care of the seniors and provide housing for a family that might not be able to afford housing in some of these suburbs. Also, JFS trains immigrants in home healthcare delivery. So what we really want to put in here is the use of ADUs for immigrant families who are trained in home healthcare services, who could then be taking care of seniors, who can then stay in their homes,” she says.

All of JALSA’s efforts, including in affordable housing and immigration, are grounded in Jewish values, Rowe notes. “We talk about the policies that honor the dignity and respect for all people, and there is nothing more basic than having a home – having a safe, accessible, affordable home. To meet the value of dignity and respect, that obviously includes shelter. So for us, housing is a basic value that we need to pursue,” she says.

To that end, JALSA is also currently lobbying for Massachusetts S1430 – An Act to Promote ‘Yes in God’s Backyard,’ or “YIGBY,” – that would streamline the zoning process to allow faith-based organizations and nonprofit colleges to build affordable multifamily housing on their land. Rowe motions up Harvard Street to Congregation Kehillath Israel, which in 2019 partnered with 2Life Communities to build 62 units of affordable senior housing in Coolidge Corner.

Concerning the group’s activism around reproductive rights, Rowe says, “Our teachings are very clear that we value the life of the mother – that a mother’s both physical health and mental health is primary.” In its work around stemming gun violence, she notes the Torah’s remonstrance of not standing idly by and watching the blood of thy neighbor. “Protecting people from violence is a key concept in our writings.”

In synagogues, she says, the group provides social action workshops on a variety of topics – including climate change, housing, immigration, and reproductive and voting rights – based on which issues congregants want to engage with. “We find what happens is that people who have not been particularly active in their synagogue’s leadership become much more active in our social justice work and then become much more active in their synagogues,” says Rowe. “So we have had situations where people have come in because of the social justice group and are now on their temple boards, because they found a way to connect with their synagogue that they hadn’t connected with before.”

JALSA came into being a quarter-century ago when its founder, Sheila Decter, a longtime activist for Soviet Jewry, led the separation of the Boston chapter from the national American Jewish Congress. Decter turned the reins over to Rowe at a fete at Boston’s Temple Israel in 2017. Former Gov. Mike Dukakis attended that night, and told this reporter, “These are two great women who have had an enormous influence on my life and others. Sheila, from the time I was a young legislator, and Cindy, who is my [Democratic] party chairman in Brookline. I love them, I revere them, and I hope they keep going as long as they possibly can.”

JALSA has grown significantly since Rowe took over. In 2016, the nonprofit raised $350,000; by 2023, fundraising had increased to $1.3 million, with expenditures approaching $1 million, according to Charity Navigator. Its full-time staff of 15 includes three registered lobbyists and four community organizers who coordinate hundreds of volunteers, she says.

“I think that people are realizing just how important it is to pursue justice,” says Rowe. “We give people the opportunity to get engaged, through advocacy, organizing and education. People are understanding that they are the ones who are going to make the changes, whether that means talking to a legislator or having a workshop in your synagogue or writing a letter or sending an email. There’s lots of ways to engage, but there’s no one else to do it. We are the ones who are going to do it.”

For more information, visit JALSA.org. Its annual meeting is June 17.