The Call: The Workers Circle eNewsletter

Dear Friend,

In the months since the Covid-19 crisis forced us all to stay at home, the Workers Circle has risen to the challenges of bringing our activism and strong community engagement to our socially distanced members and friends. Using technology, we are building and strengthening our bonds online, and in doing so we are reaching new audiences with our Yiddishkayt and progressive values. Our new initiative, the Great Schmooze is an example of this, through which we are connecting our members through curated conversation to share their stories and build new relationships to help us through this period of isolation.

As always, we are proud to be the world’s leading provider of Yiddish education, and in that spirit we have teamed with actor, educator and video artist Mikhl Yashinsky to create a series of short Yiddish videos to introduce new audiences to our vibrant and expressive mameloshn. Alongside these videos, we are continuing to hold unique online Yiddish programs such as our recent May Day klezmer concert, viewed by thousands of people. And in a few days, we will be opening registration for our summer Yiddish classes – all being held online.

Our activism in support of immigrants, low-income workers, and frontline heroes is moving full speed ahead. Just last week we launched a letter-writing campaign in support of the HEAL Act, which would remove barriers to healthcare for undocumented immigrants. We are now calling on New York Senator Chuck Schumer to step up and support the Heroes Act, which will provide states with critical relief funding for essential workers on the frontlines.

These are just some of the initiatives we have here at the Workers Circle. In this edition of The Call you will read about these and more. As always, thank you for being part of our community!

Ann Toback,
CEO

Meet Noelle Damico, our new Director of Social Justice

Noelle is joining us from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, where for nearly 20 years she organized institutional and grassroots involvement in the CIW’s Campaign for Fair Food. Noelle joined the Workers Circle on April 1 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, amid economic collapse and failed government response that has accelerated human suffering, particularly imperiling untold numbers of immigrants, low-income workers, and frontline responders.

At this time, Noelle is marshalling the Workers Circle longstanding commitment to immigrant rights, worker rights, and economic justice through actions like our recent letter writing campaign urging our lawmakers to co-sponsor the HEAL Act. This important bill ensures all immigrants can access eligible health coverage, no matter their immigration status. Write a letter to your lawmaker here.

Join The Great Schmooze!

As so many of us are staying apart to keep each other healthy and safe, the Workers Circle has created a program called the Great Schmooze to help our members connect by phone and online as we share our stories and bridge our physical distance with meaningful community engagement. The Great Schmooze brings us together safely; forging new friendships across generations and bridging our physical distance. We know that there’s nothing like shared stories to bring us all closer together (even through social distancing!) and to grow our friendships. That’s what the Great Schmooze is all about – building community by connecting with each other and sharing our stories. Learn more here.

Update on the Coalition of Immokalee Workers

The Workers Circle continues to stand with our friends at the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW). Because of your generosity, we were able to send CIW over $2,000 to purchase personal protective equipment for farmworkers. Thanks to pressure from advocates and allies, Florida state and local authorities agreed to implement COVID-19 testing in Immokalee, Florida. Just two weeks after testing, which was already criminally late in its implementation, the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases rose to over 400. As a result, Immokalee has climbed in the list of cities with the most cases in the state of Florida, surpassing Sarasota. Florida's response to the Covid-19 crisis in Immokalee has been severely lacking, with slow response to testing, tracing, and establishing quarantine sites so those who are sick may isolate. Farmworkers are considered essential workers, but once again we see that their labor, not the people, are what is considered essential.

Join CIW in demanding the state of Florida take swift action to halt the exponential spread of Covid-19 in Immokalee at immokaleecovid19.org.

#YiddishAlive Video Series

The Workers Circle is helping keep #YiddishAlive! We’ve partnered with Yiddishist Mikhl Yashinsky to create a series of videos, “Vortkunst - Word Art,” that entertain all while teaching us key Yiddish words and phrases. We’ll be debuting new videos every two weeks on our social media channels and Youtube. Click here to watch a playlist of all the videos so far.

Watch our Yiddish language concert Yiddish Worker Songs from our Remarkable Yerushe (Legacy)

As part of our recent May Day celebration, we convened an online Yiddish concert rooted in our activist history. Yiddish Worker Songs from our Remarkable Yerushe (Legacy) brought together an all-star cast of Yiddish singers and klezmer musicians from around the world, for a sing-along designed for both Yiddish speakers and non-Yiddish speakers. The concert was accompanied by a visual presentation of song lyrics, as well as historic artwork from the pro-labor movement long central to our progressive, Jewish identity. Watch the concert here. Registration for our summer Yiddish semester will open soon, so watch your email inbox for the announcement!

Worker Circle Schools Update

Stay at home orders did not prevent our Workers Circle schools from engaging in creative Jewish learning and community building! In fact, in response to requests from all of our school communities, we added two extra weeks of online programming at no extra charge to our school families. From cooking classes and family Shabbos programs in Chicago, a Brundibar puppet show in Brooklyn, a Holocaust remembrance program in East Meadow, weekly family cabarets in Manhattan and a Yiddish For Dogs class in Westchester along with more traditional classes in between, our schools had well-attended and successful virtual programs despite social distancing.

Donate your birthday to the Workers Circle!

In honor of our 120th Anniversary this year, we are asking you to donate your birthday to the Workers Circle by creating a Facebook fundraiser to support our work. Simply click here and follow the step-by-step instructions to set up your fundraiser. Thanks to the members of our community who have already created Birthday fundraisers on Facebook, we have raised more than $1,000 in donations to support our mission in the past two months. Help us continue this momentum and donate your birthday to the Workers Circle this year!

Thanks to our members, allies and supporters.

And thanks to the following foundations for your contributions to the Workers Circle: Atran Foundation, Marinus and Minna B. Koster Foundation, Inc., The Michael and Alice Kuhn Foundation, New York Immigration Coalition, The Slomo & Cindy Silvian Foundation, Chaim Schwartz Foundation, Merle S. Cahn Foundation, Charles and Mildred Schnurmacher Foundation, The Jewish Education Project and UJA Federation of New York, Jewish Social Justice Roundtable, Sidney S. Stern Memorial Trust, R&S Strauss Family Foundation, Sonya Staff Foundation, Living Classrooms Foundation, The Jewish Education Project/UJA Federation of New York.

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