By Nancy B. Greer
President & CEO
Join us in Olympia on March 26 to make an impact on your Jewish community. Once a year, the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle brings dozens of citizens to Olympia for Jewish Community Lobby Day. We hear from our Jewish legislators, walk through the Capitol’s halls, meet with our elected representatives, and share our thoughts with them about issues that matter to Jewish Puget Sound.
This year, Jewish Community Lobby Day is on Tuesday, March 26. I strongly encourage you to join with your friends, neighbors, and fellow congregants for an impactful and rewarding day of citizen action!
Does Jewish Community Lobby Day make a difference? Yes! Last year, one of our Lobby Day priorities was to advocate for funding for the Holocaust Center for Humanity’s online encyclopedia of Holocaust resources and for ADL’s No Place for Hate® educational program. As it turned out, we were in Olympia only hours before a procedural deadline for acting on budget items. Our community members’ meetings with state senators and representatives persuaded lawmakers to approve the funding we requested with just hours to spare.
Our collective voice made a measurable and immediate difference on the critical issue of combating anti-Semitism and hate. One important reason for our success is that we have a uniquely powerful perspective founded on Jewish values – repairing our world, pursuing justice, and valuing the humanity in each and every person.
On March 26, we need your help to ensure our community’s top priorities continue moving forward! We’ll be advocating to:
- Combat anti-Semitism and hate crimes;
- Set guidelines and best practices for Holocaust and genocide education;
- Protect and support immigrants and refugees;
- Ensure minority faith students in higher education don’t have to choose between meeting academic requirements and observing their faith traditions.
Anyone can be effective as a citizen lobbyist. While facts and figures about issues are important to know, sharing relevant stories from your personal experience has an immense impact in face-to-face conversations with legislators.
Beyond our vital work advocating our legislative agenda, Jewish Community Lobby Day is a wonderful community-building activity. Before meeting with our legislators, we will spend a few hours at Temple Beth Hatfiloh getting to know other community members from our home legislative districts, learning about the issues, and hearing encouraging messages from Jewish Legislative Caucus lawmakers. By having conversations with the people who represent us and make many decisions that affect our lives, we will strengthen the relationships that are at the heart of a strong Jewish community.
To help you succeed in making your voice heard, our government affairs and community relations team will take care of all the preparation work. We’ll provide lunch and optional bus transportation to Olympia. Our generous donors make it possible for the Federation to make this opportunity available to you.
I hope you’ll join us and come to Olympia on March 26 for Jewish Community Lobby Day. Together, let’s use the power of our Jewish values and our voices to do good.
