Every year, I feel grateful that the High Holiday season offers a chance for reflection and renewal. Between the joys of Rosh Hashanah and Simchat Torah, we’re called to take stock, individually and collectively, of our actions over the past year: the harms we’ve caused, the relationships we’ve let atrophy, and the commitments we must make moving forward.

This year, I’m taking guidance from the Balance of Care – a reflective framework developed by our partners at Kirva. Through the Balance of Care, we direct our attention to three domains: care for self, care for fellows, and care for opponents.

Care for self. I’m reflecting on whether I’ve tended to my spiritual, emotional, and physical needs so that I can show up every day as my most powerful self. I recognize that justice work is hard, and the fight will be long. How can I better care for myself so that I can show up fully in the movement every day? How can I pour from a rov kos, a full cup?

Care for fellows. I’m reflecting on the many times JCUA showed up in 5786 alongside our neighbors and partners. We built out and participated in rapid response teams defending immigrants; we expanded access to public mental health services and affordable housing; we brought JCUA youth together with teens to advocate for mental health in schools; and just this week we showed up for our congregation partner Emanuel as they faced antisemitic articles and flyers in the neighborhood. JCUA showed up powerfully, demonstrating care for our Jewish community and our fellows in the broader movement for justice as well.

I’m also reflecting on the times I and we have fallen short, individually and communally, in taking necessary action to show care for our fellows and members of our own community who are targeted by anti-Black racism, Islamophobia, xenophobia, and the myriad oppressive systems that undergird the society we live in. For all those targeted by oppressive systems, we must continue to critically reflect, identify, and act on where we are falling short when it comes to investing our time and resources in bringing care into balance in our communities. This time of year provides an opportunity for the necessary reflection on and recommitment to doing the work of bringing us all into greater balance and alignment.

Care for our opponents. Caring for our opponent is a particularly challenging idea for me. But I’m reminded of an adage we say in community organizing: “There are no permanent friends, and no permanent enemies.” If we seek to be a growing movement and not an echo chamber of like-minded individuals, we must leave space for those who have been on the opposite side of the table or the other side of the street. We must recognize that our opponents one day may become our fellows the next day. Organizing necessitates the hard work of finding common ground and mutual self-interest that allows us to make transformative change together.

These three domains of care strengthen each other. Tending to my own cup is what lets me stay in the fight. Showing up for my fellows is what makes the fight winnable. Leaving room for my opponents to change is what keeps it from becoming a closed circle. Bringing our care into balance is a spiritual practice and it is also how we build power.

In JCUA’s newly released strategic plan, Building Power for Justice, we share what our work will look like over the next three years. We know our impact depends on our ability to grow our base, deepen our membership’s leadership, and bring our leaders and partners into alignment about what it will take to dismantle white supremacy, including antisemitism, within ourselves and our communities. I invite you to take a look and see how you want to join us in this work in the year, and years, ahead.

On behalf of everyone at JCUA, I wish you a shana tova, a good, sweet, inspiring and, most importantly, powerful 5787.