Hello, JCUA! My name is Sophie Stein (she/her) and I am excited to be JCUA’s Avodah Organizer this year. 

I am originally from Chicago, having grown up in Humboldt Park with my parents and younger sister. My early experiences in Chicago’s Jewish community come from my family’s Reform Judaism and our synagogue, KAM Isaiah Israel. My synagogue community was one of the most important spaces in my life, and I learned to love spending my Friday afternoons attending and then teaching religious school, and ending long weeks of school with Kabbalah Shabbat at KAMII. KAMII was also an early introduction to the world of Jewish social justice work, and made it clear to me from a young age just how intertwined these two values are. 

I graduated from Carleton College in June where I majored in Political Science and International Relations with a minor in Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies. At Carleton, I was very involved with both Jewish life and campus organizing. I was president of the Jewish Students of Carleton and worked as a Chaplain’s Associate at the Carleton Chapel which allowed me to facilitate weekly Shabbat, plan holiday celebrations on campus, and engage in interfaith dialogue. I also was a student leader of Carleton’s InterFaith Social Action, which organized students of many faiths around issues at the campus, town, and state level. During my senior year, I got to work with the Twin Cities’ Jewish Community Action to support their Jewish organizing work in Minnesota. Each of these experiences grew my understanding of pluralism, both within and beyond Jewish community, and allowed me to clarify the connection between my own faith and justice values and bring others in to do the same. 

Coming to JCUA as this year’s Avodah fellow feels like coming home. I am an Or Tzedek alum, having participated in JCUA’s high school organizing fellowship my sophomore year of high school. Since then I’ve continued to be involved with JCUA, particularly around our Housing and Economic Justice work. JCUA has already been one of the most important and influential spaces in my life, and I credit my passion for organizing, local politics, and social justice to this community. I feel especially lucky to be coming to JCUA for my first job after college, just as my grandmother Nikki Stein did several decades ago. I couldn’t be more excited about getting to grow my organizing skills this year at JCUA alongside a community of friends new and old, but who all feel like family. 

I cannot wait to meet and reconnect with all of you, and to learn from you in the year ahead. Please feel free to reach out at sophie@jcua.org!