A lesson in human dignity

YAEL TISCHLER

“‘What do you do?’ It’s the first thing people ask you,” he said. The young man stared back at me with sunken, grey eyes. The limbs beneath his pale skin trembled, and I wasn’t sure if it was because of the excessive amount of coffee he’d consumed that morning or if the drug he’d abandoned only a month earlier had affected his brain so deeply that the shaking was out of his control. Or, perhaps, it was something else. “It’s how they define you,” he said. “Without a job, you’re nothing.”

It was 2008, and I was at my Avodah placement as an intake counselor at Project Renewal’s Next Step Program, a job placement service for homeless and formerly homeless adults. It was four years ago, but that young man’s words still haunt me. In only a few sentences, he had encapsulated the yearning of all of my clients. They came seeking jobs but what they really wanted was this: dignity.

Avodah is a yearlong service-learning program that places Jewish young adults in organizations working for social change in New York, D.C., Chicago and New Orleans. To supplement front-line experience, corps members live communally with other participants and engage in an educational program that links Jewish values and social justice. My experience with Avodah utterly transformed my vision for my role in the work of tikkun olam, repairing the world.

For many corps members, Avodah is their first introduction to Jewish practice and to the idea that Judaism has something important to say about social change. For me, however, coming from an immersive Jewish upbringing, Avodah had a different sort of resonance. It was the first time I’d met the people on whose behalf the Torah demanded I pursue justice. Before Avodah, I had never spoken to a person without a home, beyond brushing him or her off to say that no, I didn’t have any change. But my Avodah placement forced me to look at these people – real, living, feeling, breathing, complicated people – in the eye, to hear their stories and to acknowledge their humanity. Real social change can only happen when we encounter the “other,” and realize that he or she isn’t really so “other” after all.

It isn’t just about making sure that everyone has food, clothing and shelter. It’s about treating everyone with dignity. Avodah taught me that the true value of direct service is encounter. A year of anti-poverty work did not change the entire world – but it did change me. It connected me intimately to the people whose lives are at stake in the fight for social justice. It made me see the world in terms of people, instead of issues. It pushed me to consider what my personal contribution could be to healing the world. Each of us has passions and talents, and we elevate them when we use them to make the world a more compassionate, healthy place.

My friend, Debbie, a fellow Avodah alumna, once summed up the value of Avodah’s Jewish learning like this: “Social change work is overwhelming. Often there doesn’t seem to be a logical reason to do it, but Judaism provides a language to discuss social justice that has its own logic.” Human logic. Judaism reminds us that we are all human beings, created in the image of God; that we have an obligation to one another. For me, Judaism is the ultimate inspiration to keep making this world a little better every day.

As of last year, Avodah is no longer able to admit Canadian corps members, due to visa restrictions. Since its inception, however, 30 Canadian alumni have been affected by its immersive Jewish service-learning experience. At first, I was saddened to learn about the new restriction. Over the course of this year, through informal conversations with fellow Canadian alumni, however, I began to wonder: what might it look like to bring the Avodah model to Canada?

I believe there is a strong value of tikkun olam in the Canadian Jewish community. I don’t think I need to convince anyone of our responsibility to make the world a better place. I do think, however, that there is value in creating a strong network of Jewish change-makers in Canada, who are committed to making a long-term contribution to our society as a whole, and who can draw inspiration from each other and their faith community.

Avodah has created a core group of passionate, Jewishly engaged, socially conscious young people, who are committed to upholding the value of human dignity. How can we extend this opportunity to Canadian Jewish youth? And how can we make this opportunity in our own image? After all, Canada has its own unique social issues and approach to providing support to its citizens. As Rosh Hashanah approaches, let us begin the conversation.

Yael Tischler is a writer and a Jew who prays with her feet. She can be reached at [email protected].

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