UPCOMING SCHEDULED LOTTE MEYERSON TIKKUN OLAM PROJECTS:

1^st Friday each month from 1-3 PM @ MANNA– CBHT volunteer team. Contact Wendy Capelouto to help.  (restarting August 7^th)

3^rd Friday each month @ noon – CBHT Vets shelter meal serving. Contact Hilary Paradise to help.

Monday, August 24^th – 4:30 PM, Next L.M. Tikkun Olam Meeting

Our country simply cannot achieve the values of “justice for all” to which it aspires until we address ongoing racism in all sectors and at all levels of society.  We remain in solidarity and action with the NAACP’s urgent #WeAreDoneDying campaign, whose policy demands cover areas of criminal justice, economic justice, health care, and voting.  As the NAACP says, “Senseless hate crimes and incidence of COVID-19 cases and deaths spreading throughout the Black community display the continuance of systemic racism and privilege granted to white people in America.”

As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.  We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.  Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”  As Jews, we renew our commitment to speak out against racism and to actively work to achieve a nation that exemplifies compassion and justice for all.  Let this profound moment in our history not go the way of the shootings at Sandy Hook, Stoneman Douglas H.S., the African-American church in Charleston, the synagogue in Pittsburgh - all of which led to no real change.  Now is the time.  This needs to end in true change.

Adapted from RAC.org and other sources

The Lotte Meyerson Tikkun Olam Committee

Anti-Racist Allies: Examining Solidarity Between the Black and Jewish Communities

As a follow-up to our LMTO statement, multiple Asheville Jewish organizations (hosted by the Jewish Community Relations Council with CBHT support) are providing a series of four virtual Tuesday night programs. These programs will present information on the issues and discuss additional avenues to solidarity with the Black community of Asheville.  Please save the dates and look for a registration link in CBHT eblasts.  We look forward to seeing you and sharing ideas.

July 28^th, 7–8:30 PM: Racism, Anti-Semitism, and Intersectionality

Using clips from the moderated panel at the Marlene Meyerson JCC of Manhattan titled “White Supremacy. Racism. Anti-Semitism,” we will explore how all oppressions are linked and require identifying a group as “the other” to maintain white supremacy.

August 4^th, 7–8:30 PM: Confederate Monuments

Asheville has three confederate monuments, on which this panel presentation will focus.  Discussion will follow about the call by the Asheville Black community for removal of the monuments and renaming of areas named after Confederate figures.

August 18^th, 7–8:30 PM: Reparations

With the recent murders and protests, the long-awaited issue of reparations is gaining momentum across the United States.  This panel will discuss a variety of avenues, both individual and institutional, that are being implemented and/or considered.

September 1^st, 7–8:30: Being Better Allies

In this new time, and with the urgency of now, how can the Asheville Jewish community act in solidarity with the Black community of our mountain home?  This moderated panel will probe both the mistakes we might be making and better ways of acting in solidarity as allies.

The importance of Absentee Ballots (voting by mail).

In these uncertain times, we don’t know if we’ll be able or even want to vote in person for the November election.  The Lotte Meyerson Tikkun Olam Committee urges you to be prepared early so that you can exercise the best option for you to cast your valuable vote.  We encourage you to request an Absentee Ballot form NOW, so that the Board of Elections has time and material to process these.  It is a two-step process: (1) you complete the request and return it, and then (2) the official ballot is sent in the fall.

• There is no barrier to vote by mail in NC.  You do NOT need a reason to request an absentee ballot.
• If you request an absentee ballot and later decide to vote in person, that is fine.
• An Absentee ballot is counted at the time it arrives and is handled like Early Voting.
• You will find the request form at:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/dl.ncsbe.gov/Forms/NCAbsenteeBallotRequestForm.pdf

• Download the form and print it out, OR call 250.4200 and they'll mail it to you
• Complete it, be sure to SIGN it, then -
• mail it into Election Services, PO Box 7468, Asheville, NC 28802-7468 or
• email to elections@buncombecounty.org

• Your request will put you on an automated list that will send the ballot when it’s ready in the fall – Friday, September 4^th.
• The last day to request an absentee ballot is Tuesday, October 27^th.