Welcome to BHC Justice, which serves as the framework for congregants and the congregation to express our Jewish values and community connections through social justice engagement.
Feeding people in this time of uncertainty
With the uncertainty around SNAP benefits, which almost 700,000 people in Maryland rely on to supplement their food budget, BHC Justice is launching a new initiative to collect food for the clients of Health Care for the Homeless, a particularly vulnerable population. Please consider donating the following items:
• Snacks, including granola bars, crackers, trail mix, pretzels, etc.
• Easy to prep ready-to-eat items including tuna and crackers, cup of noodles, crackers with peanut butter or cheese, etc.
ALL DONATED ITEMS MUST SHELF-STABLE AND NOT EXPIRED. PLEASE CHECK EXPIRATION DATES!!
All items can be put in a bin marked "Health Care for the Homeless" in the BHC lobby. If you prefer, you can purchase from our Amazon wish list at this link and items will be delivered directly to BHC.
Your non-perishable donations to GEDCO are also needed. Current needs include: cold cereals, small packages/boxes of rice, canned meats, chicken, and canned fruits. The GEDCO donation bin is also in the BHC lobby in its usual spot.
Finally, the newcomer Afghan family we are assisting in their transition to the US also rely on SNAP and will be hard hit by the change in benefits. We are collecting gift cards for them to purchase groceries. Food Lion, Lidl, Aldi, and Lotte (in Catonsville) are most needed. Gift cards can be left at the BHC office.
In the meantime, we encourage you to Use Your Voice to protect SNAP. See more below.
About BHC Justice
BHC has a long history of working to improve our community and the world around us. We engage with many issues, including immigrant rights, reproductive justice, racial equity, LBGTQIA+ equality, environmental justice, and other issues important to our congregation and our community. Our social action efforts include tikkun olam – repairing the world – through letters, emails and comment writing, protest actions, hosting speakers and teach-ins, and get-out-the-vote postcard campaigns. We also practice gemilut chasadim – acts of loving kindness - by aiding our local and global communities through donations and direct service activities collecting and donating food, clothing, school supplies, diapers and feminine products through the year. The information below highlights our current efforts in many of these areas.
BHC takes pride in our social justice work, which reflects our Jewish values and our Jewish imperative to repair the world and we hope that you will join us.
Let us know what social justice issues you are passionate about: [link]
Happening Now
MAZON: Postcard Campaign extended — Mazon, the Jewish Response to Hunger, has launched a national postcard campaign to flood the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) with messages demanding protection for basic needs programs that help our neighbors put food on the table.
Each postcard will represent 1,000 people experiencing hunger. The goal: 47,000 postcards delivered to the Secretary of Agriculture with a simple message: No one deserves to go hungry. No exceptions.
Our BHC Community will be hosting postcard-writing tables throughout November and December to add to the 400 postcards we have already written and delivered. Join us any of the following times:
Sun, Dec. 7, 9am to 12pm (during PEP & JLaB)
Sun, Dec. 15, 12-2pm (during Festival of Lights)
Fri, Dec. 19, (Rabbi Glaser's installation, before and after services)
If you would like to help host the table for a one-hour shift or more, contact Julie Simon (jsimonknoll@gmail.com).
Wellwood Partnership
We have partnered with Wellwood International School, located just down Smith Avenue from BHC. Wellwood serves about 360 students—from over 30 countries—in grades kindergarten through 5.
As an official "Community School" within Baltimore County, Wellwood collaborates with a wide range of organizations in the area to ensure families have the support they need, including access to health and social services. These schools, in turn, become a neighborhood center for not only the education of young children, but the nurturing of whole communities.
One of the ways we can support the children this fall is contributing snacks for the preschoolers. They are seeking animal crackers, applesauce pouches, goldfish, etc. (no chocolate). We will also be collecting school supplies throughout the year. Items needed include backpacks, lunch boxes, pencil cases, glue and glue sticks, crayons, colored pencils, markers, tissues, and Clorox wipes.
You can drop items off for Wellwood at BHC in the lobby collection box or order from our Amazon wish list here: link.
In addition to reading and math buddies, Wellwood can use volunteers at the following events. Interested? Please contact Miriam Friedberg, mfriedberg@bcps.org. You MUST complete the volunteer training to work at these events.
• Partners in Learning, Part 1, Nov. 13, 5-6:30pm
• Winter Concert, Dec. 11, 6-7pm
• Coat, can, and food drive, through the winter
Learn more: Get Involved with Wellwood Here!
Immigration
Immigration issues have been a major focus of our social justice work at BHC, including providing education and volunteer opportunities for BHC congregants on immigration and refugee issues in our community, working to meet specific, identified needs, as well as engaging on public policy issues. The highlight of our recent activities has been the BHC Welcome Circle, which has welcomed two Afghan families to Baltimore with a “whole of congregation“ effort to provide support and welcome to these families. We are also building connections with the numerous Afghan families who have settled in this area.
Current efforts include:
• Collection initiatives, including winter clothing and school supplies for our partners Wellwood International School and the Immigration Outreach Service Center (IOSC).
• Encouraging congregants to send letters and emails to the Administration and members of Congress protesting cruel and inhumane immigration policies. Supporting legislation to protect sensitive spaces, including religious congregations, from ICE enforcement activities at the state and federal level.
• Supporting and participating in immigration rights teach-in and know-your rights campaigns, as well as educating on immigrant-focused events and volunteer opportunities.
Use Your Voice
MAZON: Protect SNAP
• More than 40 million Americans woke up on November 1 with no SNAP benefits to help them buy food. Parents, children, veterans, seniors, and others are on the brink of a hunger crisis. All because of the government shutdown, SNAP benefits for November are being withheld by the federal government. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has a SNAP contingency fund available, but they are refusing to release it. Allowing hunger to deepen during a government shutdown is a policy choice. Our leaders must use their powers and authority to act. MAZON is uniting with hundreds of anti-hunger partners around the country to sound the alarm with one unified voice. Tell Congress and USDA to release contingency funds to keep benefits flowing, provide guidance to states, and use every tool at their disposal to avoid a devastating SNAP cliff. They need to hear from us loudly and often. Take Action: Link
Urge Congress to protect refugee resettlement
• On October 30th, the Trump administration revealed it would publish the Presidential Determination (PD) that sets refugee admissions goal for Fiscal Year 2026 at 7,500 – a historic-low. The PD primarily allocates admissions slots for Afrikaners, largely abandoning the 120,000+ refugees who had been through years of vetting and screening and had been approved for resettlement when Trump took office, leaving vulnerable populations stranded in dangerous conditions worldwide.
It is critical that our national, state, and local elected leaders hear loudly and clearly from their constituents that we want to welcome refugees, regardless of their country of origin, race, or faith tradition, and urge them to call on President Trump to reverse course and restore the refugee admissions program for the most at-risk refugees around the world. Urge Congressional, state, and local elected leaders to defend refugees and the U.S. Resettlement Program. Link
Urge Congress to pass the protecting sensitive locations act
The administration has rescinded a long-standing policy that substantially restricts immigration agents from conducting arrests in or near “sensitive locations” such as hospitals, schools, and houses of worship. This recession threatens fundamental freedom of religion and the ability of immigrants to safely access education and medical care without fear of deportation. The Protecting Sensitive Locations Act (S. 455/H.R. 1061) would reinstate the DHS policy and protect sensitive locations (including schools, courthouse, medical facilities and religious institutions) from ICE enforcement actions.
Support the Protecting Sensitive Locations Act here: Link
Oppose the federal takeover of local law enforcement
In August 2025, President Trump deployed National Guard troops to Washington D.C. and has threatened to do the same in other cities, including Baltimore, continuing pattern of scapegoating and dehumanizing immigrants and other vulnerable communities.
Send a message to Congress in opposition to this unprecedented federal overreach and oppose any effort to extend federal control of local law enforcement here: Link
Upcoming Events
Living History: Voices from the Call Archives
Monday, Nov. 10 at 7pm on zoom.
For over a century, the Call chronicled the Jewish experience in America — from presidential elections to labor and civil rights, from debates on assimilation and secularism to reflections on the Holocaust and Jewish refugees. This November, we’re opening the doors. We’ve built a fully digitized, keyword-searchable Call Archive that will be accessible to all.
On Monday, November 10 at 7 pm ET join Living History: Voices from the Call Archive (Link) — a one-hour event featuring dramatic readings by acclaimed actors, including Broadway and screen star Jessica Hecht, recipient of the Workers Circle Activism Award and currently starring in Eleanor the Great, Tony Award winner Danny Burstein; and actor and artist Malky Goldman, along with other distinguished performers to bring two powerful archival pieces to life: one celebrating Yiddish culture and another championing social justice.
Get a first-hand view of the archive and demonstrate how easily you can browse its records — exploring generations of voices, ideas, and movements that shaped the Jewish American story. Experience history as it was written and rediscover the voices that shaped a century of Jewish life and thought. Register here. Link
Allen AME Church Harvest Festival
Join us for a Harvest Festival Weekend at Allen AME Church on November 23 and 24. On Nov 22 from 10am-1pm there will be a "soil to sanctuary farm market" featuring products grown by Black Farmers, music, performances, and more. Sunday, Nov 23 will feature a worship service at 11, followed by a harvest dinner at 1pm with a social justice speaker.
Allen AME Church is at 1130 Lexington St., Baltimore
Environmental Forum: Persevering Through Uncharted Waters
Sunday, Dec. 7 from 10-11:30am
Join the Associated, Adamah, and the Baltimore Jewish Council for the annual Environmental Forum: Persevering Through Uncharted Waters, Navigating the Pressures to Alter the Course of Environmental Sustainability in Maryland. The Forum will be an opportunity for community members, advocates and environmental leaders to come together to explore the latest in Maryland’s environmental policy. Hear directly from those shaping state legislation and learn how to you can take meaningful action. At the Pearlstone Retreat Center, 5425 Mt. Gilead Road, Reisterstown. Please register here: Link
RAC's Consultation On Conscience, Dec. 12-15 in Washington DC
The Consultation on Conscience is the flagship social justice gathering of the Reform Jewish Movement, convening activists, clergy, and lay leaders for learning, leadership development, and action rooted in our Jewish values. Amid deep challenges to democracy, pluralism, and human dignity in the U.S., Canada, and Israel, this moment demands bold, collective Jewish action. The Consultation on Conscience answers this call. And whether you are a seasoned social justice leader or newer to this work, the Consultation is for you.
If you are interested, information and registration is here: link
Community Connections
• Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (RAC)
• Association of Reform Zionists of America (ARZA)
• National Council of Jewish Women NCJW
• Jewish refugee resettlement agency (HIAS)
• Welcome.us, supporting private resettlement
• CASA, immigration support in Baltimore and Maryland
• The Associated
• Baltimore Abortion Fund
• Jews United for Justice (JUFJ), focused on Baltimore and Maryland
• Adamah, Jewish connection to the Earth
• Bend the ARC, Jews and allies working to build an American future free from white supremacy, antisemitism, and racism
• Jews of Color Mishpacha Project: in Baltimore with Dr. Harriette Wimms
• Nechama, Jewish response to disasters
• MAZON, Jewish response to hunger
• Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC): Protecting equality, democracy, civil rights, Jewish identity & social action in Israel: irac.org
Direct Service Opportunities & Giving
FOOD COLLECTION
Our Daily Bread
Frozen casseroles and donations for Our Daily Bread. Casseroles may be brought to the Office receptionist during regular office hours. On Monday, September 15 and Monday, October 20, 11–11:30 am drop off frozen casseroles to BHC’s parking lot.
GEDCO Cares
Non-perishable Food for GEDCO Cares Food Pantry. Please note GEDCO Cares Food Pantry requests: cold cereal, rice, canned meat/chicken and canned fruits. Non-perishable donations may be placed by the Hoffberger Chapel entrance, or bring your cans to Rosh Hashanah Under the Stars.
Look for other special events throughout the year to contribute to Bunches of Lunches, Manna House, and more.
CLOTHES COLLECTION
Chana
Current needs are: men’s, women’s and children’s clothing, shoes, linens and stuffed animals. Please drop off donations outside of the Hoffberger Chapel entrance.
Wellwood School
This year we are starting early collecting NEW winter coats, hats and gloves for Wellwood families. Please bring items to BHC and put them in the coat rack area down the hall past the collection boxes in the lobby.
OTHER ITEMS
Bottoms Up
Contribute diapers, feminine, and incontinence products to our Bottoms Up collection for Community Crisis Center, inc.. Leave donations outside of the Hoffberger Chapel entrance, or use their Amazon wishlist to have donations delivered directly (link)
Women of BHC
Drop off donations of diapers and wipes in the lobby of the EB Hirsh Early Childhood Center.
Seasonal collections are another great way to contribute. Look for the Adopt-a-Family program in December, JUFJ Purim Baskets in the spring, and many other opportunities.
Archives & Past Bulletin Articles
• Coming soon...(Linked from Constant Contact)
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