Jewish Labor Committee Tisha B'Av Memorial Service

Today is Tisha B'Av, a day of mourning. On Tuesday, the Jewish Labor Committee took time to honor those workers who have died from COVID-19 with a moving memorial. 

We are grateful to all those of you who were able to make the event. For those of you who were unable to make it, you can watch the full memorial here:

We are grateful to Sara Nelson of the Association of Flight Attendants and Jean Ross, RN, of National Nurses United. They are true leaders of the labor movement and they urged us not only to mourn those lost, but also used this as an opportunity to take action for the living. 

We are also especially grateful for the participation of Mona Darby, a poultry processing worker and member of RWDSU, and Gladys Betancourt, an apartment cleaner represented by Local 32BJ for sharing their powerful stories.  

And of course, we are grateful to Rabbi Barbara Penzner of Hillel B'Nai Torah in Boston who is Co-Chair of the New England Jewish Labor Committee for speaking beautifully about Tisha B'Av and leading us in a Kaddish and to Stuart Appelbaum, President of RWDSU and of the Jewish Labor Committee for his powerful remarks.

Together, we will mourn for those we have lost, and fight like hell for the living.

The Jewish Labor Committee Tisha B'Av Memorial to Workers Who Died from COVID-19

Please join us on July 28th at 4pm for a national Jewish Labor Committee event in honor of those workers who have died from COVID-19. See the flyer below and register here.

Tisha B'Av is a day traditionally set aside to reflect on historical catastrophes that occurred on this date. The Jewish Labor Committee will host an online event to mourn the many frontline workers we have lost this year, and to honor those who have been put to the test by the COVID-19 crisis. We continue to fight for safer workspaces and a just reopening/recovery.

Thank you again, Tom Flynn and Josh Zakim!

We were so sorry to cancel the 2020 Labor Seder this Spring. But we are grateful to all our honorees, especially to Tom Flynn and Josh Zakim. Now that summer is here, we just wanted to say “thank you,” once again, and made this short video from some friends and colleagues.

Thank you for all you do for workers, especially in this time of crisis. Since the COVID-19 crisis hit, the New England Jewish Labor Committee has been hard at work, fighting for frontline workers and a safe – and just – reopening. We are all in this together.

You can download the full Labor Seder Haggadah with all the well wishes here.

Below are just a few:

New England Jewish Labor Committee Statement on Black Lives Matter

Below is a statement from the New England Jewish Labor Committee: 

As the the New England Jewish Labor Committee, we stand unequivocally on the side of all marginalized people. Especially in this moment, we stand in solidarity with the Black and brown populations of the United States, too long killed with impunity and subject to economic, environmental, housing, and healthcare violence by a system built to devalue their lives. We unequivocally support the Black Lives Matter movement and the protestors creating the 2020 Black Lives Matter uprising against police killing, brutality, and oppression. 

The recent horrific killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks and others - may their memories be a blessing - are just the tip of the iceberg. These acts are just a few examples of White Supremacy, a centuries-old system of violence that has stolen the labor and the lives of Black people and divided the working classes so as to protect the unearned, and therefore stolen, wealth of the capitalists. 
As a Jewish organization, we urge our fellow Jews to connect the entirety of your synagogue or Jewish communal organization with black-led organizations and other organizations fighting for racial and economic justice. We also urge our members to donate to the Massachusetts Bail Fund. 

As a labor organization, we must and will work towards ending the extreme disparities of wealth between white and non-white working people. The New England JLC has joined Black and Latinx activists to fight for the safety of essential and frontline workers by pushing for a reopening process that puts workers' health and safety first. We will resist layoffs of essential workers in the name of austerity, such as the mass layoffs in Brookline Public Schools. We will work with other labor organizations as they strive to eliminate racism in the workplace and our society. 

The fight for economic justice is intertwined with the fight for racial justice. Right-wing zealots, including President Trump, attempt to deflect a discussion of racial and economic justice into a conversation about looting. We believe that real examples of "looting" include the $700 million stolen from Massachusetts low-wage workers annually. Real looting is the $434 billion gained by billionaires during the pandemic. Real looting is the median  net-worth in Boston being $8 for Black households versus $247,500 for white households. 

Through continued learning and practicing teshuvah (turning or repentance), we will engage the Jewish and Labor communities in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and in support of the struggle for a more just economic society. 

In solidarity with Black Lives Matter,
The New England Jewish Labor Committee Board and Ari Fertig, Executive Director

Our Jewish Worker Town Hall

In the aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak, we hosted a town hall in which members of the Jewish community were able to ask experts from the Attorney General's office, Greater Boston Legal Services, and the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Health and Safety questions about unemployment insurance, paid leave, and safe workplaces. You can watch it here:

Prayer for Workers in a Time of Pandemic

Prayer for Workers in a Time of Pandemic

R. Michael Rothbaum

Our God, and God of all Life,

We call you Oseh, Maker[1]

Yotzer, Crafter[2]

Poel, Worker.[3]


You, Who labored to build this world in which we live

Who calls us to be Po’alei Tzedek, workers of justice[4] —

We call to you

Be with all those who labor in the midst of this global pandemic.

Shelter those who grow our food in the field.

Guard those who bring healing in lab and clinic, in hospital and pharmacy.

Guide in peace those who deliver basic needs by road, track, and air.

Uplift those bent low bearing loads in manufacturing and sanitation.

Send love to those who connect us through wire, wave, and cable.

Provide companionship to those who work in solitude,

ease to those who work in anguish,

safety to those who step into harm’s way,

dignity to all whose labor benefits us.

As they raise up their souls to grant us all life[5]

may we repay them in fairness and righteousness.

May our lawmakers and employers assure them a living wage,

health care and sick leave 

education, documentation, citizenship

and the right to organize.

All the rights,

human and Divine

due to all beings

created in Your image.

And let us say: Amen

[1] Job 25:2

[2] Genesis 2:7

[3] Exodus 15:17

[4] Psalms 15:2

[5] Deuteronomy 24:15