As you might've noticed, our Jewish Federation has increased our advocacy in and around our community over the last several years. Whether it was our fight against the renaming of a section of Crescenta Valley Park back in 2017, the development of a Comprehensive Community-wide Security Plan, or our work to combat antisemitism when we worked to secure 29 of our community's 48 city councils to adopt resolutions denouncing antisemitism and all forms of hate, to the work we did as many of these same cities considered adopting ceasefire resolutions which inadvertently increased the amount of hatred towards our local Jewish community, our Jewish Federation has been actively ensuring that there is a robust Jewish voice when issues arise.

Through these efforts, more people are now more aware that there is a strong and vibrant Jewish community in the greater San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys – both Jews and non-Jews. And through this effort, I firmly believe that more people have a better understanding of the work our Jewish Federation does and the value we add to the community. 

You may not be aware that we do all we do with a relatively small staff. So, having community members be extra sets of eyes and ears is critical for us to be made aware of what is happening throughout our vast community so that we can develop appropriate and strategic responses as the need arises.

This is precisely how, this past Thursday, I was made aware that a grassroots organization called CODEPINK was planning a protest of Trader Joe's Corporate Offices here in Monrovia. With that information, our Jewish Federation was able to spring into action and develop a four-pronged approach to counter this effort.

We first launched a Buycott (think of it as a reverse boycott) for people to go to their local Trader Joe's and purchase as much of the Israeli products they sell as possible (Bamba Puffed Peanut & Corn Snacks (Original, Hazelnut Crème Filling, and Dark Chocolate dipped), Dorot Gardens Crushed Garlic and Ginger, Trader Joe's Israeli Feta Cheese, and Givon Wine) between November 4 (day of CODEPINK's protest) and Sunday, November 10. And while people were there, please thank the Trader Joe's staff for continuing to carry these items. We then encouraged people to call Trader Joe's Customer Support line (or complete their online form) to express their appreciation for the store carrying Israeli products and to please continue to do so; in many ways, the most important thing was to encourage as many people as they could to do the same.

Then, I reached out to colleagues at other Jewish Federations and Jewish Community Relation Councils to inform them of this and encourage them to participate in our buycott campaign. The response has been incredible, and as of this morning, we have received word that the Jewish communities of Greater Washington DC, Virginia Peninsula, St. Louis, Buffalo, and a grassroots coalition of Jewish organizations in the Bay Area have joined this campaign. I anticipate many more communities will join this nationwide effort after the Jewish Federation of North America shares the campaign with the over 140+ Jewish Federations and their network of over 300 smaller communities.

Plus, you may have seen that both JewBelong and EndJewHatred also picked up this effort and shared it with their massive email distribution lists and social media presence.

The word is spreading, and it was all made possible by a community member who made me aware of what turned out to be a relatively small protest (maybe 15 people) yesterday.

Just like voting (I had to put a plug in), a single person CAN make a huge difference.