There are Jews who are black, Latino, LGBTQ, and Jews who have different levels of observance and want to embrace their Jewish identity in a space with no judging. That’s what we’re about.

Rabbi Georgette Kennebrae, the newly installed spiritual leader of West End (Reconstructionist) Synagogue, says that Judaism’s meaning “looks different for different people and different communities.”

Several times a month Jeanette Chawki welcomes a handful of strangers into her Brooklyn home. There, the visitors learn about life in her native Lebanon, talk about their own backgrounds, and eat food — lots of it.

The question was simple: “What would the world look like if there was no more racism?”

With Jews constituting only 0.2% of the world population, inclusivity ought to be a value of the utmost importance – for ethical and moral reasons, for cultural and spiritual richness, and to ensure our continued existence as a people. And, yet, when it comes to accepting Jews of color into the mainstream of Jewish life, challenges and obstacles abound.