Jooot’s Restructuring Process

The following letter was published at the beginning of our restructuring process on April 4th, 2023:

An invitation and letter to the JOOOT Community:

We are in the midst of reflecting on the past and present organization of JOOOT in order to envision a path forward that ensures our organization fulfills its core mission of, “promoting student self-governance and radical inclusivity — both on our individual campuses and in the wider Jewish community.” We want your input on our next steps forward.

Those of us on the steering committee are writing this statement to be transparent with the incredible, student-led groups we have struggled to support over the past years. The COVID pandemic has been an incredibly difficult time for our student organizing, as well as many others. We want to specifically invite JOOOT groups we have lost touch with through these years to rebuild with us. We are committed to transformation such that we are able to be what you need us to be.

None of us on the JOOOT leadership team are willing to give up on the dream of a thriving diversity of justice-minded Jewish, student-led communities.

Furthermore, in the face of an increasingly homogenous, fearful, and intolerant Jewish establishment (at both national and international levels) we believe that our communities — of young people engaging in systemically conscious, solidarity-minded, radical Judaisms — are vital in their power to uplift and usher in alternative meanings and realities of Jewishness. Ones which prioritize building beloved community (within and beyond themselves) and reject calls to carceral, insular ‘community’ rooted in fears others tell us to have.

With this in mind, we are making efforts to explicitly reground ourselves in definable and actionable political praxis. Through this process, in a bid to be transparent, we will be providing the community with updates on decisions and conversations, as well as the resources and histories we are grounding ourselves in.

If you are currently involved in any JOOOT-affiliated independent Jewish group, or have been in recent years, we invite you to join us in the restructuring and reenvisioning process. Please fill out our google form if you have interest in supporting this restructure, or with things you would like us to consider through this process. Reach out to us at any time to get involved, give feedback, or ask questions at our new email: info.judaismonourownterms@gmail.com

We are so excited to bring this vision into being and inject new energy into this crucial area of Jewish student organizing! We hope you will join us.

In community -
The JOOOT Steering Committee