By Win Loria
Or Ami Book Club
Our virtual Book Club will meet via Zoom on Monday, March 4, at 7 p.m. Participants will discuss “The Wind Knows My Name” by Isbel Allende. For details, reach out to office@or-Ami.com.
Reel Theology
Reel Theology is planned for Sunday, March 17, 5 p.m. The movie will be “A Stranger Among Us” – 1992 – in English with English subtitles, directed by Sidney Lumet. PG-13. Occasional coarse language, violence, and sexual references. Melanie Griffiths plays a tough NYC cop named Emily Eden who goes undercover into the Hasidic community to solve a murder and diamond heist.
Come see how she learns more than who dunnit! Pot luck supper at 5 p.m.; film at 5:30, followed by a discussion. There is no fee.
Social Action Committee
The Social Action Committee of Or Ami seeks to raise awareness and mobilize congregants. To address needs of the homeless, members donated hats, gloves, socks and scarves in February and continue to prepare a monthly meal for the HomeAgain Men’s shelter.
As a member congregation of RISC (the interfaith coalition, Richmonders Involved to Strengthen our Communities) Or Amians strive to prevent homelessness by advocating for safe and affordable housing. RISC meets with experts, studies successful strategies and explores workable solutions with decision-makers.
On March 19 at 7 p.m., over 1,200 members of RISC congregations will meet in a Nehemiah Action with policymakers to ask for a commitment to fund the building and repair of low-cost housing to keep families stable. All are welcome to stand in solidarity.
We plan to meet at St Paul’s Baptist Church, 4247 Creighton Road.
While the General Assembly was in session, congregants were provided links to engage in advocacy around issues of affordable housing, health equity, reproductive health, criminal justice reform, gun violence, economic justice and environmental issues in partnership with the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy and Interfaith Power and Light.
Or Ami observed Repro Shabbat on Feb. 9, when we read Parshat Mishpatim, which contains verses used as the foundation of Judaism’s approach to reproductive health, rights and justice. The service included statements from women who sought abortions for varied reasons and the trauma they encountered.
Dr Gail Moskowitz spoke about the work of Hadassah advocating for women’s rights and encouraged congregants to join in advocating for the religious freedom of bodily autonomy.
Or Ami hosts the Richmond Chapter of the Sierra Club on Tuesday, March 12th. The speaker is Lee Williams, co-founder of Beyond Methane RVA. All are welcome.
This local non-profit organization measures leaks in the city and surrounding counties from pipes of the Richmond Gasworks , and advocates for transparency and oversight of that city-run gas utility.
