More than 200 Jewish community members from throughout the Commonwealth crowded the halls of the General Assembly on Virginia Jewish Advocacy Day on Jan. 29.
During a busy morning, dozens of meetings were held with elected officials or their legislative assistants to advocate for bills targeting antisemitism, increasing security, and supporting Israel.
The large contingent included more than 50 volunteers from Richmond’s Jewish Community Federation and JCRC, plus Hadassah members and several RTA students, advocating bills that would:
- Prevent public educational institutions from bowing to the pressures of the BDS (boycott, divest, and sanction) movement targeted at Israel,
- Prohibit from all Commonwealth campuses any individual or organization (student, faculty, or public) that receives funds from known terrorist organizations or states as defined by the US Secretary of State, and,
- Provide an increase in the minimum penalty for placing a swastika on any religious or religious-affiliated public building, or on private property, with the intent of intimidating a person or group to reasonably fear death or bodily injury.
After returning to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Gov. Glenn Youngkin spoke at a lunch gathering.
All photos by Adrienne Winkelmann Epstein
He emphasized how much he values the relationships he has built with the Jewish community, and how vital those are to confronting antisemitism together.
He urged all attendees to continue to speak to their legislators on important legislation before them in the current session. “Advocacy is so important. I welcome you here today.”
Attorney General Jason Miyares and State Senator Scott Surovell also expressed their support on videos. Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears also was invited to speak but was not available to speak or provide video remarks.
We continue to build relationships and confront the challenging rise in antisemitism together. It was truly a moving day as our community showed its strength, and our voices were heard!
The day served as a culmination of a several-month effort by the Federation and its JCRC to advocate for legislation on several important bills of importance to Jews and other faiths across the Commonwealth.
The attendees included several teens, a few youngsters, a multi-generation family and one infant who got a free ride all day.
The premiere event for the Federation’s JCRC featured a number of first-time individuals advocating on behalf of the greater Jewish community. During small-group meetings of seven teams, they presented information, answered questions and urged support on the bills of importance to the Jewish community with more than 20 local Delegates, Senators or their staff.
Richmonders were joined by representatives of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, the United Jewish Community of the Virginia Peninsula, the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and several others. Richmond Hadassah was a co-sponsor of the event.
Serving as Team Leaders were: Maya Eckstein, Robyn and David Galpern, Karen Leibowitz Amy Melnick-Scharf, Conor Shapiro, Gail Moskowitz and Ellen Stonehill.
Richmond attendees gather for a photo at the end of the day.Here are more photos from Advocacy Day
