‘This Is
Spiritual Work’
feature story
RELIGIOUS LEADERS LAY BLUEPRINT
FOR REPARATIONS
SASHA ROGELBERG | STAFF WRITER
W hen the Israelites fl ed Egypt, they were demanded by God to
take reparations, Rabbi Aryeh Bernstein argues.

Aft er generations of enslavement in Mitzrayim, before their
long trek to the land of milk and honey, the Israelites were instructed to
take back gold and their wealth; the Torah states, “Aft erward shall they
come out with signifi cant property.”
To Bernstein, the story of God demanding that Israelites take back
wealth from the ancient Egyptians is a central part of the story of Exodus.

Th ough a midrash from centuries ago, Jewish conversations about rep-
arations — compensation for past harm, loss or damages — have bubbled
to the surface in the modern-day reckoning many predominantly white
institutions and individuals are having about racism in the United States.

For the Jewish leaders in Philadelphia that are starting conversations
about reparations in their communities, beginning the process of giving
reparations to Black Americans is urgent.

“My people are dying; my community [of Jews of color in Philadelphia]
is struggling,” said Jared Jackson, founder and executive director of Jews of
color advocacy organization Jews In ALL Hues. “So while you’re waiting to
feel benevolent, our lives are diminished until you feel the need to say what-
ever words you need to say to yourself and others to get the ball rolling.”
On Juneteenth, Jackson, as well as Reconstructing Judaism’s Director of
the Center for Jewish Ethics Rabbi Mira Wasserman represented the Jewish
community at the Mayor’s Commission for Faith-based and Interfaith
Aff airs, in partnership with POWER Interfaith, the Truth Telling Project
and Philadelphia Yearly Meeting.

Jewish, Christian and Muslin faith leaders met as a call to action for reli-
gious groups to give reparations to Black descendants of enslaved people.

Religious spaces off er the opportunity to talk about the underlying values
that drive the practice of reparations.

“You don’t have faith traditions without people,” Jackson said.

In Philadelphia, there’s a push among reparations proponents to resolve
tangled titles — which makes home ownership unclear by not guarantee-
ing the deed to one’s home is passed down to their intended heir if they do
not have a will — an issue by which Black and brown Philadelphians are
disproportionately aff ected, Jackson said.

Reparations can take the form of funding legal aid for those looking to
protect their home ownership.

But persistent racism can be identifi ed even within Jewish spaces,
Jackson said. He uses the example of Jews In ALL Hues to show the past
complacency of the predominantly white Jewish community to address
monetary inequity.

Jews In ALL Hues relies on private donors and grant money to continue
business, Jackson outlined. Th ough Jackson calls the nonprofi t the oldest
Jared Jackson is the founder and executive of Jews In ALL Hues.

Courtesy of Jared Jackson
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM 17