Yom HaTzedek

What's in your box? We open our boxes on Yom HaTzedek to reflect on our commitments to social change, how we've lived into them, and how we hope to act in the year ahead.

On Yom HaTzedek, we reflected on our actions from the previous year, and recommit to the pursuit of justice and dignity for all. We gathered in person at Congregation Rodeph Sholom or virtually on Zoom on Wednesday, May 22 at 6:00pm ET.

Yom HaTzedek brought together a worldwide community to open our Tzedek Boxes and honor the work we have done this year. The event featured joyful music, meaningful ritual, and reflections from special honoree Idit Klein, President and CEO of Keshet. Keshet’s mission is LGBTQ equality in Jewish life.

Cantor Shayna De Lowe of Congregation Rodeph Sholom, Rabbi Andrew Mandel of Central Synagogue, and Rodeph Sholom Children’s Choir led this special event co-sponsored by Tzedek Box, Central Synagogue, and Congregation Rodeph Sholom. 

Our Special Honoree:
Idit Klein

President and CEO of Keshet

Idit is a national leader for social change with more than 30 years of experience in the non-profit justice sector. Since 2001, she has served as the leader of Keshet, the national organization for LGBTQ equality in Jewish life. Idit built Keshet from a local organization with an annual budget of $42,000 to a national organization with offices in six states and a multi-million budget. Under her leadership, Keshet has mobilized tens of thousands of Jewish leaders to make LGBTQ+ equality a communal value and priority for action. Idit created national community building programs for queer Jewish teens and organized Jewish communities nationwide to join the fight for LGBTQ+ rights. In addition, she served as the executive producer of Keshet’s documentary film, “Hineini: Coming Out in a Jewish High School” which inspired the formation of GSAs in Jewish schools around the country.

Prior to leading Keshet, Idit worked professionally in the Israeli-Palestinian peace movement and social justice sector in Israel. She also was a leader in the Israeli LGBTQ community and helped envision the Jerusalem Open House. A magna cum laude graduate of Yale University, Idit earned her Master’s in Education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a focus on social justice education. She serves on the board of the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable and publishes frequently in the Jewish and LGBTQ press. Idit has been honored by Jewish Women International, the Jewish Women’s Archive, Mayyim Hayyim, Brandeis University’s Hornstein Program in Jewish Professional Leadership, and the Forward as one of its ‘Forward 50,’ a list of American Jews who have made enduring contributions to public life. She lives in Boston with her family.

Yom HaTzedek 2023

Watch the recording from our celebration on May 4, 2023!