November 3, 2022

Cancellation Issue Resources

In response to our Cancellation issue, we’ve been asked about organizations and resources related to promoting more constructive discourse inside and outside Jewish spaces. Below is a sampling of nonprofits doing such work.

  1. A More Perfect Union | Jewish Partnership for Democracy aims to build and support a robust, well-resourced, transpartisan Jewish coalition that works collaboratively to strengthen democracy. 
  1. Braver Angels runs workshops, debates, and other events where “red” and “blue” participants attempt to better understand one another’s positions and discover their shared values.
  1. Civic Spirit works with schools across faith traditions to enhance civic belonging, knowledge and responsibility in their student and faculty communities.
  1. Constructive Dialogue Institute translates the latest behavioral science research into tangible educational tools to equip students and professionals with the skills to communicate across differences. 
  1. Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) educates Americans about the importance of individual rights to free speech and free thought, promotes a culture of respect for these rights, providing the means to preserve them.
  1. Jewish Institute for Liberal Values supports liberal principles of free thought and expression, advances viewpoint diversity, and works to counter the imposition of the Critical Social Justice ideology in the Jewish community. 
  1. Interfaith America works to build an America in which all religions and people join together to build a diverse democracy where all are welcome.
  2. Heterodox Academy is a membership organization working to improve the quality of research and education by promoting open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, and constructive disagreement in institutions of higher learning. 
  3. LetGrow, as mentioned in co-founder Lenore Skenazy’s Sapir piece, is creating new paths to make it easy, normal and legal to give kids the independence they need to grow into capable, confident, and happy adults.
  4. Mahloket Matters: Schools Curriculum | Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies is a curriculum rooted in Jewish texts to help foster constructive disagreement. 
  5. Moral Courage | Diversity Without Division is Irshad Manji’s diversity training program that seeks to teach people to engage constructively across contentious issues and form meaningful relationships across differences, disagreements, and even mutual disgust. 
  6. More in Common develops research and short and longer term initiatives to address the underlying drivers of fracturing and polarization, and build more united, resilient and inclusive societies.
  7. New Pluralists is a funder collaborative focused on supporting the growing field of practitioners, storytellers, researchers, and innovators working to foster a culture of pluralism in America.
  8. Resetting the Table: Courageous Communication Across Divides has designed an extensive toolkit supporting participants in their workshops to connect, listen to and challenge each other, even in the face of volatile disagreement.
  9. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks on the Dignity of Difference offers educational resources on diversity through Rabbi Sacks’ Jewish and moral lens.
  10. Theory of Enchantment is a framework for compassionate anti-racism founded by Chloe Valdary that aims to bring compassion to diversity inclusion training, and fight bigotry with love.