In my research for existing resources on Jewish approaches to fighting injustice in the justice system, I’ve found a wealth of items.

Some that struck me:

• Tru’ah Handbook on fighting mass incarceration
• This youtube video from Aryeh Bernstein
• D’var torah by Rabbi Michael Rothbaum: Ferguson/Fargesn

One thing I’m realizing is that I need to focus down a lot more. As the Tru’ah handbook points out, there are three large areas of criminal justice reform – policing/targeting/sentences (i.e. before prison), the experiences of people in prison, and the impact on people after prison. Aryeh Bernstein’s talk focuses on police brutality, on the importance of choosing just judges, and Michael Rothbaum’s d’var torah is about how we think about and talk about people in Black communities with regards to crime.

These issues are feeling too big for just one papercut, especially given my artistic tendency towards minimalism and simplicity and distillation. Feeling a bit overwhelmed.