The New Jewish Agenda Organizing Committee (NJA) was founded at Gerry Serotta’s home in 1979 and formally established in 1980 in Washington, D.C. The organization had chapters in 40 American cities and around 4,500 members from various religious and secular backgrounds. Many of the founding members came from the 1960s and 1970s Jewish student movements, such as the Breira movement, the Havurah movement, and the Chutzpah movement in Chicago. The organization was very active throughout the 1980s and dissolved in 1992.
NJA was committed to fostering progressive voices in the Jewish community. The organization supported several social issues, such as a commitment to feminism, support of women in the workplace, reproductive rights, support for Jews with disabilities, and equal rights for gays and lesbians.
NJA advocated for the lesbian and gay community through advocacy materials such as brochures, pamphlets, and flyers. Coming Out, Coming Home: Lesbian and Gay Jews and the Jewish Community focuses on how members of the Jewish community can support lesbian and gay Jews who may feel alienated and ostracized. The pamphlet guides readers to educate themselves and others to be better informed as a means of combatting homophobia. The brochure draws parallels between the social exclusion that Jews may feel in a Christian-dominant culture and how a gay-identifying individual may feel in a heterosexual-dominant culture.
“As Jews, we know how important it is to have our differences respected, not to be forced to hide or asked to change. Our understanding of the concerns of lesbians and gay men is rooted both in our sense of justice and in our history. We know what it means to have to conceal important parts of one’s identity in order to hold a job, live where one chooses, obtain a travel visa, or simply exist without daily threats of violence.”
The pamphlet asks readers to consider how the Jewish community is stronger when it embraces its diverse identities.
“Jewish lesbians and gay men and their friends are working toward a day when all people can fully claim and celebrate their lives. The Jewish community will be richer and stronger when it welcomes its own. Until that day, it cannot be whole.”
The brochure advises readers to listen to gay voices to educate themselves, advocate for gay civil rights, support the fight against AIDS, and oppose discrimination against those with the disease.
NJA worked to create real change in Jewish communities and advocate for meaningful legislation and inclusive business practices on a state and national level. An internal document from NJA dated 1981 pledges to support proposed legislation that ensures rights and protections, such as the National Gay Rights Bill, and to fight discriminatory proposed legislation, such as the Family Protection Act and other laws designed to curtail and limit the civil rights of gay individuals. NJA’s advocacy efforts were rooted in the belief that the Jewish community has the capacity for significant change for the benefit of its people.
“We know that Jewish tradition has not been supportive of Gay rights. However, we view Judaism as evolving. We are encouraged by the fact that segments of the religious community have made changes in the role of women. We encourage the involvement of all parts of the Jewish community in the struggle for full civil rights for Lesbians and Gay men, and we welcome ongoing dialogue within the Jewish community about the relationship between traditional Jewish beliefs and Gay liberation.”
The language around homosexuality used in these documents gives insight into the time they were written. As these records are from the 1980s, we can see how communication and language around gender, sexuality, and identity have evolved to be more specific and inclusive.
View the finding aid for the New Jewish Agenda Records, I-393 here.
