[Excerpts]
On a Tuesday evening in mid-November, dozens of cars slow-rolled, bumper-to-bumper, along Northwest Highway, queuing to turn onto Hillcrest Road. Temple Emanu-El was this year’s host for Dallas Area Interfaith’s Reimagine Dallas...The group, which consists of about three dozen congregations of various faiths and denominations, has since 1984 organized around issues rooted in justice, making sure policymakers and other powerful people follow through on their promises.
They’ll show up on behalf of tenants to advocate for better living conditions. They’ll show up to protest ICE raids. They’ll show up to get the city to make intersections near schools safer for kids. Theirs is a quiet power, intentionally spread geographically across North Texas, that harnesses passionate parishioners who are willing to pack into this synagogue on a rainy weeknight at such a volume that the sprawling campus ran out of parking spots.
That’s something like a thousand people, probably more. The roll call alone lasted about 10 minutes. The impressive showing is a reminder of the work happening beneath the surface across our region, how people come together to help others. Over 90 minutes, Reimagine Dallas delivered a snapshot of the region’s big-picture challenges: housing affordability, early childhood education, street safety, and protecting the rights of immigrants.
The elected officials in attendance—council members Chad West, Gay Donnell Willis, and Kathy Stewart; county commissioners Andy Sommerman, Theresa Daniel, and Elba Garcia—were asked yes/no questions as to whether they would promise to work with the group to advance its priorities....
Temple Emanu-El Senior Rabbi David Stern began the night with Genesis 28:10, the tale of Jacob’s Ladder. Running for his life, Jacob eventually finds a place to sleep. In his dream, he comes across a ladder to Heaven featuring angels going up and down its rungs. Stern lingered on the word “down,” a signal that the angels are among the living, not just watching from above. “The work takes all of us,” he said, “The angels are here, the angels are us.”
[Photo credit: Kim Leeson]
This Thanksgiving, a Break and Reflection, The Lab Report Dallas [pdf]