Let us help you raise your race consciousness.

Our workshops lead to the creation of safe and embracing spaces for Jews of color

Latest News!

  • Rabbi Miller will be joining a delegation of leaders from across the Conservative Movement on a powerful trip to the American Black and Jewish South.

    America is deeply divided. Tensions exist within and between many of our communities, and we are finding it increasingly harder to listen to those on the other side of the aisle—whether that aisle is political, racial, economic, or religious. We believe that the story most of us have become to know about ourselves, our communities, and our nation are incomplete. This American Pilgrimage explores how the seeds of our division were sown at the founding of our nation.

    We need a more complete story.

  • Rabbi Heather partnered on a project with the National Black Empowerment Council and UJA that brought together middle schoolers from a Black charter school and predominantly White-presenting Jewish Day School as well as students who identified as Jews of Color. Students learned together in an 8 week cohort.

    Watch a video spotlight here

  • Open to all who identify as JOC, Rabbi Heather leads a weekly parsha study class at Ammud: JOC Torah Academy

  • Rabbi Heather has the honor of presenting Racial Justice and Inclusion as a Jewish Imperative with Rabbi Amy Eilberg for this year’s Conservative Movement Convening!

    December 1-5

  • Rabbi Heather is delighted to be one of the many speakers at this historic event!

    Fight for the Dream

    Sixty years ago, Dr. King shared a dream of a world where equality and justice prevailed. Today, we're not just looking back but carrying his legacy forward.

    This August, we're calling on everyone from all corners of the world to join us in D.C. We'll use our collective voices to demand change, realizing the dream of a fair and more just society.

    This is not a commemoration.

    This is a continuation.

    Aug 26, 2023 | 8 AM | Washington, D.C.

    🔗 www.mow60.com

  • As a Black ADOS Jew and descendant of Juneteenth, Rabbi Heather has co-created resources that allow for solidarity building and a way to process the generational trauma of American slavery

    Bringing Juneteenth onto the Bimah by Rabbi Heather Miller and Rabbi Lev Meirowitz Nelson

    Supplemental Juneteenth Reading Source Sheet

    Updated Haggadah for Juneteenth for 5783

    A Haggadah for Juneteenth by Rabbi Heather Miller (2022)

    Kiddush Over Red Drink by Gulienne Rollins Rishon

    What Juneteenth Means to my Black Jewish Family by Marcella White Campbell

    Juneteenth Through the Eyes of Jews of Color (panel)

  • Rabbi Heather and the Multitudes is featured on Episode 5 of Season 2 of the PBS show Table for All with Buki Elegbede.

    Challah & Chutzpah: A Celebration of Jewish Culture

    Cookbook author Shannon Sarna shares the true meaning of Shabbat with her family in West Orange, NJ. Social media influencer and Jewish activist Lizzy Savetsky stops at her favorite Manhattan Jewish bakery and pays a visit to NYC Mayor Eric Adams. The 1969 Black Liberation Seder is recreated at Barnard College. Rabbi Heather Miller discusses diversity within the Jewish community.

“You can only understand people if you feel them in yourself”

—John Steinbeck

  • Race Consciousness Series

    We all want to be allies and for our Jewish communities to feel like home to all who want to join us. In order to become true anti-racist upstanders, we must take a step backwards and start with a journey within. In this intro course we cover: Foundations of Race Consciousness, The Real Work of Anti-Racism, Bystander Intervention and Exploring our Biases through Perspective Taking

  • Building The Upstander Toolbox

    This 3-session series is for communities who have taken our Race Consciousness course or who have already engaged in their own Anti-Racism work. We will take a deeper dive into: Unpacking microaggressions, upstander tools and tailored next steps for your community

  • "Shul Shopping" In Your SPace

    During this 1.5-2hr session, we will meet with your key team to look at your synagogue space through the lens of inclusion. We will brainstorm next steps for your team and help you narrow down what the priority social justice areas are for your community.

  • Build Your Workshop

    Schedule a consultation to help us design a single workshop or series to meet your specific community needs. We have worked with several communities on topics such as: “So you want to be an upstander?” a session with teens and parents; “Creating a Culturally Responsive Learning Environment” for Hebrew School teachers.

Build an embracing space.


a wave of change

To date, we have reached over 4500 people through our sessions who are working to make a difference in their spheres of influence. With every session that we facilitate, we are making ripples that are creating a wave of change.

Here are just some of the communities that have joined us on this journey towards creating safe spaces for JOCs.

 
JOCI Discrimination.png

In 2018, The Jews of Color Initiative conducted a revolutionary study that found that 12-15% of the people who identify as Jewish in the US identify as a Jew of Color. The 2021 Beyond the Count survey went deeper into the experiences of those JOCs to gather data on why we don’t see that level of diversity in our Jewish spaces. The data revealed that 80% of Jews of Color reported experiencing discrimination in Jewish spaces and that only 51% of JOCs feel comfortable in predominantly White Jewish spaces.

Over 70 communities (and counting) have worked with us to begin changing the these statistics in their spaces. Join us in taking the first step in transforming your community.

Who Am I?

The Multitudes was born out of a moment of intense introspection. We believe strongly that we all deserve to live fully connected Jewish lives in spaces that embrace us for the beauty found in all of our intersected identities. We believe that we were all created in the image of G-d and that we each have histories that deserve to be honored as an integral part of our Jewish identity. We all received the Torah at Sinai and we believe that there isn’t just one way to be authentically Jewish. I am a rabbi and passionate educator who strives to build a Jewish community that is safe for the whole selves of each one of us.

She [helped] me see that it’s okay to take up space as a Jew of Color in this world. It may not be easy, but when you find those who authentically welcome you, it’s an amazing feeling
— Stephanie A.
 

Follow our journey


“Racism is man's gravest threat to man - the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason.”

—Abraham Joshua Heschel