Before the sun had a chance to fully rise, members of the Virginia Peninsula Jewish community rose to take action at the state capitol in Richmond on Wednesday, Feb. 7. Nearly 40 participants, the UJCVP’s largest group for Virginia Jewish Advocacy Day, gathered to make their voices heard on issues important to the local community.

Virginia Jewish Advocacy is organized through the four Jewish Federations of Virginia, of which the UJCVP is one. Each Jewish Federation is the community planning, leadership and outreach arm of its Jewish community, which develops human and financial resources to meet the evolving and vital issues of our local, statewide, national and international communities.

On Virginia Jewish Advocacy Day, Jews from across the Commonwealth converged in Richmond and divided their regions’ state legislators among themselves to meet with and share their legislative priorities. Dividing into small groups, the Virginia Peninsula legislative teams each engaged in lively discussions with various representatives in the House of Delegates and Senate. Serving as captains of the UJCVP legislative teams were Irene Jacobson, Lisa Stern, Richard Gordon and JCRC Chair Jeff Luckman. 

A key issue that was discussed in our meetings was the surge of antisemitic incidents in our region and around the world following Hamas’ massacre of Israelis on October 7. During the legislative meetings, we shared support for legislation, policies and initiatives that fight hatred targeting Jews and the Jewish community as well as all other forms of hatred and bigotry.

The UJCVP legislative teams voiced support for increasing funding for security measures and programs to support nonprofits, including faithbased organizations, at risk of hate crimes. We support Governor Youngkin’s proposed 2024-2026 budget that provides an additional $2 million in FY 2025 for the Department of Criminal Justice Services to make competitive grants to combat hate crimes, increasing the total fund to $5 million.

We also advocated for a language-only amendment that will allow nonprofits or institutions that are targets of or at risk of being targeted for hate crimes, to apply directly for security grant funding We also voiced support of HB18 and SB120, which adds the word “ethnic” to the list of protected classes, which also includes race, religion, gender, sexual orientation and national origin. Adding ethnicity makes the hate crimes statute a more accurate and honest reflection of the reality of peoplehood. In the aftermath of 10/7, with the dramatic increase in antisemitism on college campuses, around the country, and around the world, it now is more important and clearer than ever that hate crime and discrimination laws include ethnic minorities, such as the Jewish people, who may not fit neatly into the language and words used to define other groups.

Following the group meetings, the combined delegations gathered to hear remarks from the top elected leaders, including Governor Glenn Youngkin, Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle Sears and Attorney General Jason Miyares. UJCVP Board Member Lisa Stern gave a lively introduction to the overflowing room.

A highlight of the day was Rabbi David Eligberg of Rodef Sholom Temple leading the invocation in Senate Chambers. After his prayers, Senator Mamie Locke formally welcomed the UJCVP delegation from the floor.

This whirlwind day of policy talk instantly created closeness within the lobbying teams as they worked together to figure out how to best communicate messages. Feelings of pride in being Jewish permeated throughout, as many people from across Virginia took the day off of work to unite to speak their minds about making Virginia a more tolerant, healthy, and prosperous place—not just for Jews, but for everyone.

Save the date, next year’s Virginia Jewish Advocacy Day is January 29, 2025.