RAC-OH

Contact your state legislators today! As Ohio lawmakers make decisions that impact our lives, we can speak up for our Jewish values of justice and belonging.

Tell legislators respect the כבוד (kavod, dignity) of every student by protecting Diversity Equity and Inclusion and the freedom for students to use their preferred names and pronouns in Ohio schools. Take action today!

Tell legislators to uphold our sacred obligation to make sure Ohioan can get the care they need by protecting Medicaid expansion from cuts. Take action today!

Learn about our work across the country to organize, mobilize, and advocate so that all people can thrive in multiracial, inclusive democracies in North America and Israel.

• Contacting nearly 250,000 voters to vote for fair voting districts in 2024.
  
  RAC-OH volunteers worked with the Citizens Not Politicians campaign to text voters about a measure that would create fairer voting districts on Ohio's November 2024 ballot.
   
• Expanding reproductive freedom by passing a state constitutional amendment.
  
  RAC-OH engaged in a historic mobilization effort that contacted over 436,000 voters in 2023 in support of amending the Ohio constitution to establish an individual's right to determine their own reproductive medical treatment, including abortion.
   
• Making communities safer by passing the Targeted Community Alternatives to Prison program.
  
  The Targeted Community Alternatives to Prison (TCAP) program keeps 3,400 people, who would otherwise be incarcerated, in their communities to receive the support and rehabilitation they need.
   
• Bringing fairness to the probation system by passing Senate Bill 66.
  
  RAC-OH members lobbied in Columbus to help pass this bill, which allowed judges to keep those who violated their probation in their communities instead of mandating their return to prison.

• Press Release: Reform Movement Successful in Protecting Reproductive Freedom in Ohio (2023)
• Remarks from Shabbat Service and Coalition Leadership Meeting for Reproductive Rights in Ohio, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (2023)
• A Conversation with RAC-OH and RAC-FL Leaders on the First Anniversary of Dobbs (2023)
• Rabbi and reverends: We will fight for Ohio abortion rights in November (2023)
• Ohio Rabbis spur Passover Seder abortion conversations (2023)
• Ohio Rabbis React to State Expert Offering 'Christian Understanding' of Abortion Law | Ohio News | Cleveland | Cleveland Scene (2022)
• Opinion: What does Jewish law say about the right to abortion? (2022)

• Contact the Jacob Kraus-Preminger to learn more and get involved.
• Follow our Facebook Page!
• National RAC Phone Number: 202-387-2800

RAC-OH is led by a Core Team of rabbis and lay leaders. The Core Team meets monthly to discuss state-wide legislative issues, determine opportunities for partnerships, participates in selected actions taken by faith-based organizations, and offers outreach and support to Reform congregations as they engage in social justice work. The Core Team is led by Rabbi Rick Kellner of Congregation Beth Tikvah and Amy Katz, a lay leader and past president of  Isaac M. Wise Temple. We are supported by national RAC staff overseen by Joy Friedman, the RAC’s organizing director. Core Team members include Rabbi Allison Vann of Suburban Temple-Kol Ami, Rabbi Josh Caruso and Laura Katz of Anshe Chesed-Fairmount Temple, Rabbi Josh Brown of Temple Israel Akron, Rabbi Karen Bodney Halasz of Temple Israel Dayton, and Maria Rosenthal of Congregation Beth Tikvah.