Civil Rights

T’ruah is seeking a full-time Israel Campaigns Officer who will engage and mobilize the rabbis and cantors in our network through campaigns related to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). This person will develop and implement the next steps in our campaign strategies to achieve impact on protecting the human rights of Israelis and Palestinians, and on combating antisemitism.

The ideal candidate is a creative and strategic thinker, a strong organizer with a record of building relationships and alliances with others to deliver tangible change, and an adept project manager. They feel alignment with T’ruah’s positions on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) and have experience working on the issue.

This is an exciting time to join T’ruah at an unprecedented moment of growth. We are in the second year of an ambitious five-year plan to grow our organization and budget substantially. This position is an incredible opportunity for someone who is excited about being part of an organization making social change and protecting human rights.

Who We Are
T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights brings the Torah’s ideals of human dignity, equality, and justice to life by empowering rabbis and cantors to be moral voices and to lead Jewish communities in advancing democracy and human rights for all people in the United States, Canada, Israel, and the occupied Palestinian territories.

To learn more about our work, visit www.truah.org or find us @truahrabbis on Twitter and Facebook.

What You’ll Do 
The Israel Campaigns Officer reports to the Director of Campaigns and is responsible for the following:

• Develop and run T’ruah’s campaigns related to Israel and the OPT. Collaborate with the Director of Campaigns to ensure our Israel and combating antisemitism campaigns and work are strategic, right-sized, and consistent with T’ruah’s goals and tactics
• Work closely with the Chief Strategy Officer and CEO to shape and drive T’ruah’s Israel strategy
• Lead and help implement T’ruah’s work combating antisemitism
• Cultivate, organize and mobilize T’ruah Chaverim (members of our clergy network) in our Israel-related campaigns and our work combating antisemitism
• Oversee T’ruah’s one-day programs for rabbis in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories
• Monitor American and Israeli media outlets and work with the Chief Communications Officer to draft and circulate organizational responses to breaking news, when relevant and strategic
• Represent T’ruah as a member of the Progressive Israel Network (PIN) and in other relevant coalitions
• Work with the Leadership and Learning team to create resources, webinars, and other learning opportunities on these issues that educate and activate Jewish clergy, and the community more broadly

If you were in the role right now, you would be:

• Leading T’ruah’s response to the current attacks on democracy in Israel, coordinating with U.S.-based organizations in the Progressive Israel Network (PIN) and partners on the ground
• Working with the Chief Communications Officer to draft and shepherd a sign-on action to protect democracy and human rights in Israel and the OPT
• Convening and running a meeting of the Israel Programs Manager and Rabbinic Educator  (both located in Israel), and the Director of Organizing to plan our summer one-day program for rabbis in Israel and the OPT
• Writing an action alert to Chaverim to urge state legislators not to codify IHRA in state legislation
• Developing a toolkit for Chaverim on navigating antisemitism in their communities, in consultation with our Director of Organizing and Director of Leadership and Learning
• Drafting the Israel campaigns goals and budget for the next fiscal year, in collaboration with our Director of Campaigns and Chief Strategy Officer

Who You Are & Keys to Success
You will be a team player and collaborate with many colleagues in addition to your supervisor.

To be successful in this job, you will be, are, or have:

• At least 3-5 years of demonstrated experience working on issue-based advocacy campaigns and/or in the field of community organizing or advocacy
• Experience with and strong working knowledge of issues relating to Israel and the OPT, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the dynamics of the American Jewish Community
• Experience managing lay leaders: You have worked with and recruited for leadership committees and understand how to manage, facilitate and collaborate with volunteer leaders.
• Ability to build and establish strong working relationships with people: You develop and maintain strong, collaborative working relationships with stakeholders inside and outside the organization, and can engage allies and coalition partners.
• Excellent presentation skills; ability to represent Truah in coalition meetings and public gatherings: You speak clearly on behalf of an organization and advocate for/ with community members. You communicate well with others, including sharing context and asking questions to understand others’ perspectives. You’re adept at facilitating public conversations.
• Racial equity and inclusion values and skills: You understand the historical context for racial inequity and its present-day implications. You recognize ways that race and other identities intersect in social justice work, especially with communities of rabbis and cantors. You are comfortable talking about identities such as race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, class, ability, or gender in plain, specific terms. You identify decisions, policies, or practices that have disparate impacts based on identity, and you’re driven to make changes in systems and practices to operationalize equity.
• Able to manage a high volume of work with efficiency: You have, or can create, a system for keeping tasks from slipping through the cracks. You’re able to juggle competing demands and prioritize without sacrificing quality. You plan backwards to make deadlines, and ask for help when needed.
• Able to synthesize information quickly: You can digest a large volume of articles and information and stay on top of current events, legislation, and developments as they impact our work.
• Strong project management skills: You’re able to oversee and structure complex projects with multiple contributors and ensure that a quality end product is delivered on or ahead of schedule.
• Strong alignment with and commitment to T’ruah’s mission and positions related to Israel and the OPT.

Experience working with rabbis and a working knowledge of Hebrew and Arabic are plusses but are not required.

Systemic inequities in hiring have caused many women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ people to apply to jobs only if they meet 100% of the qualifications. If you don’t have all of the qualifications listed above but are extremely organized, passionate about our mission, and believe you have applicable and transferable skills from other industries, we encourage you to apply for this job. We’d love to hear from you. In your cover letter, be sure to explicitly highlight how your experience, skills, and personal qualities have set you up to succeed in the role.

What Else You Should Know 
Status

This position is full-time.

Salary

This position is in T’ruah’s $60,000 – $85,000 salary band, and starts at a minimum salary of $67,500. We set salary above this minimum through a collaborative process using a standard rubric based on years of experience.

Location

The job location depends on where you reside: If you live anywhere other than the New York Metropolitan Area, the position is remote. We would prefer the position be filled by someone living on the East Coast. Those living in the New York Metro Area will have our New York City office at their disposal if and when they choose to work from the office, and some amount of in-office work may be required in the future.

Travel

We expect you to have the ability to travel to occasional in-person meetings in various U.S. locations, and to Israel up to a few times a year.

Benefits include:

• T’ruah pays for 100% of the employee’s premium and 50% of one dependent’s premium on our recommended medical insurance plan
• Employer-covered basic life and AD&D insurance valued at $10,000
• Optional benefit plans available at employee expense: dental, vision, health savings account, flexible spending accounts, supplemental life insurance, and supplemental AD&D insurance
• Automatic employer contributions of an amount equal to 5% of your salary to your 403(b) retirement account beginning one year after the date of hire – whether or not you make elective deferral contributions
• 10 vacation days a year in your first year of employment, increasing to 20 days a year after three years
• 34 holidays a year, which includes Jewish and most Federal holidays, Summer Fridays, and a floating holiday
• Paid leave of up to 12 weeks for the birth or adoption of a child
• Health care flexible spending account
• Dependent care flexible spending account

Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)

T’ruah is committed to DEI at every level of our organization, including our Board of Directors. For the past several years we have been actively working on becoming an antiracist organization. We have a set of organizational values reflecting this commitment.

Equal opportunity employer

T’ruah isn’t just an equal opportunity employer. We are actively seeking to build a diverse and inclusive team with a wide range of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. T’ruah does not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, disability, personal appearance, family responsibility, political affiliation or any other status protected by applicable law. Women, transgender people, veterans and people of color are encouraged to apply.

How to Apply 

• Complete the informational form located here.
  AND
• Send a cover letter and resume to [email protected] Please write “Israel Campaigns Officer” in the subject line. Cover letters will be assessed as a writing sample; resumes without a cover letter will not be considered. No phone calls, please.

Our Timeline
Applications will be accepted through April 25. Interviews will be conducted on a rolling basis. Our ideal start date for this position is in July 2023.