Over a year had passed since I was last at Lathrop Homes when I went back there for Tashlich this fall. The day was beautiful (it was Sunday) and Rebecca, another student activist and I were meeting with a Lathrop Homes resident, Sandra, before taking part in the traditional Tashlich ceremony and planning our future actions. Sandra shared poetry with us and voiced her opinion regarding the precarious status of Lathrop Homes, the affordable housing community where she lives and raised her family.

Currently the future of Lathrop Homes is up in the air as steps are being taken to transform much of the property into market-priced homes. This poses a huge problem for the many families and individuals who live and have lived in the community for decades. It was shocking to realize how unpredictable the residents’ futures are. However, it was also inspiring to see Sandra’s passion and love for her community.

I met Sandra in the summer of 2010 when I attended Or Tzedek and it was wonderful to see her again. During the brief time we met with her, I was reminded of her enthusiasm and the vivacity of the Lathrop Homes community. Oftentimes the only image of affordable housing people have is of a dangerous, dilapidated place, but Lathrop Homes looked nothing like what people expect. Later during the Tashlich ceremony we discussed the changes we would like to make this year and committed ourselves to continuing social action, specifically with Lathrop Homes in mind.

- Lauren Bergelson, Or Tzedek Participant, Summer 2010 

In my experience, there are few organizations devoted to helping teens fight injustice and even fewer Jewish organizations. There is a simple reason for this phenomenon. It is hard to make a program such as this. Finding participants and qualified staff willing to hang around with teenagers (we are not the most affable of social groups) is difficult. This is where Or Tzedek comes in. Imagine a group of teens and counselors as devoted to social justice as they are to Judaism and mitzvoth. I learned more about action and advocacy in a week of Or Tzedek then I did in seventeen years on the North Shore. I hope that every Jewish teen in Chicago does Or Tzedek. It is a singular experience, one that leaves even the most casual participant with a profound, new outlook on the world and their own Judaism. 

-Yehuda Serotta, Or Tzedek Summer 2011

Every year on Tashlich, my family would walk down to Brooklyn’s promenade clutching half-eaten loaves of stale bread. After the obligatory game of Red Rover with the other children from shul, I would seclude myself to think very serious thoughts about my faults. For instance, I repeatedly tossed into the Hudson River my tendency to be late to everything. I hoped the river's three eyed, mutant fish, who had no need to be on time, would gobble up my bad habits. But over the course of this brand new year, I still found myself using "subway problems" as an excuse for why I was late.

But this year, instead of using the ritual to ruminate on something negative, I want to practice Tashlich in a constructive way. Originally, many rabbis objected to Tashlich because they believed it missed the point of teshuva (repentence). If one only counts her sins and then casts them away, how does that result in personal growth? Teshuva cannot just be a single step;  it must be a dialogue with one’s friends and family about how both the person and the community can grow from previous success and failure. Many of us have experienced the disappointment of an empty apology. Tashlich, without thinking about the next steps we can take in our lives  based on those reflections, will mean just as much as a hollow  “I’m sorry.”

So I pose these questions to the community on the erev of our Tashlich action: What habits or behaviors do you want to reinvent within yourself? What action do you want to take in your communities?

[see details of Or Tzedek's Tashlich Action on Facebook]