JALSA is a special interest group. Our special interest is promoting the general welfare; safeguarding access to equal opportunity; and eliminating the legal, societal and economic barriers that stand between too many and the promise of the American dream.

We are a membership-based non-profit organization based in Boston. We are dedicated to being a strong, progressive, inter-generational voice, inspired by Jewish teachings and values, for social and economic justice, civil rights, and civil liberties for all peoples.

Recent efforts include:

• Strengthening the state’s commitment to quality public education by working with legislators and educators to ensure adequate funds, reduce dropout rates and close achievement gaps;
• Working on cutting edge issues, like green jobs, to ensure that low-income and minority communities have access to job training and green employment opportunities.
• Addressing health as a civil right, supporting the improvement of and access to health care for people of all incomes;
• Continuing legislative and judicial activities to prevent discrimination against members of gay, lesbian, and transgender communities; and
• Providing advice to tenants and homeowners facing foreclosure, and working on statewide legislation to remedy the effects of the mortgage market collapse;

Mayor victories and Accomplishments:

• Coordinating an ongoing effort to focus on civil rights through counsel with the state’s senior level civil rights officer, a position created in response to our coalition’s advocacy;
• Bringing together scientists, academics, and advocates in support of the state’s stem cell law;
• Founding Community Servings, the hot meals program for people with AIDS and other life-threatening diseases, and their caregivers.
• Successfully protecting the constitutional right of religious freedom by coordinating two amici briefs in two important cases on religious accommodation before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.