Events

JUNETEENTH Kabbalat Shabbat

Friday, June 17th, 2022, 7:00pm

Please join AJOCC in partnership with Kol HaPanim for an in-person Kabbalat Shabbat centering the voices of Jewish spiritual leaders of color. Together, all are welcomed to celebrate shabbat, and build community. We’ll honor the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in the United States through a Jewish lens. Services will be led by Rabbi Sandra Lawson, Rabbinical student Koach Baruch Frazier, Rabbi Joshua Lesser, and facilitated by Victoria Raggs. The event is free, but registration is required by scrolling below to the bottom of this page, or on https://www.kolhapanim.org/

During the service we’ll be featuring the JFREJ Juneteenth Seder Haggadah which you can preview and download here:

WHAT IS JUNETEENTH?

Juneteenth (also known as Jubilee Day, Emancipation Day, Freedom Day, and Black Independence Day) is the celebration of the commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. From its Galveston, Texas, origin in 1865, the observance of June 19th as the African American Emancipation Day has spread across the United States and beyond.

Although the Emancipation Proclamation declared slaves legally free on January 1, 1863, the law wasn’t enforced in the Confederate states like Texas until more than two years later, on June 19, 1865. That day, two months after Robert E. Lee’s surrender, Union Major General Gordon Granger and his troops arrived in Galveston, TX, to read the proclamation aloud and to firmly enforce the law.

Today, Juneteenth commemorates African American freedom and emphasizes education and achievement. It is a day, a week, and in some areas a month marked with celebrations, guest speakers, food, fun and family gatherings. It is a time for reflection and rejoicing. It is a time for assessment, self-improvement and for planning the future. It’s growing popularity signifies a level of maturity and dignity in America that’s long overdue. In cities across the country, people of all races, nationalities and religions are joining hands to truthfully acknowledge a period in our history that shaped and continues to influence our society today.