Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ) is a far-left advocacy group based in New York City. It has both a charitable arm, JFREJ Community, that conducts policy advocacy and community organizing and a lobbying and electoral arm, JFREJ Action, that endorses socialist and far-left members of the Democratic Party and claims to represent Jewish voters. ^{1 2} JFREJ also uses the identity politics concept of intersectionality in its policy advocacy. ³

In July 2022, Jonathan Greenblatt of the left-leaning Anti-Defamation League (ADL) shared a Twitter thread that called JFREJ a “pro-dystopian organization” that is “consistently against both mainstream Jewish values and Interests.” An ADL spokesperson told the New York Jewish Week that Greenblatt’s retweet “reflected ‘agreement with the larger view that a group calling itself The Jewish Vote isn’t representative in any way of the majority of the Jewish community.’” ⁴

Background

Founded in 1990, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice advocates for far-left policy on behalf of Jewish voters. Its website claims 6,000 members, of whom 4,500 live in New York City. ^{5 6}

JFREJ states on its website that its electoral arm works to elect left-wing candidates and opposes people in power who allegedly cause injustices and violence to “serve the interests of the 1%.” ⁷ One of its more well-known campaigns is The Jewish Vote, which advocates for left-leaning Jewish voters to vote for left-wing and socialist candidates and policy. ^{8 9}

Campaigns

The Jewish Vote is a campaign of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice. It demands that the Democratic Party and the so-called “Jewish establishment” recruit and support progressive, socialist, and “reformer” candidates and policy. It supports Medicare for All, universal rent control, the Green New Deal, restricting campaign speech through campaign-finance regulation, and ending “mass incarceration.” ¹⁰

JFREJ has a campaign countering antisemitism that works with other organizations to “confront” white supremacists and white nationalism. It describes white nationalism as an issue rooted in the so-called far right that it claims exists within members of the Republican Party. ¹¹

JFREJ’s Defending Immigrants campaign advocates for left-of-center immigration policy that seeks to eliminate immigration restrictions. In 2017, it condemned then-President Donald Trump’s moratorium on immigration from certain countries allegedly tied to terrorism. It also seeks to abolish the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency and created Never Again Action to campaign in favor of abolishing ICE and eliminate policies that criminalize immigration. ¹²

Freedom to Thrive is JFREJ’s campaign that advocates for prosecuting New York police officers who allegedly perpetuate hate crimes against specific ethnic and identity groups and to reduce the New York Police Department’s (NYPD) budget. It also advocates for reducing the NYPD’s role in responding to hate crimes and for situations where people are in “emotional distress or crisis.” ¹³

The Caring Majority is JFREJ’s campaign that advocates for using the identity politics concept of intersectionality in welfare programs, to create a government-controlled single-payer healthcare system, and the Green New Deal. It also endorsed New York state’s Fair Pay for Home Care Act, which would raise the state minimum hourly wage from $12.50 to $22.50 for home care workers. ¹⁴

Criticism

In July 2022, the Anti-Defamation League, which has historically served to fight anti-Semitism and in recent years has been criticized for focusing on being an opponent of political conservatives, criticized Jews for Racial and Economic Justice. ^{15 16 17} A spokesperson from the ADL stated, in response to questions over a thread critical of JFREJ retweeted by ADL head Jonathan Greenblatt, that it opposed JFREJ claiming to be representative of Jewish people by naming campaigns “The Jewish Vote.” JFREJ responded by saying it uses the identity politics concept of intersectionality to represent the majority of Jewish voters, whom it claims share a far-left political ideology and are overwhelmingly members of the Democratic Party. ¹⁸

Financials

According to 2019 tax returns for the charitable arm of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, it received $1.17 million in total contributions out of its $1.30 million in total revenue and made no grants, and spent slightly over $700,000 in salaries and compensation out of its $1.40 million in total expenses. ¹⁹

1. “The Jewish Vote.” Jews For Racial & Economic Justice. Accessed September 19, 2022. https://www.jfrej.org/campaigns/jewishvote.
2. “Who We Are.” Jews For Racial & Economic Justice. Accessed September 19, 2022. https://www.jfrej.org/about.
3. “Caring Majority.” Jews For Racial & Economic Justice. Accessed September 19, 2022. https://www.jfrej.org/campaigns/caring-majority.
4. Henry, Jacob. “ADL Condemns NY Progressive Group Jews for Racial & Economic Justice as ‘Out of Touch.’” Jewish Telegraphic Agency. July 29, 2022. https://www.jta.org/2022/07/29/ny/adl-condemns-ny-progressive-group-jews-for-racial-and-economic-justice-as-out-of-touch.
5. Henry, Jacob. “ADL Condemns NY Progressive Group Jews for Racial & Economic Justice as ‘Out of Touch.’” Jewish Telegraphic Agency. July 29, 2022. https://www.jta.org/2022/07/29/ny/adl-condemns-ny-progressive-group-jews-for-racial-and-economic-justice-as-out-of-touch.
6. “Who We Are.” Jews For Racial & Economic Justice. Accessed September 19, 2022. https://www.jfrej.org/about.
7. “Who We Are.” Jews For Racial & Economic Justice. Accessed September 19, 2022. https://www.jfrej.org/about.
8. “The Jewish Vote.” Jews For Racial & Economic Justice. Accessed September 19, 2022. https://www.jfrej.org/campaigns/jewishvote.
9. Henry, Jacob. “ADL Condemns NY Progressive Group Jews for Racial & Economic Justice as ‘Out of Touch.’” Jewish Telegraphic Agency. July 29, 2022. https://www.jta.org/2022/07/29/ny/adl-condemns-ny-progressive-group-jews-for-racial-and-economic-justice-as-out-of-touch.
10. “The Jewish Vote.” Jews For Racial & Economic Justice. Accessed September 19, 2022. https://www.jfrej.org/campaigns/jewishvote.
11. “Organizing against Antisemitism.” Jews For Racial & Economic Justice. Accessed September 19, 2022. https://www.jfrej.org/campaigns/antisemitism.
12. “Defending Immigrants.” Jews For Racial & Economic Justice. Accessed September 19, 2022. https://www.jfrej.org/campaigns/defending-immigrants.
13. “Freedom to Thrive.” Jews For Racial & Economic Justice. Accessed September 19, 2022. https://www.jfrej.org/campaigns/freedom-to-thrive.
14. Caring Majority.” Jews For Racial & Economic Justice. Accessed September 19, 2022. https://www.jfrej.org/campaigns/caring-majority.
15. Gjelten, Tom. “Anti-Defamation League Chief Faces Challenge Trying to Renew Civil Rights Activism.” NPR. May 31, 2016. https://www.npr.org/2016/05/31/479731808/defamation-league-chief-faces-challenge-trying-to-renew-civil-rights-activism.
16. Mandel, Bethany. “Anti-Defamation League’s Slide into Another Left-Wing Pressure Group.” The Federalist. August 1, 2017. http://thefederalist.com/2017/07/28/anti-defamation-leagues-sad-slide-just-another-left-wing-pressure-group/.
17. Henry, Jacob. “ADL Condemns NY Progressive Group Jews for Racial & Economic Justice as ‘Out of Touch.’” Jewish Telegraphic Agency. July 29, 2022. https://www.jta.org/2022/07/29/ny/adl-condemns-ny-progressive-group-jews-for-racial-and-economic-justice-as-out-of-touch.
18. Henry, Jacob. “ADL Condemns NY Progressive Group Jews for Racial & Economic Justice as ‘Out of Touch.’” Jewish Telegraphic Agency. July 29, 2022. https://www.jta.org/2022/07/29/ny/adl-condemns-ny-progressive-group-jews-for-racial-and-economic-justice-as-out-of-touch.
19. Jews For Racial & Economic Justice, Return of an Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990), 2019. Part I, lines 8-18.