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Rabbi leads fight to end homelessness

There are so many numbers that count in the fight against homelessness.
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February 3, 2016

There are so many numbers that count in the fight against homelessness. For the 7,500 volunteers who hit the streets during the last week of January, the focus was on getting an accurate count on the number living without homes in Los Angeles County. 

But before that, Valley Beth Shalom (VBS) Rabbi Noah Farkas had another number on his mind, a much bigger one. 

It came to fruition on Oct. 27 when the five members of the L.A. County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on a measure to allocate $20 million for affordable housing in the county for 2016-2017. After that, it was decided contributions to the fund will grow by an additional $20 million annually until $100 million is added to it in 2020-2021. 

The decision was supported by a coalition of faith-based organizations led by Farkas. He called it a “major historic allocation for funding for affordable housing, and it’s something we helped design from the very beginning.”

Addressing homelessness is part of the purview of the board of supervisors, which oversees veterans’ affairs, mental health agencies and public social services. 

Farkas attended the October L.A. County Supervisors’ meeting along with approximately 300 members of his coalition, which is interested in ending homelessness, according to L.A. County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, who drafted the legislation with Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas.

Farkas told the Journal his coalition has been advocating for the county to address homelessness since 2014, during the race for the 3rd Los Angeles County Supervisorial District between Kuehl and then-candidate Bobby Shriver. VBS hosted a candidates’ forum, during which the congregation asked the candidates to express a commitment to tackling the homelessness issue. 

“[Kuehl] committed that, if elected, she would meet with us within 90 days of being elected to talk about the issue,” Farkas said. “Within 90 days [of taking office], we met with her in her office. … Basically, she met with us and said she wants to work with us and doesn’t believe she has enough support yet … and said, ‘You need to go back [and] bring other supervisors along.’ ” 

“I said I would do everything I could to support permanent supportive housing for people who are homeless,” Kuehl,  told the Journal.

Working with Molly Rysman, Kuehl’s housing and homelessness deputy, as well as with members of the coalition, Farkas garnered the support of Ridley-Thomas and fellow supervisor Hilda Solis. 

“Rabbi Farkas is an extraordinary community organizer,” Kuehl said. “He is a great partner to us, and to my office and my staff and many of my constituents, for his push for social justice reform in the county. Affordable housing was just one of a number social justice issues that VBS is pushing for.”

Farkas said the activity of his Conservative congregation in Encino reflects a growing trend of synagogues becoming involved in not just Jewish issues but also in those that affect the lives of people all across Los Angeles, pointing to congregations such as IKAR, which has addressed issues such as gun violence.

“The Jewish community helped get the ball rolling [on homelessness], and it shows how synagogues can be part of the larger narrative of the city,” he said. 

Ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2008, the 36-year-old rabbi said he became passionate about reducing homelessness in 2013 after a personal encounter with a homeless military veteran, Jack, who he met with during his Saturday morning walks to synagogue. Farkas wrote about his experiences with Jack in an op-ed that was published that year in the Journal. That same year, he delivered a High Holy Days sermon titled “Home,” during which he explained how his work serving as a chaplain to members of the United States Navy while in rabbinical school informed his compassion for veterans, who make up a sizable chunk of the homeless. 

He continues to be involved in the fight. Under his leadership, VBS has formed the Homelessness Task Force Advocacy Team to develop lay leaders as advocates. VBS also was one of 150 venues that hosted volunteers in a countywide effort to count the number of homeless people as part of an initiative spearheaded by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, to which Farkas was appointed a commissioner by Kuehl. 

Farkas is also involved with training other rabbis and rabbinical students to become social justice leaders and community organizers, and to excite their respective congregations about taking on homelessness and other challenges. He does this through the Boston-based organization JOIN for Justice, which stands for Jewish Organizing Institute and Network, where he is a board member. Among those participating in the JOIN Rabbinic Fellowship, a yearlong fellowship training clergy in community-organizing principles, is Pico Shul Orthodox Rabbi Yonah Bookstein.

“The person who first told me about this is Farkas,” Bookstein said. “He’s been involved with this for a couple of years. … [He is] learning community-organizing techniques, philosophies [and] implementing stuff I’ve learned [such as] how to get Pico Shul more involved in creating communities.”

Farkas’ fight is far from over. He said the recent legislation represents a high point — not an end point — of his mission to eradicate homelessness.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a culmination. It’s a highlight. It’s an ongoing process,” he said, “and it is part of who I am.” 

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