Kadima was founded 40+ years ago as “a Jewish voice in the progressive community and a progressive voice in the Jewish community.” Growing out of living room organizing meetings with young activists and movement elders, Kadima embarked on creating a legacy of weaving together the Jewish joy and justice that we all celebrate, sustain, amplify, and evolve today.

One could tell the story of Kadima by describing three distinct eras: a founding era, a sustainer era, and a third wave, which we are in the process of articulating.

Chadesh Initiative
The word chadesh resonates through the history of the Hebrew language. In Tanakh, chadesh means renew or repair, such as “chadesh yameinu k’kedem” - renew our days as of old (made familiar by the concluding liturgy of the Torah service). In cultural modern Hebrew, chadashot is the word for “the news.” From this, I am using the name Chadesh to bring renewal, repair, and updating while grounding us in a firmly rooted legacy.

During 5781/2020-2021, over 50 Kadima members from our various eras met in various configurations for shabbat and holiday gatherings to discuss and wrestle with issues identified as principles of unity by the founding era which have maintained importance yet evolved over these last 4 decades. Important and deepened intergenerational understanding and relationships have resulted. Our goal is to continue this understanding and deepening to ensure future evolutions of Kadima honor the perspectives and experiences of multiple eras of progressive Jewish community transformation. Join us!