By Eddie Chavez Calderon

Repro Shabbat has always invited participation at many levels. In a moment marked by uncertainty, fear, and deep challenges to reproductive freedom, we are leaning into community, Jewish values, and collective strength.

Even in uncertain times, NCJW movement leaders continue to show that when our values are rooted in Jewish values, our communities can still bloom. This year, NCJW’s Repro Shabbat microgrant recipients exemplify what it looks like to translate this national initiative into local communities, offering programming with intention, creativity, and courage. We are honored to celebrate these four NCJW local sections this year with microgrants ahead of Repro Shabbat, happening February 13-14: 

For NCJW Sacramento, the local section is expanding both the reach and depth of its Repro Shabbat work through a robust program that brings Jewish values into the broader community. This year they are hosting a public Repro Shabbat celebration  that includes lunch, expert speakers, and facilitated discussion centered on reproductive justice in today’s legal and medical landscape. Guest speakers include Mary Ziegler, Professor at UC Davis School of Law; Lisa C. Ikemoto, Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor of Law at UC Davis; and Karli Eisenberg, Supervising Deputy Attorney General of California’s Reproductive Justice Unit. Community members will also share powerful personal stories, including experiences with illegal abortion in the 1960s and present-day accompaniment at Planned Parenthood.

NCJW Atlanta’s Repro Shabbat plans include a Torah study and panel discussion in partnership with Ahavath Achim Synagogue, a Shabbat dinner with Hillels of Georgia, and collaboration with Emory University medical students interested in reproductive health. Their work reflects deep roots, strong partnerships, and a commitment to reaching Jews across generations and institutions.

In Colorado, Repro Shabbat is ‘blooming’ boldly and creatively. The Colorado local section is hosting a major event, their Community Havdalah, that uplifts Mizrahi culture while engaging participants in reproductive justice through food, music, postcard writing to legislators, and fundraising for the NCJW Abortion Fund. Their plans include challah drop offs at the State Capitol to 70 state legislators’ offices, Havdalah at the Capitol, comfort kit creation, period packing, and coordinated outreach to Jewish and interfaith partners. Across all of these efforts, Colorado is weaving culture, advocacy, and joy into a vibrant program that meets the moment.

And in New York, theNCJW Peninsula local section is planning a series of ‘blooming’ level initiatives that intentionally reach across denominational and faith lines. Their plans include engaging Orthodox communities through challah baking conversations, partnering with interfaith groups on advocacy actions, and anchoring the work in public storytelling. Through strong partnerships and visible advocacy, Peninsula is expanding their community outreach, inviting new audiences into Repro Shabbat and sharing how Jewish values show up in the public sphere.

Together, these projects and events remind us that growth does not stop because conditions are harsh. In fact, it is often in the hardest seasons that tending our grassroots matters most. Through study, ritual, advocacy, storytelling, and public presence, our Repro Shabbat leaders are showing what it means to bloom and inspire others with purpose. They are cultivating hope, courage, and collective power, grounded deeply in Judaism and shining boldly for reproductive justice.