TBE has joined with Temple Isaiah, Lexington MA, and Temple Aliyah, Needham MA, to build a new cohort of community organizers to partner with the MA Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence (MA Coalition) to protect the historic omnibus gun legislation passed in August 2024. This legislative win placed our Commonwealth at the forefront nationally in having the most comprehensive gun safety laws and the lowest rate of gun-related deaths in the US.

As a harbinger of model legislation that other states might emulate, Massachusetts became a target for the National Rifle Association. Immediately after Governor Healey signed this groundbreaking law, the NRA’s local affiliate, the Gun Owners Action League, launched a successful ballot petition for the November 2026 election to repeal this life-saving law. Our fight now is to prevent the reversal of these historic life-saving laws.

Our new congregational triad will lead this effort under the name Jewish Partnership for Gun Safety. Members of the Jewish Partnership for Gun Safety’s Steering Committee along with long-standing leaders of TBE’s Congregants for Gun Safety, attended the MA Coalition’s 2025 Peace MVP Awards event on April 7. We were honored to join the MA Coalition in recognizing former New England Patriots team captain and youth advocate Matthew Slater, and connected with many other community organizations with which we will undoubtedly be engaged in the 2026 campaign!

For more information on the Jewish Partnership for Gun Safety, please contact Beth Kramer or Sandy Aronson.

Pictured, from left to right: Neil Silverston (TBE), Nanette Byrnes (TI) Elliot Gimble (TI) Joanna Troy (TBE) Beth Kramer (TBE) Bruce Baron (TBE and MA Coalition) Matthew Slater, Barbara Turk (TBE), Janet Goldenberg (TBE and MA Coalition), Risa Shames (TBE), Marilyn Komessar (TBE), and Ediss Gandelman (TBE).