OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) was at the Capitol in Olympia Thursday wit the message: "The Jewish Community is small but mighty."
Near the sundial, outside of the Capitol building, the group started with small acts. By handing out cookies, they were hoping people would take a few seconds to learn a more about the Jewish community in Washington.
"It's good with your afternoon coffee," Laurie Litwack said. Litwack was volunteering her time with JCRC. "It's got a code to scan to learn more about the Jewish Community."
The QR code outside the cookie's packaging led to five facts about the Jewish community.
"It's really important to me that we are a known, a part of this community," Litwack added.
After multiple anti-Semitic acts left several houses of worship shaken up in 2023, the group took to lobbying in Olympia for better protections, education and resources.
"We're down here advocating for a suite of bills mostly to address antisemitism and bias, rise in hate crimes and give tools to communities to support themselves and protect themselves," JCRC Director Max Patashnik said.
Two of those bills, HB 2037 and its companion bill SB 5851, are geared toward making Holocaust education mandatory for K-12 students. HB 2037's primary sponsor Rep. Travis Couture said it's important to start early.
"We're passionate about teaching this in schools," Couture said. "Right now it's not mandatory but just recommended. Making it mandatory will give teeth to 'never again.'"
"It doesn't surprise me that there's a lot of education to do," Patashnik said. "That's one of the reasons we're here advocating for requirement of holocaust and genocide education as one tool to really help build understanding of the building blocks of hate, and how that impacts not just the Jewish community but other communities."
If a small cookie can be a part of that education. then it's a treat, well served.
"I did feel fear, and occasionally I do feel fear," Litwack said. "But coming together with other members of the community, remembering that we're part of a larger set of values, of democracy, openness and respect for each other and for diverse communities, helps me both find my faith in my self and stand up for what I believe is right."
Currently in the Legislature, HB 1410 and SB 5427 addresses the Hate and Bias Incident Hotline. There's also an effort to set aside money for state nonprofits to amp up security on their premises.