(JTA) — When Ilana Schatz considered the fate of child laborers and other exploited workers, the taste of chocolate gelt would turn bitter in her mouth.
Having co-organized the first egalitarian prayer services at Berkeley Hillel in 1974 and having helped found Kehilla Community Synagogue in Piedmont, the Los Angeles native felt that Jewish values could not be divorced from economic justice. In 2008 she founded and directed Fair Trade Judaica, and over the next 10 years promoted products that respected the environment and workers’ rights — including fair trade chocolate coins for Hanukkah.
Schatz spent nearly all of her career empowering the powerless: She founded and directed the Volunteer Action Center at the East Bay Jewish Federation and directed the Poverty Action Alliance, a project of the American Jewish Congress. She was also a board member at Community Vision, a financial institution promoting racial and economic justice in California.
Schatz, 71, died July 12 at her home in El Cerrito from ALS.
“Beyond her accomplishments and interests, Ilana is remembered for her authenticity and
integrity,” wrote her husband, David Lingren. “She was fully present and profoundly wise, helping others to tune in to and follow through on what was most important and real”