With sadness and gratitude CampOUT! and the Social Justice Institute would like to share this reflection from Jean Bornstein in memory of Jai Bornstein. Jai Bornstein was born in Bakersfield, CA on June 1, 1997 and from the very beginning showed a love of language and reading. Jai enjoyed stories and wordplay, rhymes, and laughter. She loved animals and children and showed a strong sense of empathy for others’ suffering, always attempting to turn in her best work and putting forth a strong desire to do good in the world and help others.
ln high school and college, Jai joined student clubs that promoted equality and inclusivity, sharing her ideas for ways to improve the world and showing up for others, whether it was standing on a street cormer promoting gender equal bathroom use on campus or helping a fellow student with papers, sharing books and materials and just being there to lend an empathetic ear. While in high school, Jai volunteered frequently at Ricky’s Retreat, a nonprofit dedicated to providing a safe space for LGBTQ_ individuals. As a freshman at CSUB, Jai joined Club GEN (Gender Equality Now), participating regularly in the meetings and activities of this club devoted to promoting equality for all persons. As a sophomore at UBC, despite a heavy schedule of classes, Jai participated with the LGBTQ_ club on that school’s campus, as well. Jai always showed up and put forth her best efforts on behalf of others.
Jai had a kind and gentle heart and children loved her. She wanted to be a social worker or an early childhood educator and she’d have been awesome at this work. Her fondness and concerm for the most vulnerable members of our society and for those who are often invisible or live at the fringes was evident in all of Jai’s acts and she showed courage in abundance. She was fierce and tender, both strong and soft, and she was deeply loved by all of us who had the privilege to know her.
ln the Ethics of our Fathers, Rabbi Tarfon commented,
“lt is not your responsibility to finish the work of perfecting the world, but neither are you free to desist from it.”
Jai did her part of the work of perfecting the world and now it falls to us, her loving family, friends, allies, and the community at large, to take up the task, carrying forward the baton for the causes that were so close to Jai’s heart. We, Jai’s family, who knew her best and cherished her deeply, have the great merit to donate the enclosed funds to your organization to help you continue the good work that mattered so greatly to her. May you be blessed with strength and courage in your efforts and may you do so in the memory of our child, Jai Bormstein, whom we continue to love without end.