NBM 6
Move to submit a substitute motion in place of the previously submitted motion for the 2026 World Service Business Conference, as outlined in Appendix A. The original motion, included for reference in Appendix B, will be withdrawn in favor of this substitute.
SUBMITTED BY:
Virtual Region Bylaws Committee and Virtual Region Board
For the motion maker’s contact details, please email secretary@oavirtualregion.org
INTENT: To replace the previously submitted motion with a revised version that is more specific, streamlined, and actionable.
IMPLEMENTATION: The substitute motion will stand in place of the original and follow the standard World Service Business Conference process for consideration.
COST: No additional cost beyond what would be expected for processing a standard motion.
HOW DOES THIS MOTION SUPPORT OA’S PRIMARY PURPOSE?: By ensuring clarity and focus in motions presented to the World Service Business Conference, it helps maintain effective communication that supports OA’s ability to carry the message.
RATIONALE: The substitute motion provides improved clarity and feasibility, making it more appropriate for World Service Business Conference consideration than the original.
Appendix A: Proposed Substitute Motion
PROPOSED OA NEW BUSINESS MOTION
MOTION: Move that the World Service Business Conference direct the Board of Trustees to create a new Specific Focus category titled “Ethnically Jewish.”
Further move that the Board of Trustees add the term “Ethnically Jewish” to the Specific Focus drop-down menu used on the OA.org website for the purpose of listing and identifying meetings.
SUBMITTED BY:
OA Virtual Region
chair@oavirtualregion.org
INTENT: To formally recognize and support the cultural diversity within Overeaters Anonymous by establishing “Ethnically Jewish” as a valid and distinct Specific Focus category.
IMPLEMENTATION: Add to the specific focus drop down menu on OA.org and other official sites.
Updates to literature will be made as part of the standard review process.
COST: Unknown
HOW DOES THIS MOTION SUPPORT OA’S PRIMARY PURPOSE?: OA’s primary purpose, as stated in Tradition Five, is to “carry its message to the compulsive overeater who still suffers.” This motion directly supports that purpose by improving the visibility and accessibility of meetings that may be particularly helpful to a segment of the OA population: those who identify as ethnically Jewish.
RATIONALE: OA has successfully created Specific Focus categories for other ethnic communities—such as “Asian Pacific Islander Desi” and “Black, Indigenous, and People of Color”—there remains no category specifically acknowledging members who identify as ethnically Jewish. This identity is not about religious belief or practice; it is a shared cultural, historical, and ethnic experience. Many individuals identify as ethnically Jewish without participating in Jewish religious observance. They may be secular, cultural, interfaith, or even non-believing Jews who nonetheless share a background, family history, and relationship with food shaped by Jewish ethnicity. These experiences often include intergenerational trauma, communal food customs, cultural norms surrounding body image, and family expectations—all of which can deeply influence patterns of compulsive eating and recovery.
This motion is not about promoting any faith tradition within OA, nor does it ask OA to make religious accommodations. Rather, it mirrors existing Specific Focus categories that reflect cultural and demographic experience without reference to belief systems. This category affirms the lived reality of ethnically Jewish members who may otherwise feel invisible or misunderstood within broader meetings.
Adding “Ethnically Jewish” as a Specific Focus category allows for greater visibility, empowerment, and outreach. It offers newcomers a clearer path to connection and helps current members find recovery spaces where they feel culturally safe and understood. It also empowers groups to self-identify in a way that aligns with their members’ experiences—while remaining fully compliant with OA’s Traditions, including the requirement that groups have no outside affiliations.
Inclusion of this category promotes OA’s values of unity in diversity. It signals to Jewish-identifying members who may have felt excluded or isolated that they are seen, welcomed, and supported in their recovery journey. It strengthens our Fellowship by ensuring that all compulsive eaters, regardless of their cultural background, can find a space where the message of recovery resonates with their lived experience. This is a simple, low-cost, and high-impact way to extend the hand and heart of OA to those who still suffer.
Appendix B: Original Motion
PROPOSED OA NEW BUSINESS MOTION
MOTION: Move to create Ethnically Jewish as a Specific Focus Category.
Further move to add “Ethnically Jewish” to the specific focus drop-down menu on OA.org
SUBMITTED BY:
NAME OF CHAIR
OA Virtual Region
chair@oavirtualregion.org
INTENT: To create a Jewish Ethnicity specific focus category for meetings
IMPLEMENTATION: Add to the specific focus drop down menu on OA.org and other official sites.
COST: Office Time
HOW DOES THIS MOTION SUPPORT OA’S PRIMARY PURPOSE?: To provide urgently-needed space to ethnically Jewish fellows, improving their recovery and rendering relevant fellows more resourced and available to support the OA fellowship as a whole.
RATIONALE: Due to shared DNA, intergenerational trauma, similar family systems and shared customs around eating, Jewish ethnicity fellows are uniquely positioned to share relevant experience, strength and hope with those of shared ethnicity. Due to the rise in antisemitism, many Jewish ethnicity fellows feel the need for space to let their guard down and not think about being politicized or otherwise judged for their ethnicity. Some no longer feel safe or invited to share honestly in ordinary meetings. Many are dealing with complex social and career issues as a result of ongoing antisemitism. These challenges can impact abstinence — and are thus potentially life-threatening– and require rooms of greater sensitivity to navigate though and recover.
The genetic testing companies like 23 and Me label Jewish as a distinct ethnic category. Given the ethnic nature of Jewishness, it is already covered by the Unity with Diversity Policy. Withholding permission would constitute a break in policy.
Jewish ethnicity fellows disagree on everything from politics to religion; what Jewish ethnicity fellows do indeed share is DNA, hence the ethnic status of this group.
The Young Person’s Ethnically Jewish meeting has been thriving since August 2024, providing refuge to those fellows who need it. Members of this meeting hope to see more such meetings, so other Jewish ethnicity fellows can touch the depth of safety and connection they have been blessed with.
Greater health in Jewish ethnicity recovery allows these fellows to be of greater service to OA as a whole. When cups are overflowing, relevant fellows can better benefit the overall beloved OA fellowship. Young People’s Intergroup can attest to the recovery benefits of having specific focus for all YPs, and are eager to see Jewish ethnicity fellows similarly benefit.