March 2025 Mensch of the Month: Justin Orlando Fair

A Conversation with Our First Mensch of the Month!

What is your connection to Third Space?

I’m a Jew and I’m biracial (Black and white) and I grew up in Baltimore! I’m an artist in my spare time, I grew up passing by the shul all the time as a kid. To now step inside and see it transformed into a new kind of community space—one that’s open to me and where I can spread out, meet up with friends, and engage in a Judaism that embraces questions and exploration—feels full circle. But a true Third Space isn’t just about intellectual study or discussion; it’s about sitting with people, feeling their optimism and their pains, and making room for all of it. That’s what makes this space meaningful to me.

What was the last book you read and loved?

Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber (z’l). It’s a book that pulls apart the myth that productivity equals worth, and it highlights how much of modern work is disconnected from real meaning. What matters most is people—our relationships, our creativity, our sense of purpose. We need to nurture systems that give people dignity and allow them to contribute in ways that actually matter. That idea resonates with me deeply, both in my community work and in how I think about rest and sustainability.

If you could have dinner with two people, living, dead, or fictional, who would you choose?

The Baal Shem Tov and bell hooks (z’l). The Baal Shem Tov for his radical embrace of joy, mysticism, and everyday holiness. bell hooks for her wisdom on love as an ethic, on justice as something lived, not just theorized. Together, they’d make a powerful conversation about healing, care, and the sacredness of community.

What is your favorite thing about yourself?

My ability to be intentional. I used to stay real busy but now I am happy to slow down, to make choices carefully, and to focus on what truly matters. It’s challenged me in ways I never expected, but it’s also made me more present. I no longer push myself to exhaustion just for the sake of appearing productive. Instead, I focus on depth, on the quality of my relationships, and on creating things that have real meaning.

What do you wish people knew about you?

That stillness is not inaction. Wu wei, the principle of effortless action, has become central to how I move through the world. It’s not about passivity—it’s about flowing with the natural rhythms of things instead of forcing them. Rest is part of that. It’s taken me time to embrace the idea that stepping back, conserving energy, and allowing things to unfold can be just as powerful as pushing forward.

What is one simple thing you do (or think others could do) that extends more kindness into the world?

I said it and I mean it: I practice wu wei—moving with ease, rather than resistance. In a world obsessed with urgency, I think one of the kindest things we can do is give people space to just be. To not rush them, to not demand they prove their worth through exhaustion. Don’t be a hamster on a wheel, instead, find a corner and sit in it. When we allow each other room to breathe, to rest, to exist without justification, we create a culture where kindness isn’t just a gesture—it’s the foundation.What is your connection to Third Space?