RJ Blog

As a fellow Eisendrath Legislative Assistant, Raechel Banks, wrote yesterday, “There are many ways to ‘share our bread with the hungry’ (Isaiah 58:7).” She discussed a very tangible  way of helping to combat hunger in our midst (I still have blisters on my fingers from cutting potatoes for 3 hours straight). Today, however, I want to talk about a way of sharing with the hungry that is more difficult to conceptualize, but has no less of an impact on millions of lives – international food aid. There are nearly one billion people around the world with insufficient access to food. [...]

This week the RAC hosted Imam Umer Ahmed Ilyasi, Chief Imam of the All India Imam Organization. The All India Imam Organization is the largest imam organization in the world, representing half a million religious leaders and over two hundred million Muslims living in India. Imam Ilyasi has distinguished himself as a leader who powerfully addresses issues of religious extremism and global terrorism and frequently reaches out across religious lines. In particular, he has done considerable work bringing together Muslim and Jewish leaders in the Middle East and around the world and has been recognized internationally for his achievements in [...]

On Yom Hashoah we remember the great tragedy that we as a people and as a world faced during World War II over 60 years ago. But how do we use that memory today? To what end does that experience motivate our community? Surely one answer is that we as a people must be particularly attuned to atrocities committed around the world. Yesterday the United Nations observed a Day of Remembrance for victims of the Rwandan genocide. This week marks the 19th anniversary of the beginning of a 100 day period during which hundreds of thousands of Rwandan men, women [...]

On Monday, Hungarian Member of Parliament Marton Gyongyosi called for the creation of a list registering all Hungarian Jews, with a focus on registering Jewish politicians and those of Israeli descent. He explained away his actions by deeming Hungarian Jews a national security risk. Gyongyosi has now made international headlines for his blatantly anti-Semitic remarks, which were eerily reminiscent of Nazi rhetoric.

On Thursday, November 28th, the U.N. General Assembly will vote on a resolution aiming to change the status of the Palestinians from an observer to a non-member observer state. The proposal is being advanced by Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, who hopes to use the elevated status to renew talks of a two-state solution. Not to be confused with last year’s bid for Palestinian statehood, which failed to gain approval by the U.N. Security Council, this year’s bid does not mandate review from the Security Council. With no possibility of a U.S. veto, as exercised in 2011, it is [...]

We’ve been hearing a lot recently about the so-called fiscal cliff: that moment, a few weeks off, when massive spending cuts kick in and major tax breaks expire. There has been a lot of frantic talk and heady discussion about how (and whether) America will dig in right now and face the hard facts about our federal deficit and debt. Amidst all of this it can be easy to ignore the truly crushing debt afflicting countries all across the Global South, and to ignore America’s implications in this crisis and to forget to consider what we could do to help.

For more than a year, Syria has been engaged in a tense civil war. Despite grave human rights abuses and oppression perpetrated by Assad’s regime, the international community has been wary to enter the internal conflict plaguing the Syrian people. Yet, this past week, when shells were fired from Syria into the Golan, and with Syrian military tanks entering the demilitarized zone, Israel entered the conflict for the first time.

Just this week, the IDF issued its first draft notices to 15,000 ultra-Orthodox youth (ages 17-19). Although their enlistment is not immediate, it marks the first time that the ultra-Orthodox community has been included in standard draft procedures. Over the past year, we have been keeping our eyes on the expiration of the Tal Law, which exempted ultra-Orthodox Jews from serving in the IDF. In February, we considered the decision by the Supreme Court that declared the Tal Law unconstitutional. In May Kadima joined the governing coalition with the hope of advancing army integration, only to leave the government after realizing [...]

Over the last week, escalating tension on the Temple Mount has resulted in the arrest of both Jews and Arabs. The violence on the holy site has led to accusations of police brutality and a call for an official Knesset investigation. With conflicting reports spreading blame for the recent uptick in violence among Jews, Arabs, and the police, it is hard to wrap one’s head around the conflict. To help provide a background on what’s going on on the ground, here are some useful resources: The Temple Mount is home to the Dome of the Rock, the Al Aqsa Mosque, [...]

Rabbi David Saperstein today issued a statement commending Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Foreign Minister John Baird, and the Canadian government for reaffirming their opposition to the policies of the Iranian regime by closing the Canadian embassy in Tehran. Read the full statement, excerpted below.

Two and a half years ago I celebrated Passover in China, attending Seder with Kehillat Beijing, a congregation composed mostly of Jewish expats living and studying in the Chinese capital. Gathered together to retell the exodus of our ancestors, I remember reaching the point in the story where Moses parts the Red Sea to lead the Jews out of Egypt. This is one of the most well-recognized and controversial narratives in the Haggadah. Moses gains control of the sea to lead the Jews to freedom, ultimately causing the death of many Egyptians. His God-given ability to control the sea is [...]

It’s official: Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate, is the new president of Egypt. His victory comes after 16 months of protests and strict military rule, the disqualification of many contested yet popular candidates, and the disbandment of Egypt’s lower parliament by the Armed Forces. President Morsi is the first Islamist elected as the head of an Arab state and Egypt’s first president from outside the military. The fact that the army has deferred to some elements of democracy by finally declaring a president gives us some hope. However, it seems clear that this gesture will do little to actually [...]

I took a course last semester about violence in St. Louis, looking for a thought-provoking discussion about my school-year city. I started following the local crime section of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch; thefts, assaults, shootings and drug crimes seemed to dominate criminal activity in the STL. So a January 2012 article identifying St. Louis as a hub for human trafficking came as a surprise.

It’s not too late to plan a Jubilee Shabbat event in your synagogue, community, or even for your home and family. This year’s Jubilee Shabbat weekend is taking place May 18-19, and it is co-sponsored by the Religious Action Center, American Jewish World Service, Tikkun, the Shalom Center and Rabbis for Human Rights-North America (RHR-NA). The weekend is just one opportunity to set aside time to pray, reflect, study, and act around issues of global inequality and poverty. Each week we set aside time to rest during Shabbat. But the Jubilee, which represents the seventh Sabbath cycle, reminds us to [...]