Entries tagged with 'Current Events'
Get Out the Vote!
It's that time of year again, fellow voters, so don your election caps and start reading! This year's 2010 midterm elections, taking place Tuesday, November 2, are sure to promise some exciting races, controversial ballot questions, and unpredictable results and...
Mosque on Park Place: Round Up
Surely, you've been unable to avoid all the frenzy surrounding the so-called "Ground Zero" Mosque to be built on Park Place in lower Manhattan. Politicians and pundits on all sides of the debate have weighed in, and in some instances,...
NFTY President Reflects on White House Visit
Aliza Slavin Gazek is the 2009-2010 President of the North American
Federation of Temple Youth (NFTY).
As you know, this year I've served as President of NFTY, the North American Federation of Temple Youth. NFTY encompasses 10,000 Reform Jewish teens from all across the US and Canada, serving as the youth movement for the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ). So many moments from my Presidency have made me smile since I was handed the gavel last June. Now, as I reach the end of my term, I'm overjoyed to have attended the President's reception at the White House honoring Jewish American Heritage Month. The event was thrilling, and I'm excited to share everything. Here's my story.
White House Honors Jewish American Heritage Month
Yesterday, President Obama held the first ever White House reception in honor of Jewish American Heritage Month. President George W. Bush proclaimed May as Jewish American Heritage Month in 2006. Our own Rabbi David Saperstein, URJ Vice President emeritus Al...
Strong on Sanctions
The full House Committee on Appropriations is poised to consider the FY10 Supplemental Appropriations Bill. In addition to providing funds for a wide range of many of the Reform Movement's top domestic and international priorities, the legislation will include strong...
New Iran Sanctions
This week, the U.S., Russia, China, and other major world powers reached an agreement on a new package of sanctions against Iran. Rabbi Saperstein applauded the announcement in a statement, available below. For more information about the Reform Movement's work...
Happy 62nd, Israel!
Today is Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israeli Independence Day, which marks the establishment of the modern state of Israel in 1948. Around the world, we celebrate this holiday on the 5th of the Hebrew month of Iyar. Below, I have compiled 62...
Surviving the Storm: Can DC Do Better?
Jeff Mandell, a Chicago attorney, is a former Legislative Director of the Religious Action Center.I was a first-hand witness to DC's snow emergency this week. Trudging along Capitol Hill's snow-clogged streets and seeing the entire city - and the federal...
Davos Shabbos
I must admit, I've always kind of wanted to go to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The sessions are amazing, the location lovely, and all the coolest kids (Nicolas Sarkozy, Muhammad Yunus, Bill Clinton) are there.I never really...
Jewish Leaders React to State of the Union
Following President Obama's first State of the Union address on Wednesday night, JSpot.org asked leaders throughout the Jewish community for their thoughts and insights on the President's words. Included in the video compilation below are reflections from Rabbi Jonah Pesner,...
NFTY's Haiti Relief Efforts
Aliza Slavin Gazek is the 2009-2010 President of the North American Federation of Temple Youth (NFTY). This August will mark the fifth anniversary of the devastation incurred on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast from Hurricane Katrina. At a time...
For Haiti: NFTY-MV's Campaign on the Plane
Sarah Korn and Ana Dodson of the North American Federation of Temple Youth's Missouri Valley Region (NFTY-MV) tell their story of raising more than $300 on a plane on the way to a NFTY event. This post originally appeared on...
What Does Massachusetts Mean for Health Care?
This week's special election in Massachusetts - to fill the seat formerly occupied by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy - has shaken things up in the Senate. The voters of Massachusetts elected Scott Brown, a Republican, over Democratic candidate Martha Coakley,...
The URJ's Response to Devastation in Haiti
Some estimates of the death toll from the 7.0 earthquake that rattled Haiti last week have risen to 200,000, as American troops began air drops of food and water and the United Nations pledged an additional 2,000 peacekeepers "to protect...
"Too Often We Forget About Each Other"
When I was on the Jerusalem city council, I gave a lot of thought to earthquakes. The seismologists had figured out that every eighty years an earthquake strikes Israel, and since the last major earthquake occurred in 1927, we are...
Helping Haiti: URJ Opens Disaster Relief Fund
Yesterday, a severe earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter devastated Haiti - the most severe earthquake to hit the already-impoverished impoverished country in 200 years. The epicenter was near Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital, and according to the International Red Cross, as...
Remembering Capt. Benjamin Sklaver
Rabbi Harold L. Robinson, Rear Admiral CHC USN Ret, is the Director of JWB Jewish Chaplains Council. The world, and specifically the community of Reform Judaism, lost a very special neshama with the death by enemy action in Afghanistan of...
Embracing the Spirit of Sukkot for Atlanta
Ethan Guthman is the Social Action Vice President of the North American Federation of Temple Youth's Southern Area Region (NFTY-SAR).The smell of fruit glides through the air; the shaking of the lulav and etrog can be heard. It's that...
Sustainable Cinema - Catch a Social Justice Film this Fall
Sure, summer is over and Congress is back at work, but there's still plenty to see at the movies! And this month brings a series of films about the importance of living more sustainably, and a frightening preview of what...
Gearing Up for the President's Speech
Congress was on recess last month, but the debate about policy by no means rested. Without clear health care policy proposals to ensure insurance reform in place before the break, the issue has become a thorny mess, riddled with misinformation,...
Al Vorspan: Remembering Sen. Ted Kennedy
Al Vorspan is the Senior Vice-President Emeritus of the Union for Reform Judaism and for 50 years served as the Director of its Commission on Social Action. For more than 60 years, the fate of one political family has...
Godwin's Law, Halbanat Panim and Health Care
This post, by William Berkson, originally appeared at RJ.org. Godwin's Law is a rule of internet conversations, which says that the longer a discussion thread continues, the higher the probability that someone will mention Hitler or Nazis. A popular...
A Memorable Conference Call
There has been some discussion in the blogosphere about our annual pre-High Holy Days conference call for rabbis, held last week addressing health care reform and sponsored by the Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist rabbinic organizations (as well as the Union...
Sometimes, It Takes a Village
Judy Hellman is the Associate Director of the Jewish Community Relations Bureau/American Jewish Committee in Overland Park, Kansas, serving the state of Kansas and western Missouri. All views expressed are her own.If you give people the information and the...
The URJ's Rabbi Jonah Pesner on CNN
What were you doing last Sunday at 8:30 a.m.? That's when Rabbi Jonah Pesner, Director of the Reform Movement's Just Congregations, appeared on CNN's "Faces of Faith" segment with host TJ Holmes and guest Rev. Dr. Derrick Harkins of the...
The Launch of Jews For Health Care Reform! (& a Call with the President)
Congress is officially on recess, but it won't be an easy vacation - for them or for us. As Members of Congress gauge their constituents' views on a range of issues, from health care reform to climate change, we at...
On the Verge of History: Where's the Passion?
David Goldman is a member of the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism and a partner at Littler Mendelson. He serves on the Board of Directors of Congregation Emanu-el in San Francisco, where he is also a member...
The Health Care Debate & the Usage of Nazi Imagery & Propaganda
Rabbi Fred Guttman is a member of the Commission on Social Action and rabbi at Temple Emanuel Greensboro in North Carolina. This post originally appeared at "Reb Fred Says." All views expressed are his own. About 12 days ago, I received...
Why I Chose to Fast: For Darfur, For Me
Rabbi Marla J. Feldman is the Union for Reform Judaism's Director of Development. She is the former director of the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism and was previously a member of the founding board of the Save...
Calling for an End to Violence & Hate
I couple weeks ago, I told you about American Apparel's announcement that the clothing company would send free "Legalize Gay: Overturn Prop 8 Now!" shirts to any organization in the D.C. area working for LGBT equality. Last week, the RAC...
POTUS Makes an Ohio Pit Stop
Amy R. Kaplan is the Director of Government Relations for the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland and Vice Chair of the Union for Reform Judaism's Board of Trustees. All views expressed are her own.The normally relaxing nature of summer came...
Outfitting LGBT Advocates
We've all heard the old protesters' rallying cry, "Hell no, we won't go!" and that's, in essence, exactly what clothing company American Apparel is saying to vandals who destroyed store windows at a DC-area store displaying t-shirts that read "Legalize...
Searching for Common Ground
In his commencement speech to Notre Dame graduates last spring, President Barack Obama spoke of "Open hearts. Open minds. Fair-minded words." And on the issue that made his speech so controversial, he said: "So let's work together to reduce the...
A National Treasure
Donald Cohen-Cutler is a former Communications Manager at the Union for Reform Judaism. This post originally appeared at RJ.org. All views expressed are his own.In the days after we returned from our honeymoon the questions turned from "how was your...
Bon Jovi + Iran = Protesting on a Prayer
The best thing to come from the recent elections in Iran might just be a song.Iranian singer Andy (his full name is Andy Madadian) recently partnered with Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora to record a cover of the timeless...
All ACES - Lessons Learned from Last Week's House Climate Debate
Last Friday, the House voted 219-212 to pass the first piece of comprehensive climate and energy legislation to make it through either chamber of Congress...ever. It was a true nail-biter, with floor debate over the American Clean Energy and Security...
Save Your Feet, Use Your Mind
Rachel Hornstein is a participant in the RAC's Machon Kaplan program for college students. She is a student at California Polytechnic State University and an intern at the National Council of Jewish Women. In an email I received about a...
The RAC at the Pride Parade!
On Sunday, the RAC made its first ever march in the DC Capital Pride Parade! We carried posters with messages of support, handed out RAC stickers, and did an excellent job representing the Reform Movement's outspoken stance in favor of...
Fasting for Darfur
Ruth Messinger is the President of American Jewish World Service. She is participating in a two-day, water-only fast for Darfur, which will tomorrow be taken over by Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center. I am already amazed...
Rev. Wright is Back in the News
It seems we haven't heard from Rev. Jeremiah Wright, President Obama's former pastor, for quite some time. After the media frenzy that surrounded a number of his offensive and controversial past remarks, he mostly fell off the campaign season radar...
Eulogy for Dr. Tiller
Rabbi David N. Young is the assistant rabbi at Temple Sinai in North Miami Beach, Florida. This post originally appeared on Rabbi Young's Blog on June 5th. The poet Marcia Falk adapted a poem ascribed only to the name Zelda,...
Saperstein Video Blogs About Yesterday's Cairo Speech
Early yesterday morning, President Barack Obama addressed the Muslim community in a speech in Cairo, Egypt. Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the RAC, recorded a video response to the speech for Patheos.com, a newly launched religion website. Check out Patheos'...
Support Dr. Tiller's Staff with Notes of Appreciation
As my colleague Jill blogged on Monday, reproductive rights advocates across the country are mourning the murder of Dr. George Tiller, a well-known abortion provider who ran a women's health clinic in Kansas. Yesterday, I got an email from NARAL...
Interfaith Week of Health Care for All: June 19-26
Across the country, Americans are demanding change in our broken health care system. They are calling for equal access to and better quality of health care, and stressing the moral imperative for health care reform. They are telling Congress: The...
Finding Common Ground
Like so many others across the country, I was completely shaken when I learned that Dr. George Tiller, one of the few American physicians who performed late-term abortions, was shot to death in the foyer of his church in Wichita,...
Can You Keep a (State) Secret?
In a victory for due process in our country, this week, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that the government cannot "assert the long-standing 'state secrets privilege' to throw out entire civil cases," narrowing "significantly the government's...
Equal Pay for Equal Work
This year, I am one of six legislative assistants working at the RAC; of the six, four--including myself--are female, two are male. All of us have bachelor's degrees, and are, generally speaking, equally qualified and equally skilled. (I am, of...
Saperstein and Lewis Arrested in Darfur Protest
Today Rabbi Saperstein joined Representatives John Lewis (D-GA), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), Keith Ellison (D-MN), Donna Edwards (D-MD) and Jim McGovern (D-MA), as well as Jerry Fowler, Executive Director of Save Darfur and John Prendergast, Co-founder of the Enough Project,...
Bless the Sun Tomorrow!
As dawn breaks tomorrow, while most (at least the sane!) among us are sleeping soundly or dreaming about matzah ball soup, thousands of Jews will gather in communities around the world for the once-every-28-year ritual of Birkat HaHammah, the Blessing...
What a Week!
Thursday: The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act is reintroduced in the House of Representatives. Friday: The Iowa Supreme Court declares prohibiting gay marriage to be unconstitutional, legalizing same-sex marriage in the state. Saturday: Shabbat. Sunday: Baseball Season Starts....
Texas school science curriculum evolves...sort of
Last week, the Texas State Board of Education voted on the final version of the Texas science curriculum standards that have been debated and discussed since the fall of last year. By a vote of 13-2, the Board voted down...
Get Active!
While the title of this blog post may suggest that you should start exercising to fix our broken health care system, that's not exactly the kind of "activity" I'm referring to. (Though admittedly, exercising is clearly not unrelated to health...
Health Reform's Moment
Today: here are some articles on health care reform to inspire and to educate. Enjoy! I love this Washington Post op-ed by Tom Daschle, former U.S. Senator from South Dakota, suggesting that the time is now for health care...
It's Cover the Uninsured Week
Ever since President Obama declared in his State of the Union last month that "health care reform cannot wait, it will not wait, and it must not wait another year," Washington has been buzzing with excitement about what shape health...
Mistrial by iPhone?
On Tuesday, one of two newspapers in my hometown, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, published its final print edition, finally succumbing to the pressures of declining revenues related to the emergence of the Internet. The impact of Internet-based revolutions with regard to...
Light up the Colosseum: NM Abolishes the Death Penalty
Late last night, Governor Bill Richardson signed legislation abolishing the death penalty in the state of New Mexico! This makes New Mexico the second state (New Jersey being the first) to abolish the death penalty since 1965. Today, we released...
Losing my religion?
Last week, researchers at Trinity University released the 2008 American Religious Identification Survey. The survey was conducted last year and had some interesting data, not only on the religious composition and beliefs of Americans presently, but also as compared to...
21st Century Civics
As the host of The Daily Show, John Stewart certainly gets to meet the most interesting and influential people in our country. This week, he had the privilege of interviewing former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who shined on screen, keeping...
Prop 8 Arguments LIVE!
Oral arguments for Prop 8 are going to be presented in front of the California Supreme Court TODAY! We have had a number of blog posts on marriage equality in the last few months, but the arguments laid out today...
Don't Fight the Power, Shift It!
Thousands of climate activists will take to the streets and the Hill this weekend for two watershed events that hopefully foreshadow a huge year in the fight against climate change.On Friday, nearly ten thousand students from across the country will...
Scaling Fences
Last week, Rachel wrote about the environmental impact of a border fence and the need for a comprehensive approach to immigration reform.Another aspect of our broken immigration system was put in the spotlight earlier this month when Arizona's Maricopa County...
Poverty as a Bipartisan Priority
President Obama signed the economic recovery package this week and has already started on his next effort - housing. Curious about how the money will be spent and how many jobs the package will create in your state? The website...
Being Mindful
Traumatic Brain Injury is a rising crisis in our country. It is estimated that at least 5.3 million Americans suffer from TBI and that number is only increasing due to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Last year the URJ...
The 10th Justice
Before living in DC, I never realized how much time and effort it takes to "rebuild" the government after the inauguration of a new President. President Obama took his oath of office over three weeks ago and yet there...
From Principles to Action
Last week Senator Barbara Boxer released her principles for global warming legislation, a set of ideals she hopes will guide Congress as it crafts climate legislation this year. The principles are laudable (read more of what the RAC had to...
Jewish, Muslim and Christian leaders united for Middle East Peace
Last month, Rabbi Joshua Davidson of Temple Beth El of Northern Westchester in Chappaqua, NY, wrote here about his synagogue's dialogue with members of the Upper Westchester Muslim Society. Rabbi Davidson described his effort, a part of the Muslim-Jewish dialogue sponsored...
Normalizing Equality
Almost as important as the institution of marriage in this country, is the institution of divorce. Earlier this month Julie and Hillary Goodridge, the plaintiffs in the case that assured marriage equality in Massachusetts, filed for divorce, helping to show...
Happy Tu Bish'vat!
Today we celebrate the "Birthday of the Trees" with the ancient ritual of Tu Bish'vat. Many of us will attend a 'green' Seder, plant a tree, or donate to conservation causes to commemorate this holiday. However, our call to be...
What Does the Future Hold?
Yesterday, Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg underwent surgery after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The cancer was detected while in its early stages and Justice Ginsburg was reportedly asymptomatic before the surgery, but pancreatic cancer remains a serious diagnosis. ...
Strangers in a Familiar Land
As Jews, we are intimately familiar with feeling unwelcome and excluded. We have been strangers in Egypt, in Babylon, in Europe, and even in America, but it is this shared experience that compels us to open our doors to those...
To challenge or to ignore?
Today's topic of discussion in On Faith is how we should deal with Holocaust deniers: is it better to ignore them or to challenge them and why? Six of the regular panelists have weighed in so far and their responses...
"Help the Needy" Economics
As our elected officials debate how best to address the economic downturn, religious groups have been raising up our own recommendation: to focus on our most poor and vulnerable populations. The US Conference on Catholic Bishops sent a letter to...
President Obama's Pragmatic Outreach to Muslim World
Two and a half years ago, I had the fortunate opportunity to attend a symposium on conflict resolution and negotiation in the Middle East. I spent a month in Nicosia, Cyprus, with around sixty other students and professionals, learning about...
A Day to Remember: How the RAC Staff Spent Inauguration
All weekend, Washington, DC was abuzz with a wide variety of inauguration-related festivities, culminating with the Tuesday’s swearing-in ceremony and parade on the National Mall. Keep reading below the jump for inauguration reflections from several members of the RAC staff!...
An Interfaith Declaration of Peace
As expectations for a Middle East cease fire increase, so does the conversation about the conflict here in the United States. Of all the various essays, blogs, newspaper columns and white papers I have see (and, in some cases, even...
Marriage Equality and More
We are all acutely aware of the battle for same-sex marriage being waged over Prop 8 in California. (And for those whose learn best through music, the Prop 8 Musical could be a useful source of information/entertainment). That case is...
Top 10 Religion Stories of 2008
As 2008 draws to a close, Top 10 lists abound. This week, ReligionClause, one of the preeminent blogs on separation of church and state, posted a list of the Top Ten Developments in Church-State Separation/ Free-Exercise of Religion in 2008. ...
Why We Do the Work We Do
Six times a year, the RAC staff has the opportunity to work with incredible groups of high school students from across the country at our Bernard and Audre Rapoport L'Taken Social Justice Seminars. A few weeks ago, at our first...
Hitting the Hill (During the Holidays!)
Over the past few weeks, I have had the pleasure of meeting over 500 high school students from across the country at the Religious Action Center's Bernard and Audre Rapoport L'Taken social justice seminars. Each four-day intensive learning program brings...
Pandora's Box
Andy Goodman is the President of the Union for Reform Judaism's Greater New York Council and a partner in the law firm of Garvey Shubert Barer, where he chairs the East Coast Litigation and Security Industry Practice Groups. All views...
Justice, Justice WE Shall Pursue
On Tuesday, Barack Obama was elected to be the 44th President of the United States of America. An historic moment, no doubt, and a clear statement by 53% of the American people that they believe Barack Obama possesses the...
A Supreme Disappointment
There is no hyperbole in the title of this blog-- I could not be more disappointed in the U.S. Supreme Court right now. On Tuesday, the Court decided not to hear the appeal of Georgia inmate Troy Anthony Davis, only...
And So It Begins...
The 2008 term of the United States Supreme Court has begun. On Monday, the Justices heard oral arguments for three cases, but only one case received the media's attention: Altria Group v. Good. This case focuses on the question...
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