Gwen Litvak is a Legislative Assistant at the Religious Action Center. She is a graduate of UCLA.

Last week, the Senate rejected an effort to pass a clean minimum wage bill. Yesterday, Senators voted to move forward with a bill that couples a minimum wage increase with controversial small business tax cuts.

Because the House passed a “clean” bill, the two versions will now have to be reconciled, again delaying a raise for the millions of minimum wage workers whose earnings have not been increased in more than 10 years. Senator Kennedy, however, and the many supporters of a minimum wage increase are committed to securing a minimum wage vote soon. We thank the many members of the Jewish community who are dedicated to raising the wage and who participated in the Let Justice Roll campaign. The presence of the interfaith and community coalition was truly felt as Senator Kennedy mentions the Let Justice Roll campaign on the floor .

Posted by Religious Action Center at 4:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Marc Katz is a Legislative Assistant at the Religious Action Center. He is a graduate of Tufts University.

Maybe it’s something in the air or maybe it’s an urgent need for progress, but over the past few weeks, a number of strange bedfellow collations have formed to fix many of our nation’s most urgent problems.

On January 22, 2007, the United States Climate Action Partnership—a partnership of diverse organizations ranging from Duke Energy and General Electric, to the Natural Resources Defense Council and Pew Center on Global Climate Change—became public and issued a press release and report calling on the federal government to “lay out a blueprint for a mandatory economy-wide, market-driven approach to climate protection.”

Last week on the health care front, sixteen highly diverse organizations ranging from AARP and Pfizer to Families USA and the American Medical Association released a proposal that laid out a plan for expanding SCHIP—our nation’s most important program for providing health insurance to low income children—that would cover all of the nearly nine million uninsured children across the nation.

We all can learn from the efforts of these coalitions. Both climate change and our health care system affect us all, and for that that reason we all have the obligation to work together, combining our individual interests to achieve progress and innovation. Although press releases, reports, and proposals are by no means the end product, the fact that these groups, who traditionally disagree on many facets of their respective debates, sat together at a table and developed a plan shows the urgency of fixing our health care system and the need to heal our planet.

Posted by Religious Action Center at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Marc Katz is a Legislative Assistant at the Religious Action Center. He is a graduate of Tufts University.

This week, the Sustainable Endowment Institute released their annual college sustainability report card. The report grades colleges and universities on their environmental efforts including their work to fight climate change, their food and recycling programs, and the presence of green buildings on campus. Here are some highlights of the report:

• The top sustainability programs— Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Stanford University, Williams College
• The lowest programs—Boston University., Lafayette College, Indiana, Princeton Theological Seminary, Rockefeller University, Trinity University, University of Chicago, Nebraska, Pitt, USC, University of Tulsa, Virginia, Wake Forest, and Yeshiva University

An executive summary of the report and a list of individual school profiles can all be found on their website.

Posted by Religious Action Center at 5:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Cara Fisher is a Legislative Assistant at the Religious Action Center. She is a graduate of University of Texas-Austin.

Senator Hilary Clinton recently announced the creation of her presidential exploratory committee, the first official indication that she is a likely presidential candidate. Her website makes clear from the maximum donations it accepts that if she runs, she will become the first potential presidential candidate in over 30 years to reject public financing for both the primary and general elections.

While many candidates have relied on private donations to fund their campaigns during the primary season, after receiving their party’s nomination at their respective national conventions, candidates have consistently utilized public financing throughout the duration of their campaigns. This system was instituted in the mid-1970s as part of an attempt to “clean up” Washington in response to the Watergate scandal and to limit financial influence and corruption in politics. Recent articles in both the Washington Post and New York Times discuss the effect of Clinton’s decision on the future of the presidential public financing system.

Presidential campaigns have become increasingly expensive, and many front runner candidates are now able to raise more money through private donations and from special interest groups. If candidates feel that the public financing system does not provide them with sufficient funds to run their campaign, it is logical that some would opt out if they believe they can sustain their campaign through fundraising efforts. Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy organization, issued this statement in response to these recent events, highlighting the need to reform the public financing system.

Posted by Religious Action Center at 11:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Allison Grossman is a Legislative Assistant at the Religious Action Center. She is a graduate of the University of Arizona.

This past Tuesday, The New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof wrote his column about us. It’s about you, me, and the millions of others around the world who are fighting for the end to the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. This genocide has been allowed by the world’s leaders to last for four long years, killing 400,000 civilians and displacing 2.5 million others. Kristof writes, “ President Bush and other world leaders have dropped the ball on Darfur. But that vacuum of moral leadership has been filled by university students, churches and temples, celebrities like George Clooney and Mia Farrow, and armies of schoolchildren.” Kristof recognizes and celebrates our efforts and sincere concern for the people of Darfur.

But what struck me most were the many comments left by readers in response to Mr. Kristof’s column in his blog, “On the Ground,” especially the stories of their own work or links to their Darfur projects. There’s information on the Darfur Wall which commemorates each victim of the violence while raising funds for humanitarian aid. There are comments from a Chadian, providing a very different perspective, and questions from a student asking what his university can do to help. In an unlikely place we find respectful discussion, exchange of ideas, frustration at our government’s lack of action, and hope for the future.

I believe that the Reform movement is at the heart of the extraordinary grassroots efforts about which Mr. Kristof writes. A former RAC Legislative Assistant at Temple Emanu El in Dallas founded Dolls for Darfur, spreading awareness and encouraging advocacy. Temple Har HaShem in Boulder, Colorado, received a grant by an inspired congregant which allowed them to sponsor the passage of 14 Sudanese refugees, create a Sudan video lending library, and help run a city wide advocacy day called the Boulder Day for Darfur. Temple Beth El in South Orange County, California, held a Day of Awareness for Sudan. And countless synagogues and congregants sent delegations to the Darfur rallies in Washington D.C. and New York in 2006, have held vigils, participated in interfaith programs, posted “Save Darfur” banners in front of their buildings, called their members of Congress and the White House, wrote op-eds and letters to the editors, and spread awareness throughout their communities.

As the RAC LA working on Darfur, I receive phone calls and emails every week, if not every day, from concerned congregants asking what they can do to help. And, as Mr. Kristof pointed out, your remarkable effort is making a difference; we must continue to pressure Sudan’s President Bashir until together, we stop the genocide.

Posted by Religious Action Center at 5:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Al Vorspan is Director Emeritus of the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism; and is a leading advocate and activist.

Rabbi David Forman’s blog on Raphael Lemkin brought back my own memories of Lemkin.

Rabbi Eugene J. Lipman and I had adjoining offices at the Union for American Hebrew Congregations (now the Union for Reform Judaism). One day a man walks into our office. Strangers were always walking into our office because of Gene Lipman. If they were survivors of the Holocaust and they had any problem, that was all Gene had to know, his door was open (because he had worked for HIAS after the war in Europe).

One day the person who walked through the door was Raphaël Lemkin, the inventor of the genocide convention itself. This was the man who coined the word “genocide,” invented the convention, wrote the convention. He himself was a survivor of the Holocaust, and his entire family – nearly 100 members – had been wiped out in Poland. He had been a lawyer in Warsaw. After he survived, the purpose of his life became the prevention of genocide. Not only did he write the genocide convention, he lobbied for it with every country in the world at the United Nations. He lobbied for it in the Congress of the United States. He was not only a single-issue force, he was virtually the only person there. Even for the United States – we who prided ourselves on our great moral virtue and moral involvement – the genocide convention was just another issue at the back of our agenda.

So Raphael Lemkin walked in and said, “What are you working on here?”

We told him we were working on immigration reform, setting up coalitions, civil rights, McCarthyism.

He said, “Are you people crazy? Did you ever hear of the holocaust?”

I don’t even know if we called it “Holocaust” then – I don’t think we did – but that is what he was talking about.

“Less than one generation ago they slaughtered six million of our people and you are dealing with all these other issues? That is all you have to do? You have an absolute responsibility to help me. I can’t be abandoned.” He had been abandoned by most of the Jewish community; they thought he was crazy.

We said, “What do you want us to do?”

He said, “What do I want you to do? I want you to give me an office. I want you to give me a secretary. I want you to help me out. I have no place to function. I have no secretary to help me. I have nothing. Then I want you to lobby. I want you to make this one of your issues.”

We said, “We are not sure that we can do the last thing, but we will give you a place, and we will give you a secretary who will help you out.” And we did; he worked out of our offices.

Raphael Lemkin never thought we were doing enough – and he was probably right. But the Reform Movement supported his absolutely essential work. We did publish a report on genocide. It was a very good document, but he said we still weren’t doing enough.

He succeeded in making the Genocide Convention live. Signed by a hundred and twenty nations and internationally ratified, it didn’t do what he thought it would do – prevent other genocides – but now at least we have trials for war crimes. Genocide is an international crime. He made a tremendous contribution: just one person acting alone.

Posted by Religious Action Center at 6:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Debra Eichenbaum is a Legislative Assistant at the Religious Action Center. She is a graduate of Brandeis University.

As a recent college graduate I know too well the price tag that comes with a college education.

I graduated from a four year private university where the estimated yearly cost is about $45,000 for tuition, housing, meals, books, and other related expenses. Although this figure is higher than the national average – which is $30,367 for private universities and $12,796 for public universities – it is absurd in my view that the cost is anywhere in the same vicinity. And what is even more absurd is that not only is the cost of a college education rising, but the availability of scholarships and financial assistance is failing to keep pace. With even public universities costing so much, too many eager students and their families are being forced to make a decision about pursuing a college education based on cost.

Our government spends scores of millions of dollars on everything from the War in Iraq and defense to agriculture subsidies and foreign aid. But why is it that we are not investing sufficiently in the future of our country by making a college education something that is within reach of all Americans? And to make it even worse, students who take out loans to help finance their education are faced with interest rates of 6.8% and rising. Why is it that the costs are so high and the interest rates on loans exorbitant?

Congress is finally taking up the issue with a push by Speaker Pelosi to cut interest rates on student loans in half. This act alone could save college students thousands of dollars; it is estimated that the average borrower would save $4,000 in loan payments if this bill were to become law. $4,000 could make a huge difference in one’s ability to finance a college education. Getting your diploma shouldn’t translate into overly burdensome loan payments; it should translate into a better future with better opportunities. I know I for one, as well as many of my friends, could have benefited from such a move as Congress is currently considering.

Posted by Religious Action Center at 6:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Bob Heller is chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Union for Reform Judaism, the top lay leadership position in the Reform Movement.

Some of you may have seen the story on the Jewish Telegraphic Agency site concerning our Reform leadership lobbying day in Washington. Let me fill in a couple of details about those meetings, which occurred yesterday. At the suggestion of Mark Pelavin, the RAC staff led by Barbara Weinstein, put together an intensive day of Reform Movement meetings with Representatives and/or their staffs. They also prepared helpful briefing materials for us. Our goal was to press for enactment of the minimum wage and stem cell bills during the House's "First 100 Hours" initiative. We have clear policy in both those areas and they have long been priorities for us. In addition, we sought to meet with several new members of the House, discuss areas of mutual concern and see where we can be mutually helpful and supportive; meet with members who may be undecided but are potentially supportive on our two priority bills; and meet members of the leadership on both sides of the aisle.

I would say mission accomplished, but given the now risible connotations of that phrase, I will just say we did what we set out to do and then some. In the process, we also learned that health care and mental health issues in particular, are a priority concern of one GOP member with whom the RAC will now be working on such issues. And we had an opportunity to discuss immigration, energy self-sufficiency and other issues, and hear members' views on Iraq and the Administration's expected escalation proposal. Perhaps most interesting were our meetings with the new House members who had in common their energy, enthusiasm and belief that they could approach issues on a bipartisan basis at least with their fellow newcomers not yet scarred by Washington's battles. Of interest as well, we met with Rep. Keith Ellison whose dignity and calm affirmation of our Constitutional values during the past few weeks when use of the Koran at his installation ceremony came under attack have been impressive. I was pleased to be able to thank him for the example he set.

It was a productive and exciting day, which, all the more remarkably, ran very smoothly despite the fact that our extraordinary RAC staff had less than 100 hours to put it together. Kudos to them and thanks to those who joined on this mission at considerable personal inconvenience and were such effective and strong representatives. They included Rosanne Selfon and Lynn Magid Lazar for WRJ, Aaron Bloom and Doug Barden for the NFTB, Rabbi Fred Reiner, who joined us in the morning, for the CCAR, Cheryl Gutmann, Honey Heller and  Peter Weidhorn for the CSA and Union lay leadership, Rabbi Scott Sperling wearing both Union and CCAR hats and, of course, Rabbi David Saperstein, Mark Pelavin, Barbara Weinstein and Rachel Slomovitz for the RAC.

One other note, for part of the day we were followed by a television crew from PBS's Religion and Ethics Newsweekly. The JTA story came out of a press briefing David and I did during the day.

Posted by Religious Action Center at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Marc Katz is a Legislative Assistant at the Religious Action Center. He is a graduate of Tufts University.

Although it’s only been 2007 for a few weeks the issue of Energy and Global Warming has all but dominated the news. Here are a few highlights:

• Last year was the hottest year on record
• Last week, GM announced it will invest research into developing “green vehicles”
• A report was released last week claiming ExxonMobil spent millions of dollars to cast doubt on Climate Change
• Norwayannounced it will buy carbon offsets for all government employees flying abroad
• Despite a report by the University of Michigan that less than half of Americans agree with the concept of evolution, scientists and evangelical leaders met in Georgia to discuss the important of Climate Change action.
• The New York Times today published both an editorial and an op-ed on the topic of climate change and energy.

The House of Representatives has decided to take up the issue of renewable energy and oil company subsidies in the first 100 hours of the 100 th Congress. Click here to read more about the bill, and stay tuned for future Energy and Climate Change news (because if the beginning of the year was any indication, there will be a lot more of it).

Posted by Religious Action Center at 11:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Miriam Fink is a Legislative Assistant at the Religious Action Center. She is a graduate of American University.

A bi-partisan bill to raise the national minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour over two years as part of the new Congress’s first “100 hours” will benefit 13 million Americans and their families according to experts. An article in the Washington Post outlines the impact of a raise on minimum wage workers living paycheck to paycheck, families and employers.

Yet, the increase in wages will not affect everyone in the workforce, leaving out domestic workers often working 80 hour weeks taking care of homes, the elderly, and children. Many of these workers do not get vacation time, medical benefits, Social Security, or fair wages. At a time when Americans can celebrate economic advancement that will benefit 13 million people, it is vital that we remember those that will not be affected by the bill. For some, this is not a celebration.

Posted by Religious Action Center at 10:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Cara Fisher is a Legislative Assistant at the Religious Action Center. She is a graduate of University of Texas-Austin.

Despite endless attempts to significantly enhance the state of national security in the U.S. post September 11, 2001, Congress failed to act on what many believe to be an essential step in aiding the government’s preparation for future terrorist attacks: the implementation of the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations. The Commission’s report, which was made public in 2004, offered a series of detailed proposals aimed at improving national security such as cargo screening on passenger airlines and the re-distribution of funds from the Department of Homeland Security.

On the first day of the “First 100 Hours,” the House passed the Implementing the 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act of 2007, a bill to take a proactive role promoting the safety and welfare of this nation. A Washington Post article discusses the major components of the House bill and what we can expect to see when the Senate debates this issue.

Posted by Religious Action Center at 10:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner is the Director of Just Congregations, the Reform Movement's congregation-Based Community Organizing effort, under the auspices of the Commission on Social Action.

On Thursday of last week, Deval L. Patrick made history as the first African-American to be inaugurated the governor of Massachusetts, and only the second of any state in American history.  I had the honor of giving the benediction (which was quoted by the New York Times).  Here are the words I spoke, the article in the Times, and google video coverage.

Governor Patrick, Lieutenant Governor Murray, elected and civic leaders, people of the commonwealth, I am most deeply honored to offer these words of invocation to open this sacred assembly.

In the Talmud, the ancient rabbis teach that whenever we encounter a large gathering of people, it is appropriate to offer the following blessing:

“Blessed is the Wise One
Who understands secrets
For the mind of each
Is different from the other
Just as the face of each
Is different from the other.”

Source of all life,
Out of many,
You have made us ONE.
You have created us splendidly
In our distinctiveness:
You have made us a spectacular,
Living tapestry
Many colors and complexions
Rich in languages and beliefs,
Varied in our blessings,
And challenged by our curses.

Indeed the face of each one
Is different than the other –
And here we gather
Meeting,
Face to face.

Look around! See the beauty of the faces,
Each one unique
Reflecting the very image
Of the divine
Each one from a common source
A single, sacred family.

Yet behind every face
Hide so many secrets.
Private, painful secrets of suffering.
If only we would find your Wisdom O God
Revealing all the secrets,
The pained suffering
Of parents who watch helpless
As their children are plagued
By guns, drugs, and gangs
The private pain
Of children struggling to care for their parents
As they age and grow frail,
The secret suffering of immigrants
Who like us came to this place
To seek a better life
And labor hidden and underpaid in jobs
Upon which the rest of us depend,
But won’t do ourselves
Of our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters
Who daily confront blatant discrimination,
Inequality and humiliation
Of those who sleep in the streets,
Those who are overworked and underpaid,
Those who are abused in their own homes
Those who are left behind
By their disabilities.

So many secrets,
Private sufferings.

Yet we have hope.
Yes we have faith.
Because we have each other.

Assembled here in the light of day
Bathing in the unseasonable warmth of your presence,
We affirm that democracy
Is not built with bricks and mortar;
We know your ancient wisdom
Is found in no cathedral,
Temple,
Nor shrine –
It is here,
Face to face
It is everywhere humanity gathers
And out of many,
Makes one.

Let our secrets of suffering
Give way to stories of
Rebuilding
Repair
And Redemption

Stories of redemption
Like a kid from the South Side of Chicago
Becoming the governor of Massachusetts
Representing the people

We the people;

Let us never forget the faces
The secrets
And the stories

God, grant us your wisdom
That we may never forget that
Democracy happens out here –
Face to face –
Among the people
As we join together
In one spirit
And write one shared story:

The story of a commonwealth
That acts like a commonwealth
Where secrets of private suffering
Where tales of lonely languish
Are joined
Through the power of the people
Rising up
Together
Encountering one another
Face to face
And writing a new story
One story

Echoing Isaiah’s ancient call:

“If you banish the yoke from your midst
The menacing hand
And evil speech
And you offer your compassion to the hungry
And satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
Then shall your light shine in the darkness
And your gloom shall be like noonday…

You shall be like a watered garden
Like a spring whose waters never fail.
And you shall rebuild ancient ruins
You shall restore the foundations of many generations
You shall be called the repairer of the breach…”

This is the story of redemption;
The story of a true commonwealth
Rebuilt
Repaired
And Redeemed.

Amen. May this be God’s will.

Posted by Religious Action Center at 5:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Gwen Litvak is a Legislative Assistant at the Religious Action Center. She is a graduate of UCLA.

Last week as part of the 110th Congress’s first 100 hours, the House adopted Pay-As-You-Go (or PAYGO) budget rules that mandate that any increase in spending, or a tax cut, is balanced by a reduction in spending or a tax increase.

I am personally glad to see leadership in the House recognizing the need to restore fiscal discipline and take proactive measures to stop increasing our nation’s deficit. Everyday, Americans are forced to make choices and balance their own budgets. Understanding the way Americans must balance the rising costs of living versus the expenses of everyday life is an important first step to understanding the lives of many Americans. Moreover, instituting PAYGO does much more than signal that Congress understands the difficulties of being fiscally responsible. Instituting PAYGO sends a signal to the American people that Congress recognizes that cutting the deficit matters for financing programs that will help future generations.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the 2006 deficit totaled $248 billion, or roughly $825 for every American. The CBO estimates that the average deficit from 1994-2001 was 0.1% of GDP. Where, and how, did America go from a surplus to a deficit? The answer is multifaceted; however, one major change was Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001. The ECTRRA lowered tax rates for 401(k) and 403(b) pension plans, while also changing the U .S . Internal Revenue Code which affected income tax levels, gift tax deductions, estate tax deductions, and retirement plans. Since 2001, the deficit has continued to increase. $248 billion is 1.9% of our country’s GDP.

Why does the deficit matter? To quote Diane Lim Rogers, of the Brookings Institution, “The irony is that while the cost of deficit spending is discounted in people's minds, in truth, the real cost of new spending or tax cuts is magnified when we put off paying the bills—because of the curse (for debtors) of compound interest. … In other words, the true price of tax cuts or greater spending received by current generations is that future generations will have to face higher taxes and lower spending that will be many-fold times the initial value of the additional debt.”(Click here to read the full article). American s spoke out against irresponsible spending, when voters elected a Congress that vowed to be more fiscally disciplined. On January 3, 2007, President Bush signaled he would work with the 110 th Congress when he opined in The Wall Street Journal that a balanced budget could be achieved by 2012, five years from now. I look forward to watching the President and Congress practice responsible spending which balances our country’s indispensable entitlement programs against a strong economy that benefits all Americans.

Rogers, Diane Lim. “Returning to Bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility.” The Washington Post. December 5, 2006. http://www.brookings.edu/views/op-ed/20061205rogers.htm

Posted by Religious Action Center at 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Rabbi David Forman founder of Rabbis for Human Rights. He served as RHR's chairperson between 1988 and 1992 and between 2002 and 2003.

The Raphael Lemkin awards were named after attorney and tireless human rights activist Raphael Lemkin (1901-1959). Raphael Lemkin, born to Jewish parents in eastern Poland, was a lawyer who dedicated his life to preserving human rights and preventing genocide, a term he coined in 1943.

He played an instrumental role in the United Nations General Assembly’s 1948 adoption of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. On Monday, December 11, 2006 the award was granted to Rabbis for Human Rights (RHR) in Israel. RHR founder, Rabbi David Forman, former director of the Israel Office in Jerusalem of the URJ, accepted this award on behalf of Rabbis for Human Rights.

The Raphael Lemkin awards were named after attorney and tireless human rights activist Raphael Lemkin (1901-1959). Raphael Lemkin, born to Jewish parents in eastern Poland, was a lawyer who dedicated his life to preserving human rights and preventing genocide, a term he coined in 1943. He played an instrumental role in the United Nations General Assembly’s 1948 adoption of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. On Monday, December 11, 2006 the award was granted to Rabbis for Human Rights (RHR) in Israel. RHR founder, Rabbi David Forman, former director of the Israel Office in Jerusalem of the URJ, accepted this award on behalf of Rabbis for Human Rights.

Thank you for this honor. But, it is not only Rabbis David Rosen, Ben Hollander and me that you are honoring, but Rabbis for Human Rights (RHR) in Israel, its entire staff, and especially its dedicated executive director, Rabbi Arik Ascherman. I also am pleased to share the platform with B'Tzelem, with whom RHR has worked so closely over the years.

It was the beginning of July, 1982, during the first Lebanon War; I was with my artillery unit above the Beirut-Damascus highway. After a quiet few days, suddenly a barrage of Syrian rockets landed on our position. We quickly dashed into a trench to regroup. And, with missiles literally falling all around us, I turned to a fellow comrade-in-arms and said: "Do you think we should reevaluate our Zionist commitment?"

A few years later, after the first Intifada broke out, my oldest daughter went to the central bus station in Jerusalem to meet a friend who was visiting for Shabbat. She wore a t-shirt with the words written on it, "freedom for the press." This was to offset another t-shirt that was being worn by those who justified the harsh responses on the part of the Israeli army, and who blamed the media for exaggerating the government's actions, "the people against hostile press." When she arrived at the bus station, she was surrounded by a number of people, who enclosed her in a circle, and, as is often the case, when women express their political views, men only know how to respond by hurling sexual insults; so, in addition to becoming a “traitor,” she became Arafat's "whore."

When she returned home, trembling, before she could tell us what happened, her first words were: "Abba, I now know what it feels like to be an Arab." Stunned, I immediately asked myself, how was it possible that I who had been an activist all my life could have remained silent during this Intifada when it was clear that the response to it on the part of the government to this first Palestinian uprising was extreme? While admittedly this did not cross my mind immediately, I was aware of that powerful Talmudic dictum: "If you see someone in your household committing a crime and do nothing to stop that person, you are held accountable for the crimes of the entire household" (Shabbat 54b).

And so, to alleviate my daughter's pain, to ease my conscience, to assume accountability and ultimately to reevaluate – not my Zionist commitment, but the type of Zionism to which I was committed – I drafted a letter to a number of colleagues – Orthodox, Conservative and Reform – in the hope of establishing a religious voice for decency and humanity, as opposed to the shrill voices that emanated from a rabbinic establishment that seemed to justify, in the name of the Jewish tradition, all manner of human rights abuses. Thus was born Rabbis for Human Rights, whose prime purpose was, and still is, to become an irrelevancy, but which sadly has become a necessity.

A number of years ago, another daughter traveled to the States to visit family and friends. Though we speak English at home, and our children's spoken English is fluent, their reading and writing capabilities are limited, as is their vocabulary. When my daughter went into a bank to break a $100 traveler's check, the teller asked: "Any particular denomination?" She responded: "Jewish."

I am sure that at that moment, my daughter did not consider what it meant exactly to define herself as Jewish. But, for those of us who founded Rabbis for Human Rights, being Jewish is to embrace a universal and humanistic understanding of our tradition – an understanding that sees Jewish national identity forged in that sinaitic somewhere of Jewish experience, where we received a divine mandate to reject the abuse of power that enslaved us; and create a new social order, based on a prophetic vision of justice and equality.

A people that aspires to such a lofty prophetic ethic is put to the test when it is threatened. It is easy to maintain the moral high ground in peace time, it is far more challenging when one is afraid to get on a bus or go to a restaurant. And, there should be no doubt, when one's physical well-being is threatened, civil liberties are necessarily compromised. Collective responsibility cuts both ways.

Instead of Jimmy Carter, on the cover of his new book, Palestine – Peace, not Apartheid, superimposing his own humble presence over Israeli's security wall, he might have superimposed a replica of memorial plaques that dot Israeli bus stops, cafes and malls where Palestinian suicide bombers carried out their acts of murder. Without justifying its route, the wall did not come about in a vacuum.

Matters of right and wrong do not have the same facile moral clarity when lying in a trench in Lebanon or sleeping in a shelter in Kiryat Shemona or walking to school in Sderot or getting on a bus in Hadera, as they do sitting comfortably in one's living room in Plains, Georgia, or in Berkeley, Chicago, New York or Philadelphia.

In our justifiable criticism of Israel, we must be vigilant not to unwittingly feed the ever-growing attempts to delegitimize Israel as a rightful state among the nations of the world.

And yet, despite these hostile attempts, just as no one could, for two millennia, suppress the will of the Jewish people to gain its national expression in its ancestral homeland – making us the longest living national liberation movement in history – we dare not deny the spiritual, emotional and historical attachments of others to their homeland; two states for two peoples, as determined by an act of the international community. And, despite the double standards that are employed to judge the Jewish state – objectively, if we were to do comparative shopping at an ethical mall, given what we face daily from within and without, we morally dwarf other nations – we must not use the lowest common denominator as a yardstick to measure our behavior and justify actions that are contrary to the best of the Jewish value heritage. After all, should we adopt the tactics of our enemies, or of some of our friends, will we not look in the mirror and see an image of those who haunt our worst nightmares? We did not return to our historical home to become a nation like other nations.

We live in a world where the lunacy of the day before yesterday is rarely yesterday's exception, and is fast becoming today's routine. It is a very slippery slope; and, it is too easy to justify all manner of human rights abuses and excessive acts of collective punishment under the guise of "national security" or "Jewish survival." We dare not go down that slippery slope. Nor can we use a preoccupation with security concerns to ignore pressing socio- economic issues. The manner in which a country tends to the needs of the weaker elements in its society also tests its commitment to human rights.

Israel is the only self-contained and self-defined Jewish community in the world that is responsible for its military, economic, social, religious and political decisions. The image of the Jew and the perception of Judaism are often determined – for good and for bad – by what we Israelis do. Saul Bellow wrote: “Israel has become to the West what Switzerland is to the winter holidays – a moral resort area.” And so, together, even as we preserve the body of Israel, we must sustain its soul – recognizing all the nuances and sensitivities and complexities in balancing one's physical security with one's moral integrity.

Therefore, Rabbis for Human Rights will continue its work, for we have no choice but to care for "the orphan, the widow and the stranger." Consequently, you will find us standing with those Palestinians who want only to pick their olives and harvest their grapes, free of harassment; defending those Arabs who want to build a home without fear of demolition; protecting foreign laborers from draconian work conditions; advising the economically deprived and the socially disenfranchised of their basic rights; engaging in interfaith dialogue and activities; promoting religious tolerance for different life-styles and respect for all streams in Judaism; advocating for the release of Israeli kidnapped and missing soldiers; and educating Israelis about the value of human rights as a bulwark of a Jewish and humane and democratic state through our Rabbis for Human Rights Yeshiva, through our Tractate: The Israeli Declaration of Independence and through our primer, Life, Liberty and Equality in the Jewish Tradition, as we teach in pre-army programs, in army and police officer training academies, in Israeli public schools, both religious and secular, Arab and Jewish.

The rabbis tells us that God created Adam from the dust of the four corners of the world – red loam, black soil, yellow clay and white sand – so that no color or race of human being can say that this earth, this land does not belong to me (Yalkut Shemoni 1:3). For Rabbis for Human Rights, this is the essence of what it means to be Jewish – to care for our own and for the "other," no matter the gathering storm that threatens our very existence as a people and a state; and, it is the essence of our Zionist commitment – to create a society, as Theodore Herzl wrote in his Jewish State "that aspires to spiritual and moral wholeness."

Posted by Religious Action Center at 7:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Matt Weinberg is a Legislative Assistant at the Religious Action Center. He is a graduate of Cornell.

Yesterday, a group of us went to Capitol Hill to observe the kick off of the 110 th Congress. As we pulled up in front of the House Rayburn Office Building around 11:30, I was amazed by the long lines to get into the building. It was really a startling reminder about democracy; anyone who can get past a metal detector is welcome to walk around the Congressional office buildings. The next time you are in Washington, consider going into the House and Senate office buildings and checking out the offices of your Representative and Senator.

For both personal and political reasons, yesterday was an exciting day. Along with a couple of my co-workers, I had the chance to meet some of our nation’s most well-known political figures, such as Rep. John Lewis, Senator Ted Kennedy and Senator Barack Obama. I also had a chance to meet perhaps the best athlete in the 110 th Congress, former NFL quarterback Heath Shuler (now a Representative from North Carolina). Meeting these politicians was not simply exciting because of their fame and power, but because it allowed me to see in person the presence that the RAC has on Capitol Hill.

Overall, however, yesterday was really about one thing: change. An atmosphere of change followed us wherever we went. Sometimes we could visibly witness this atmosphere, from the moving boxes strewn about the hallways or from the bewildered former campaign workers, and now congressional staffers, who were trying to grasp the fact that the campaign was over and the real work was about to begin. The atmosphere of change could also be seen whenever one walked past a television showing a live feed of the floor of the House, where the first female Speaker in United States history, and the first Democrat Speaker since 1994, was delivering her opening remarks.

Posted by Religious Action Center at 4:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Cara Fisher is a Legislative Assistant at the Religious Action Center. She is a graduate of University of Texas at Austin.

As part of their “First 100 Hours” in the new legislative session, House Democrats have pledged a sweeping reform of the rules that govern ethics and lobbying practices in Congress. In recent years, notable cases of corruption surrounding elected officials and high-powered lobbyists outraged not only public interest groups and the American public in general, but also many members of Congress who could no longer turn a blind eye to the flaws in the system that allowed these types of abuses to occur.

Keeping their promise, House leaders opened the 110 th Congress with a series of rules changes, placing restrictions on gift and travel provisions that previously allowed registered lobbyists to provide members of Congress with extravagant meals and tickets to sporting events, among other perks. Thursday’s Washington Post article discussing the expected changes to ethics enforcement in the House of Representatives referenced what newly elected Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has promised to be “the most ethical Congress ever.”

While lobby reform is one of the many important issues that Speaker Pelosi and her colleagues have laid out as part of their 100 hour plan, it is crucial that a new standard of ethical behavior and morality characterize this new Congress. Scandal and corruption of the past should remain as such, and our elected officials must work together towards restoring the public’s faith in government.

Posted by Religious Action Center at 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Naomi Greenspan is a Program Associate for the Commission on Interreligious Affairs. She holds a degree from St. Louis' Washington University.

American Jews, like all Americans, live in a world in which we are surrounded by people of other faiths. We talk to them at work and at school. We pass them on our streets and see them at the grocery store.

But how often do we actually talk to our neighbors and friends about matters of faith? What do we know about their religious practices? Do we ever ask them what their religion means to them or how their spirituality influences their lives?

An important distinction must be made between diversity and pluralism. Diversity exists when there is a multitude of different races, ethnicities, religions, cultures, or practices. There is no effort involved in diversity, it merely exists. Pluralism, however, implies much more than this. To create pluralism, we must actively engage with this diversity. We must talk about these differences, learn from one another, and come to an appreciation of the other’s traditions. In a truly pluralistic society, people from different backgrounds can come together and cooperate on their shared interests not just despite their differences, but because of them.

The Pluralism Project at Harvard University provides a forum to engage with this diversity and make it a positive part of our society by studying America’s changing religious landscape and the multi-religious opportunities that arise from it. They have recently updated this rich website – http://www.pluralism.org – which contains a great array of resources on America’s religious communities and interfaith efforts. For those interested in learning more, I would encourage you to explore their new site.

Posted by Religious Action Center at 11:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)