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

Often it feels as if we are fighting defensive battles in the world of religious freedom – making sure that federal dollars aren’t being used to discriminate against someone based on religion or ensuring the full protection of the First Amendment.  It isn’t often that we have the opportunity to launch a proactive offensive battle to gain more religious freedom; not often are we in a position where we can further expand our religious rights.  This week however there was a “win” in the courts for religious freedom.

This past November Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed a lawsuit against the Department of Veterans Affairs on behalf of several families of Wicca soldiers after the U.S. government refused to issue grave markers, headstones or memorial plaques with the Wiccan symbol to these veterans.  The refusal to issue such a marker shows a blatant disregard for religious pluralism and equality, claiming the supposed superiority of one religious tradition over another.

On Monday a settlement was reached when the Bush Administration agreed to allow Wicca pentacles in military cemeteries – thereby acknowledging that there are no second-class religions in America and enabling these fallen soldiers to receive a religious marker on their tombstones just like their comrades.  To learn more about this legal battle click here and read an article from the Washington Times.

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

Last week, the Religious Action Center held its biennial public policy conference, the Consultation on Conscience, at L’Enfant Plaza Hotel in Washington, DC.  This flagship event, held purposefully at the beginning of each congressional cycle to introduce conference attendees to the issues facing the new Congress, unites leaders of the Reform Movement and members of Reform congregations from across the United States.  

With an impressive list of highly credentialed speakers discussing some of today’s most pressing political issues, including the conflict in the Middle East, human rights abuses, climate change, the genocide in Darfur, and religion and politics, the Consultation experience was both educational and exhilarating for all who were in attendance, including the RAC staff. 

There was no shortage of energy and excitement in the air at this year’s event, and the sizable number of first-time attendees generated quite a buzz.  Additionally, a highlight of the conference was the presentation of the Fain Social Action Award winners, where regional social action chairs and delegations from various communities were recognized for their innovative and inspiring social justice programs. 

For a list of Consultation speakers and additional information, please visit our Consultation on Conscience resource page. 

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

Will you be in Washington D.C. this week? Help the Religious Action Center and the Interreligious Working Group on Domestic Human Needs raise the voice of America’s uninsured children by participating in an interfaith prayer vigil.

This week, April 22nd-29th, marks the annual “Cover the Uninsured Week” sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and focusing particularly on children’s health insurance. In support of insuring all children, the RAC is cosponsoring an interfaith prayer vigil in DC on April 29thfrom 6-8pm at 6th and “I” Street Synagogue.

Faith and community leaders, as well as families and advocates, will gather to proclaim the right of every person comprehensive, affordable, accessible, and equitable health care. We will help lift up the voices of people without health insurance and those who are underinsured, by calling on our national leaders to act this year to cover all of America’s children. For more information about the event, contact Legislative Assistants Gwendolyn Litvak or Marc Katz.

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

The United States health care system is the costliest system in the world with national health care spending expected to reach $4 trillion per year by 2016.  Yet even with its price tag, it is not living up to its potential; the United States currently ranks 20th for life expectancy and 23rd for infant mortality. 

A recent New York Times article entitled “In Turnabout, Infant Deaths Climb in South” highlighted the recent rise in infant mortality in Southern states, specifically among minority populations.  According to the article “the main causes of infant death in poor Southern regions included premature and low-weight births; Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, which is linked to parental smoking and unsafe sleeping positions as well as unknown causes; congenital defects; and, among poor black teenage mothers in particular, deaths from accidents and disease.” Yet each of these could have been alleviated had each of these parents (and children) had health insurance that provided them comprehensive and preventative care.

This week, April 22nd-29th, marks the annual “Cover the Uninsured Week” sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and supported by a number of state and national organizations including the Union for Reform Judaism.  The theme of this year’s “Cover the Uninsured Week” is comprehensive health care for all children. Hundreds of events are being held throughout the country. To find out what is happening near you, check out the Cover the Uninsured Week website.

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

In Washington DC political issues are often seen in black and white terms: right vs wrong, liberal vs conservative, religion vs anti-religion.  Those are the stories which get the most press and create the most media buzz.  Unfortunately, what doesn't create as much buzz and get as much attention is when there isn't a divisive issue - when groups of varied political ideologies and religious beliefs are able to work together to resolve egregious wrongs in society. 

In a recently posted blog on TPM Cafe, Dan Gilgoff, the author of the recently released book "The Jesus Machine", recounts the success of the religious freedom coalition and the noticeable absence of individuals like Focus on the Family’s James Dobson in passing important legislation such as the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, Trafficking Victims Protection Act, and the Sudan Peace Act. The remarkable story in passing these important bills lies not only in their passage, but in the diverse coalition that worked together to secure their passage, a coalition that spanned the political and ideological spectrum – from the Southern Baptist Convention to the Religious Action Center. The blog also credits our own Rabbi David Saperstein for the leading role he played in creating this important coalition and bridging the divide between groups with very different political beliefs. To learn more read the blog here.

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Allison Grossman and Elissa Froman are Legislative Assistants at the RAC. They work on, among others, Darfur and Israel respectively.

At Passover, the Jewish community reflects on the various dimensions of freedom that we have come to understand through our own experiences. Beginning with the Exodus from Egypt, Jews have narrowly escaped annihilation and often suffered terrible persecution. It is this history and legacy that leads to our communal commitment to speaking out for freedom and liberty for oppressed peoples everywhere.

Beginning in 1948, over 3 million Jews from Europe and the Arab world have found refuge from anti-Semitism in Israel, including over 1.5 million Jews from the former Soviet Union seeking freedom of religion, over 14,000 Ethiopian Jews escaping famine and political unrest, and the last Jews of Baghdad, rescued just prior to the outbreak of war in Iraq.

As a Jewish state, explicit in its mission of serving as a haven and homeland for the Jewish people, Israel guarantees citizenship to all Jewish people, according to the criteria established by the Israeli government.

But should the State of Israel serve as a haven to non-Jews in need? Since 2003, government-backed militias have been carrying out a genocidal campaign against the civilians of Darfur. To date, over 400,000 people have lost their lives and 2.5 million have been displaced. Over 300 of the refugees from this ongoing genocide have sought harbor in Israel, overcoming enormous odds to arrive in the State. Refugees have testified that they witnessed the murders of their families and neighbors. Those who made it traveled for days without food or water in hot desert conditions by day and freezing cold at night, and many who came to Israel via Egypt faced persecution and danger.

When these refugees arrived in Israel, the IDF picked them up and placed them in prison. Because the Darfurians are citizens of Sudan, a nation which is an enemy of Israel, the Darfurians cannot legally seek citizenship there. Israeli Foreign Minister Mark Regev has indicated that although the government acknowledges the struggles that these refugees have undergone, they remain illegal aliens from an enemy state. The government has acknowledged that the violence in their homeland makes deporting the refugees back to Darfur impossibility and that these refugees who share a common enemy with Israel must be treated under a different set of standards.

As of late February, 90 of the 300 refugees had been released due to active lobbying efforts by humanitarian groups throughout Israel, and specifically, the Committee for the Advancement of Refugees from Darfur (CARD). Many are doing well, and Israeli non-profit organizations are helping advocate for a systemic change that would allow Israel to absorb more Darfurians seeking asylum.

As we approach Passover recall our 40 years of wandering through the desert, it is our hope that those with the power to effect change in Israel continue to succeed in helping the victims of the genocide in Darfur find the freedom that we all deserve.

It is our hope that this Passover, those with the power to effect change in Israel will recall our 40 years of wandering through the desert in pursuit of a land where we can be free. It is our hope that these victims of the Genocide in Darfur, who also fled a land of persecution, can find freedom in the Promised Land.

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Rabbi Robert S. Leib, of Old York Road Temple Beth Am, Abington, PA, brought his congregational class to a L'Taken seminar in February 2007.

Together with my fellow chaperones Mimi Ferraro, our Director of Education, and Marsha Zarkh, a ninth-grade teacher in our religious school, I had the unique opportunity of attending and participating in a Bernard and Audre Rapoport L’Taken Social Justice Seminar that took place from Friday night, February 23, through Monday afternoon, February 26 in our nation’s capital.

This very special program is hosted eight times this year by the “RAC,” the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, the Washington office of the Union for Reform Judaism. The RAC pursues social justice and religious liberty by mobilizing the American Jewish community and serving as its advocate in Washington.

We shared a bus with the KI [Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel] contingent, and Rabbi Rigler and I were particularly impressed with our driver, an ordained minister and amateur photographer from England, who now lives in Lancaster County, PA. He regaled us with fascinating stories of his extensive travels to various parts of the world, including having driven our bus to Alaska and back just last year! He was certainly the most intelligent and enlightening bus driver that we had ever encountered!

I’m proud to say that of the 21 individual URJ congregations represented from 13 different states nationwide (with no less than 5 temples from our Commonwealth!), we had the third largest group of youngsters from our 9th and 10th grades: 22 in all!

Nearly 300 kids (all 9 th-12 th graders), together with their chaperones, had descended upon the Sheraton National Hotel in Arlington, VA, to experience an intensive, exhausting long weekend devoted to Shabbat worship and study; learning about America’s intricate political process and how it operates; carefully examining the hot-button issues of the day and how they can be adjudicated from a distinctly liberal Jewish perspective; and – last but not least – armed with this invaluable information, lobbying our Senate and House members’ offices.

Following Shabbat dinner and services, the entire group was introduced to representatives from the National Coalition for the Homeless, who spoke to us about their individual, first-hand, personal experiences with homelessness! It was, to say the least, an eye-opener for our youngsters, many of whom were reduced to tears by what they heard.

Following our Shabbat morning service, time was allocated to a very important segment of the entire program: “Kesef, Koach and Politika: A Lobbying Simulation.” All participants explored – from two very different ideological perspectives – the two crucial issues of campaign finance reform and universal health care. It was truly remarkable to see what our kids learned in such a relatively brief period of time!

Shabbat afternoon was spent at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and thereafter the Beth Am group enjoyed a well-deserved meal in Georgetown! The entire group reconvened later that evening for a spectacular Havdalah service on the steps of the Jefferson Memorial. Just try and imagine, if you could, more than 300 hand-held candles as they glowed against a cold night sky: awesome!

Back at the hotel, everyone continued with their exploration of various topics that included economic justice (hunger, minimum wage, and Katrina); reducing the rollback of reproductive rights; climate change and renewable sources of energy; gun control and gun violence; gay/lesbian rights; Israel and the peace process; Global HIV/AIDS crisis; education (the problems and pitfalls of our schools); and welcoming the stranger (immigration, refugees, and asylum). A tall order to say the least!

Throughout Sunday morning and afternoon, thanks to the help of the RAC’s Eisendrath Legislative Assistants (LAs), our youth began their lobbying assignments in all earnest! They were taught the ins-and-outs, the-do’s-and-don’ts of what it takes to be an effective advocate. Speeches were written, corrected where necessary, and re-edited into an impressive format that would form the basis of our lobbying the next morning.

Finally, on Monday, the long-anticipated opportunity of going to the “Hill” to lobby our Washington senators (Specter and Casey) and representatives! Suitably attired in business dress, our teens put on a command performance as they spoke confidently and persuasively before the senators’ own “LAs,” who promised that they would share our findings with, and deliver our concerns to, their bosses! Thereafter, I attended the session with other Beth Amniks who live in the 13th District represented by Rep. Allyson Schwartz. Regretfully, she too was out of town, but our meeting took place in her private office and we were well received by her LA.

Our young lobbyists were simply superb reminding the LAs, as well, about our commitment to Israel and requesting that our duly elected leaders continue their demands for the immediate and unconditional release of Israel’s kidnapped soldiers.

After lunch in the Longworth House Office Building Cafeteria, the Beth Am and KI delegations left for their last appointment before leaving Washington: a private meeting with Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito! Most of us had never before visited the Supreme Court of the United States, which is majestic in size and rich in ornamentation. We were given a fascinating and entertaining lecture on the history, architectural significance, and day-to-day functioning of the highest court in the land.

Then we were ushered into a separate, magnificently decorated chamber, where a docent spent some time explaining the large oil paintings of the previous chief justices adorning the walls. Eventually, Justice Alito entered the room, and we immediately rose to greet him. He spent about 15-20 minutes talking about his own legal background; his position (quite literally!) on the bench as the newest of the eight associate justices, and his work schedule. He was gracious enough to entertain some questions and kindly posed for the inevitable photos and hand shakes!

It was a memorable conclusion to an extraordinary weekend.

This was our fifth consecutive year at the “RAC.” It is by no means an inexpensive proposition, but there is no doubt in my mind that this experience will linger in the hearts and minds of our youngsters for many years to come.

You can be assured that Mimi, Marsha, and I were very proud of our 9 th and 10 th graders. May they continue to go from strength-to-strength.

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