Fresh Updates from RAC

On May 2, Rhode Island’s governor signed a marriage equality bill, making it the tenth state to take this important step.   Shortly afterwards, Delaware and Minnesota also passed marriage bills, making this a remarkable spring of advancement towards equality.

I composed the following reflection after the last critical step in the long process of advocacy and legislative debate, the hearing held by the Rhode Island Senate Judiciary Committee in March. Read more…

The question was so simple.  “What drives you to do social justice?”  But the answer was so complex and varied.  The themes were similar: family role models, personal experiences of injustice, a sense of responsibility and moral obligation.  But each one of us had a story to tell, a piece to uncover, a truth to reveal.  After 15 months of knowing the people in the room with me, I realized that maybe I didn’t really know them that well at all.  And all it takes, to really get to know a person, is to ask a simple question and let their story unfold.

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I can’t forget the Hebrew anniversary of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel’s death—it’s also my dad’s. This year, their yahrzeit fell at New Year’s, coincidentally also my dad’s birthday. Death beside birth; wisdom for the ages next to a clean page.  Evocative juxtapositions.  In a few days, we’ll have another historic juxtaposition: President Barack Obama will take the oath of office as we celebrate the birth, life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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I attended my first Pro-Choice rally with my mother and a delegation from my synagogue when I was four or five years old, and I remember asking “Why are all these ladies carrying hangers?”  My mother’s response (clearly explaining a hanger’s historical symbolism of the dangers of back-alley abortions, but in an age-appropriate manner) was a powerful lesson to a little girl that women should be responsible for their own bodies.  Thirty years later, as a Reform rabbi and representative of the CCAR to the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, I am honored to speak for our Movement on these issues.  I am sad that we are still debating these basic issues of freedom and justice.  I am angry that so often the faith-based position is assumed to be the anti-Choice position.  I am hopeful that if enough of us, women and men, speak loudly enough and often enough about reproductive health and justice as people of faith, we will create a future where every woman is free to make the best choices for herself and her family.  What follows is a statement I made on behalf of the CCAR at an RCRC press conference celebrating greater access for women’s health care in the new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

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As a kid, I thought there were three (not ten) COMMANDMENTS in our family.  I’m not sure anymore what elevated these three over “be honest,” “no playing on the stairs,” or “stay away from my peonies,” but here they are:

1. Thou shalt vote.

2. Thou shalt not cross a picket line.

3. On Friday night, thou shalt turn off the TV and come to Shabbat dinner, even if Star Trek is on.

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It has been a bloody summer here in America.  The violent shooting and murder of twelve people at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado was shortly followed by an attack on a Sikh gurdwara (a house of worship) in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, which resulted in six deaths.  Suburban Denver and suburban Milwaukee are places where senseless, violent attacks on innocent people enjoying themselves at the movies or joining together in prayer “just don’t happen.”  That is, until this summer.

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As the Olympics came to a close, the now well-known swimmer medalist Cullen Jones was asked to share his best memories of the 2012 Olympics.  At the top of his list he, explained, was the athletes’ dining hall where he was able to sit with athletes from all over the world and simply have a conversation, even if they didn’t speak the same language.

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I love the recent Chik-fil-A debate, in which the CEO of Chick-fil-A has publicly condemned gay marriage, sparking many public figures to speak out against the restaurant chain.  Regardless of how one might feel about the issue of gay marriage, the fact that Boston Mayor, Thomas Menino wrote a letter to Dan Cathy, the owner of Chik-fil-A and asked him not to expand to his city raises so many interesting questions.  Should our politicians take personal public stands that they are unable to enforce in the body politic?  If the company is not breaking any laws, should Cathy’s personal feelings on gay marriage affect whether his company can do business in a particular locale?  I will leave these questions to more qualified individuals to answer and suggest a call to action each of us can undertake, rather than waiting for our politicians to send letters.

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