Fresh Updates from RAC

I recently had the opportunity to travel to Washington D.C. where I attended the Religious Action Center’s flagship policy conference, Consultation on Conscience.  I spent four days listening to inspiring speakers, having meaningful discussions, and learning more than I ever thought possible. While reflecting on this incredible conference, I realized that there are three Hebrew phrases that can aid me in sharing my experiences: Tzedek Tzedek Tirdof (Justice, justice you shall pursue), L’dor Vador (From generation to generation), and im tirtzu, ein zo agada  (If you will it, then it is no dream.)

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This article appeared in Tablet Magazine on December 19, 2012.

The tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School has sparked passionate debate about whether or not we need stricter gun-control laws in this country—and the Jewish community is no exception. For every organization like the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, which aggressively advocates for strict gun control, there are others like Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, who call gun control “code words for disarming innocent people.” Both camps, of course, claim that Judaism is on their side.

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This post is part of our Passover series, in which we think about the application of our age-old Passover story and traditions to the crucial issues we face today. For ways to infuse your seder with social justice, see our holiday guide.

Passover is a special time when we gather with family and friends to retell the story of our people’s freedom from bondage. We read from the haggadah and delve into the Exodus story, perform rituals that are thousands of years old, and eat a bounty of delicious and symbolic foods. Unfortunately, not everyone is fortunate enough to enjoy the luxury of a festive meal, let alone the assurance of eating regularly.

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This post is part of our Passover series, in which we think about the application of our age-old Passover story and traditions to the crucial issues we face today. For ways to infuse your seder with social justice, see our holiday guide.

Somaly Mam was just 14 years old when a man claiming to be her grandfather took her from her village and sold her into slavery in a Cambodian brothel. After years, she escaped and has since secured freedom for tens of thousands of other young girls enslaved Southeast Asia’s brothels. She has been called the “modern Harriet Tubman.” Might she be considered in some ways, a modern Moses?

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The recent multiple tragedies involving gun violence have rekindled the concerns Americans have over the public health hazard of easy availability of guns.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, firearms were used in more than two-thirds of the 16,799 homicides in 2010.  But guns don’t just take their toll through citizen-against-citizen violence according to a recent editorial in Modern Healthcare.  About half of the 38,364 people who killed themselves in 2010 used a gun.  But very sadly, those committing suicide bring inexplicable mayhem and tragedy to those around them as happened in Newtown.  Additionally, 70,000 shooting victims received medical treatment with a direct cost of two billion dollars.

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Whenever I go to our nation’s Capitol, I get chills. The grandeur of the city, the seat of government, the idealism and commitment of people striving to do good. Yes, I am still among those who believe that most of the people who serve our nation in positions of leadership are good people trying to make a difference.

I am constantly inspired by the greatness of heroes, those whose names we know and so many of those we don’t. So to stand at the Lincoln Monument and read his words engraved on the walls is to stand in the center of greatness – not just in the shadow of a great sculpture, but of the words and values he espoused.

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• ‘Isaac and Ishmael join together to bury their father Abraham in the Cave of Machpelah…which is in Hebron, in the Land of Canaan,’ the Book of Genesis tells us. We ask: Will that bond be renewed to bless the living?
• One of the great Golden Ages in all of Jewish history flourishes in Spain during the early Middle Ages, under the reign of enlightened Arab, Muslim rulers.
• A vivid word portrait of Dona Gracia Mendes represents the safe haven offered by the Muslim Ottoman Empire to Jews fleeing the Inquisition.
• The literary editor of an Arabic newspaper in East Jerusalem (1980′s) sees compromise as the only solution: ‘Israeli writers say the same thing, don’t they?’

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You shall make Me a sanctuary so that I may dwell among them (Exodus 25:8)

I’ve been drawn to this verse for nearly 30 years. The grammatical construct was perplexing when I first came across it as I prepared for my bat mitzvah. Why, as the text implies, does God explicitly state that God will dwell among the people (“them”) rather than within the building (“it”)? After all, this single verse is set against a backdrop of some of the most detailed verses of the entire Torah. Verse after verse is lent to the construction of the tabernacle, the Mishkan , and its vessels. In exquisite detail. After such complete instructions, surely no one would have questioned a commandment in which God announced God’s intention to dwell in the extraordinary architectural achievement of the Israelites.

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