Fresh Updates from RAC

At the beginning of 2012 I wrote on RACblog: “As we move into the 2012 election year, the war on women has become more extreme and effective.” Not only did this prove to be true (it’s hard to forget the offensive rhetoric spewed by so many candidates across the country in 2012 elections), but states have continued to pass laws since then, which have stripped women of their right to choose when, how and if to have a family, or have created socioeconomically-based barriers that restrict access to reproductive health services.

That’s why Morgan Meneses-Sheets’s piece in Truthout (the program manager for Reproductive Health Technologies Project – a strong partner with the RAC on our reproductive justice initiatives) really struck a chord with me.

Before you read on, keep in mind how wholly our reproductive rights advocacy efforts are informed by our Jewish values. While it often feels as though the Religious Right has a monopoly on the faith-based perspective on reproductive rights, this doesn’t need to be the case. In the Mishnah we read, “If a woman’s labor becomes life threatening, the one to be born is dismembered in her abdomen…for her life comes before the life of the fetus.” From this and other Talmudic passages we learn that, while all life is sacred, the life of a mother has more value than the life of an unborn fetus. Additionally, when considering the health of the mother, we consider her physical, spiritual and emotional health – her body and her nefesh (soul). Abortion is a deeply personal issue, and the decision of when life begins is often a religious one.

Check out Morgan’s piece here, or read it below:

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 “When they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break My covenant with them; for I am the LORD their God. But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the LORD.” Leviticus 26:44-5

We read a lot in Jewish tradition about war. Historical accounts of the wars we fought, prescriptive guidelines on how to treat strangers and enemies, even details on how to deal with trees we encounter in enemy territories. In this week’s Torah portion, we hear about something else – we hear about how God will treat us when we are in foreign lands. After a series of fairly ominous verses about the horrors of what will happen to those who do not follow God’s commandments, our fears are assuaged with the promise: “when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them…but I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors” (Leviticus 26:44-45). God pledges to watch out for us as we venture into foreign territories and enemy lands.

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Last week, the Jerusalem District Court determined that the recent detention of Women of the Wall members for their activities at the Western Wall was unjustified. The decision was met with applause from Reform Leaders. Read more…

It’s WRJ’s Centennial year and some days I wake up and I’m not sure what city I am in! Today though, I am very clearly in Washington, D.C. attending the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (RAC)’s flagship conference, Consultation on Conscience. We began last night with an exciting keynote speaker in our historic and impressive Washington Hebrew Congregation. The speaker, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice and URJ President Rabbi Rick Jacobs had a wonderful, open conversation. It was interesting and so informative.

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In this period between Passover and Shavuot, we remember what it was like for the Jews to wander in the desert after being freed from Egypt. Forty days must have felt like quite a long time for these Israelites – though it was admittedly nothing compared to the 40 years that their descendants would have to spend traipsing through the Sinai before being let into the land of Israel. Now, this may be projecting, but most of us probably don’t do much physical desert-wandering these days. However, many of our daily (or weekly, or yearly) tasks can sometimes feel as futile and drawn-out as the trek through Egypt.

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In addition to being Faiths Calling day, and the 14^th day of the Omer, today is Equal Pay Day – the day in which women’s wages finally catch up to what men earned during the previous calendar year. New Years Day may feel like a long time ago, but three and a half months is exactly how long it’s taken for women – who earn on average only 77 cents for every dollar earned by men – to make what men made in the 2012 calendar year.

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Earlier today, Judge Edward Korman of the Federal District Court ruled that Plan B, the most common form of emergency contraception, must be made available over the counter for women of all ages, including girls 16 and younger who have previously been required to have a prescription. This decision supports an FDA recommendation made to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to make the morning-after pill available for all ages – a recommendation that was overruled by the Secretary in 2011 (the first time that someone in her position had ever overruled an FDA recommendation).

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Last week, we began the seven week-long process of counting the omer – a ritual in which we count every day from Pesach, when the Israelites were freed from Egypt, to Shavuot, when the Israelites received the Torah. There are many reasons for and interpretations of the omer, but in a lot of ways, it really comes down to the passage of time, and how we count and notice time in our own lives.

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