Ambassador Rice noted that the Obama administration stand’s firmly with Israel everyday at the U.N., despite many hostilities aimed unreasonably at Israel. She acknowledged that attitudes toward Israel are improving through some specific programmatic areas such as environmental proposals and that Israel’s leadership grows daily, specially in committee participation.

Ambassador Rice and URJ President Rabbi Rick Jacobs

What keeps her up at night? She said that she worries about the brutal two year war in Syria. The U.N.’s role resides in condemning brutality and providing humanitarian support that saves lives. The General Assembly, comprised of 193 nations, has come together on resolutions which the smaller Security Council cannot agree.

Regarding southern Sudan and Darfur, Ambassador Rice saluted our Movement for the leadership role it has played in this issue. Darfur has seen diminished genocide but many complex issues remain. The U.N. Peacekeeping Mission has provided security to the most vulnerable. She is hopeful about democracy eventually solving many issues.

She also said that what keeps her going day-to-day is her relying on her terrific sense of humor, knowing no day is boring, and working to make our world safer.

Today, the Consultation on Conscience continues with each speaker bringing us information, different perspective on different issues, and a sense of the very complicated country in which American Jews live today. We began the day with joyful worship services and then a fascinating speaker, Dr. Robert P. Jones, CEO and founder of the Public Religion Research Institute. I can’t remember a more interesting or entertaining presentation of research facts and charts.

WRJ Vice President Sharon K. Benoff and WRJ President Lynn Magid Lazar

I had the extreme honor of introducing our second speaker of the day, Naomi Natale. Naomi is an installation artist, photographer, and “social practice” artist. She is the founder and director of her newest project, One Million Bones, which is attempting to build one million bone sculptures to raise awareness of genocide and mass atrocities, and to raise funds for genocide prevention work. Natale has recieved a number of awards including a TED Senior Fellowship.

During her presentation, Naomi reminded us that “never again” should truly mean never again. At the conclusion, she shared a letter from an 11-year-old child who participated in a bone-making project and educational experience regarding genocide in Sudan. This child wrote that when we are all dead and gone, our bones will remain and only God will be able to recognize us from our bones.

Visit the website to learn more about this project and to educate yourselves and your community about how to make a positive difference. I am so proud to be part of the WRJ delegation here at the Consultation and of what we do as an organization to make positive changes every day.

Editors’ Note: Social justice and advocacy are among the hallmarks of NFTS/WRJ. Our sisterhoods annually support soup kitchens, public schools, nursing homes, community gardens and other institutions in their local communities. They also contribute to disaster relief efforts in times of crisis and support global initiatives around the world. Altogether, sisterhoods and women’s groups contribute an average of $2500 annually to such causes, or $1,250,000 collectively. That’s about $85,000,000 over the course of our hundred year history for non-Reform social justice causes.

Add to that our special historic relationship with JBI International, for which NFTS was the founding patron and sponsor for its initial years – sisterhoods have contributed nearly $2,500,000 to that organization over the years, not counting the untold numbers of books sisterhood volunteers converted to Braille and the millions of dollars (in today’s dollars) provided to that organization when NFTS served as its fiscal agent.

Since its inception, the Religious Action Center has been a beneficiary of YES Fund grants, particularly for its Eisendrath Legislative Assistant Fellowship program. YES Fund and local sisterhood support for the RAC totals about $45,000 annually. In our centennial year we have deepened that relationship to engage a legislative assistant dedicated to supporting WRJ’s advocacy agenda.

This is a lesson that certainly translates to our own society today. Twelve million Americans currently live in the shadows of our society as undocumented immigrants, and 4 million more are separated from families and loved ones due to delayed visas, prolonged waiting periods, and broken migration systems. While the issue of immigration certainly affects all facets of our society – from agricultural workers to high tech engineers, from Los Angelinos to New Yorkers, from children to the elderly – women have increasingly been feeling the effects of our broken immigration policies.

The majority of immigrants to the United States are female. Women are disproportionately affected by the huge backlogs in the family reunification system, and would be even more disproportionately disadvantaged if certain family visa categories are eliminated. Currently, only one quarter of all employment visas are given to women as principal holders – two thirds of immigrant women in the employment visa category enter as dependents on their spouse’s visa with no ability to work themselves. Ten million women speak limited English and need language and professional assistance from the federal government. Immigrant women who are victims of domestic violence feel as though they must stay silent in dangerous situations due to dependency on the sponsorship of an abusive spouse or employer, or fear that engaging with law enforcement could lead to deportation.

It is essential that any “comprehensive immigration reform” law is truly comprehensive – and that it addresses the concerns of all immigrants, including the millions of women who are at risk and living in fear. To that end, WRJ joined with other women and immigration activists to call on Congress to pass immigration reform that includes a roadmap to citizenship that recognizes the contribution of women and women’s work, keeps families together, promotes healthy families to strengthen communities, recognizes women’s work in future employment categories, ensures protections for women asylum seekers and survivors of violence and trafficking, and promotes immigrant integration.

Parashat Kedoshim teaches, “the stranger that sojourns with you shall be to you as a native, and you shall love him (or her) as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” We have an obligation, a command, to not simply protect but to identify with and love the stranger – the immigrant – in our society. This is how we can together achieve true holiness.

This year, in addition to focusing on all of these crucial topics, we also think about the ways in which our freedom as women is not yet fully realized. Through a new haggadah insert coordinated by WRJ in conjunction with other leading Jewish and reproductive rights organizations, we can further connect some of the seder’s rituals with important reproductive justice topics.

CLICK HERE to download this great resource, and infuse your seder with moving stories, insightful analyses and inspirational calls to action. Help us work toward and truly achieve the justice and freedom that we all celebrate this Pesach.

Tonight, President Obama will deliver his State of the Union address to Congress and the nation. Leaders of the Reform Jewish Movement are highlighting key issues they hope President Obama will address in the speech and calling on the President and Members of Congress to act swiftly on pressing domestic and international concerns.

Tune in tonight, or visit us here to watch the President’s address to a joint session of Congress. Weigh in yourself by following us on Twitter, @theRAC.

Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President, Union for Reform Judaism – Even as the national economy begins to recover, millions of Americans are left behind. More than 46 million people live below the poverty line, struggling to make ends meet. One out of two children will have to rely on food stamp benefits before they turn 21. And though accurate data is difficult to gather, approximately 3.5 million people, more than 1 million of them children, are likely to experience homelessness in a given year.

The Book of Proverbs (31:9) reminds us to “champion the poor and the needy.” Just as his inaugural address made a strong case for a social safety net of programs that raise struggling families out of poverty, the President’s State of the Union speech must make clear that deficit reduction cannot come on the backs of the poorest in our communities. Together, Congress and the White House must protect key programs including Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, and SNAP, which allow many in our communities to take the first steps toward independent and productive lives. As Rashi tells us of our fellow beings, “Do not allow him to decline and fall, so that it will be difficult to restore him, but strengthen him from the time of his weakness.”  This approach reflects the bipartisan principle in existence since Gramm-Rudman-Hollings in 1985 that any steps we take as a nation should not leave the poor worse off – and that’s the bipartisan approach needed today.

Evan Traylor, President, North American Federation of Temple Youth – Our Jewish tradition emphasizes the sanctity of human life, and commands us to pursue peace. Inspired by these lessons, NFTYites chose the 2012-2013 Study Theme of “Hashomer Achi Anochi – Am I My Brother’s Keeper” and the Action Theme “R’Fuat Hanefesh – Caring for the Soul: NFTY Addresses Mental Health.” We didn’t know when we chose the themes almost a year ago that the Newtown tragedy would happen and that the responsibilities we have to each other and the importance of mental health would become even more significant than they already were.  We have made advances in recent years with the passage of the Mental Health Parity Act, but those advances are in danger of being gutted by significant cuts in funding for mental health care. The President and Congress must address both of these challenges for the safety and well-being of us all.

Rabbi Steve Fox, Chief Executive Officer, Central Conference of American Rabbis –  As the son of immigrants to the United States, I understand well the beacon of light and hope this country has been to generations of immigrants. For Jews in particular, the religious liberty that has been a core principle since this nation’s founding has provided freedoms that were too long denied us throughout our history in the Diaspora.  Today, we continue to be inspired by the oft-repeated biblical command to “welcome the stranger,” even as we recognize that our American immigration system is broken.

We hope and expect that immigration reform will be a key focal point in the President’s State of the Union address, reflecting his comments in recent weeks about the need for a comprehensive approach to this challenge. Immigration reform must not only improve border security and immigration law enforcement, but also provide for a just and fair path to citizenship for those now in the country without legal documentation, protect against the exploitation of immigrant workers and protect the family unit, including LGBT families. We can do no less if we are to live up to our heritage as a nation of immigrants and descendants of immigrants.

Rabbi David Saperstein, Director, Religious Action Center – The growing acceptance of LGBT Americans is an overdue recognition that we are all created in the image of God, worthy of dignity and respect.  President Obama, who lifted up the issue of LGBT equality in his inaugural address last month, has done much to further this effort, including working with Congress to end Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and stating publicly his support for civil marriage equality.

Yet more must be done if LGBT Americans are to be protected from even the most basic forms of prejudice and discrimination. The State of the Union is an opportunity for President Obama to call on Congress to end workplace discrimination against gays and lesbians, ensuring that our laws extend basic civil rights to the LGBT community. 29 states still allow firing, hiring, promotion or demotion based on sexual orientation. Now is the time for the federal government, through legislation or executive action, to right this injustice. The stamp of the divine is present in each of us and if gay and lesbian Americans are to be, like other Americans, free to live lives of liberty and happiness, their most basic rights must be protected and upheld.

Rabbi Marla J. Feldman, Executive Director, Women of Reform Judaism – We appreciate the President’s longstanding commitment to advancing the well-being of women and girls, including beginning his presidency with the enactment of the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. His two Supreme Court nominees were women, and the Affordable Care Act has expanded access to women’s reproductive health care. Yet across the U.S., women still face great challenges that must be addressed by Congress and the White House. Women continue to earn, on average, 77 cents for every dollar earned by men in comparable positions. The Violence Against Women Act, due to be reauthorized last year, languishes over disagreements about expanded protections for native American women and against same-sex violence. And access to reproductive health care is constantly challenged, 40 years after Roe v Wade affirmed a woman’s right to make her own health decisions. We note with pleasure the strides made by women, represented by a record number of women serving in Congress; yet at less than 20% of the total, there is still much work to be done to achieve full parity.

We read in our prayer book, the Gates of Prayer, “When will redemption come? . . .When we grant to every person the rights we claim for ourselves.” We call on the President to make clear in his address that women’s rights are not negotiable and that every individual is responsible for allowing others the same liberties, rights, and responsibilities they would claim for themselves. It is time to pass the Violence Against Women Act, protect access to contraception for all women, and ensure fair pay protections are firmly established in law.

Barbara Kavadias, Acting Executive Director, ARZA – Throughout Israel’s history, the United States, no matter which party has held power in the White House or Congress, has been the closest of friends and allies. As political unrest continues in the Middle East, Israel remains a pillar of democracy and stability in the region and the strength of the U.S.-Israel relationship has never been more important, for both countries.

In his State of the Union address, we hope that President Obama will make clear the importance of American engagement in the Middle East, including continued involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which has been stagnant for too long. Such words will also reflect the President’s commitment to engagement, evident again last week in the announcement of his upcoming trip to Israel, Jordan and the West Bank. Now is the time for all members of Congress to also engage constructively to bring Israel and the Palestinians closer together as honest partners for a peace that is difficult to achieve, but will foster interaction, cooperation and lasting agreements for the benefit of future generations.

Jennifer Kaufman, Chair, Commission on Social Action - The intensity of the past year’s weather patterns should be enough to convince even the most doubtful of climate change skeptics.  From the devastation of Superstorm Sandy to the corn belt drought to the fact that 2012 was the hottest year recorded in U.S. history to this weekend’s record snowfall, the time to act to protect our earth is clearly past due.

President Obama has expressed a desire to engage on this challenge, and the State of the Union is the time to put forth a substantive plan. Over the last year he has articulated an “all of the above” approach to energy policy; now there is a need to focus on a comprehensive national energy bill that includes de-emphasizing carbon fuels and increased reliance on green energy. The President should again make clear his support for a Renewable Energy Standard and take steps to help reduce the economic impact of shifting to a green energy economy. The start of his second term presents the best opportunity he will have to work with Congress to tackle this pressing issue of climate change.

Rabbi Jonathan Stein, President, Central Conference of American Rabbis – The speech President Obama will deliver tonight is rooted in the Constitution’s directive that the President “from time to time” give Congress information about the state of union. Today, that address has become an annual event and is seen not just by those in the congressional chamber, but by an audience of Americans from across the nation. It is a key means of informing and engaging the public about the issues that touch and shape their lives.  Unfortunately, the ability of citizens to express their own views about these issues through voting is becoming increasingly difficult. As we saw in this most recent election, hours-long waits at polling stations and efforts to impose onerous voter ID laws, among other obstacles, are muffling or even silencing the voice of the people.

Steve Sacks, Chairman, Union for Reform Judaism – February is Jewish Disability Awareness Month, and the needs of people with disabilities should be lifted up in President Obama’s speech. People with disabilities consistently experience poverty rates twice that of the national average. Too often, people with disabilities of all ages are forced into nursing homes and institutions against their will in the name of cutting costs. Children with disabilities are disproportionately bullied by peers and inhumanely restrained by teachers. This sad reality does not fulfill the prophetic vision of full participation in the community, failing to heed Isaiah’s instructions to “loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?” (58:6) Particularly as the number of Americans with disabilities continues to grow, reaching nearly 57 million in 2010, and in recognition of Jewish Disability Awareness Month, shining a presidential spotlight on these challenges and committing to addressing them is more necessary than ever and a recognition that in this nation, no one should be left behind.

In the Book of Numbers, we learn of God’s instructions to Moses to gather 70 elders of Israel to serve as representatives of the people (Numbers 11:16–25). Reflecting this example, Rabbi Yitzhak taught, “A ruler is not to be appointed until the community is first consulted” (Babylonian Talmud, B’rachot 55a). Government officials must be accountable to the citizens they represent and having a voice in the election of those who make the laws under which we must live is critical to the rights of all citizens. President Obama should use the State of the Union speech to call on Congress to reform our voting system in a way that will allow all Americans to exercise their right – and responsibility – to vote, free from hindrance.

Originally posted on RACblog.

As I look forward to the commemoration of the 40^th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision I recall the relief that I experienced when the Supreme Court announced its decision.  I represented the Women of Reform Judaism on the Board of Directors of the Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights (now Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice). After the decision was handed down I joined several RCAR board members in a press conference aired nationwide by CBS to celebrate this victory.  For years prior to the ruling we had been speaking out as people of faith that every woman should have the right to an abortion in this land of religious and individual freedom.  With the Supreme Court decision we looked forward to an era when women would be free to choose an abortion if necessary for her physical or mental health.

My enthusiasm was short-lived.  From that day there has been a concerted effort in Congress, in states and in my home state of Delaware to pass legislation that restricts access.   For me it has been forty years of organizing, letter-writing, marching and lobbying. With an active leadership role in the Delaware Coalition for Choice I worked with state-wide organizations to monitor and oppose legislation that restricts abortion and limits women’s access to reproductive health procedures.

I regret that young women today seem to have taken for granted that access to  abortion will always be available perhaps not realizing that this was not always so.  We grandmothers will attest to that.  Only constant attention by concerned citizens all over this country has protected the right to abortion from those who have made every effort to restrict it.

Moses and the Israelites wandered through the desert for forty years before they were able to enter the Promise Land.  Regretfully after forty years of effort the promise of full access to reproductive services under the law for women of the United States is still to be realized.

In late 1983, we were overjoyed to learn that we were pregnant with our first child. That joy lasted until our four-month checkup, when our obstetrician met us with “that look.” What followed were blood tests, amniocentesis, and finally a high-resolution sonogram which showed that our baby’s internal organs were growing on the outside of her body, and there appeared to be no brain growth at all.

We were blessed to have gentle, caring doctors who did not tell us what to do; they gave us the information that Shira would probably not miscarry, but would carry the baby to term and have it die at birth. They left us to talk with our family, and our rabbis (yes, rabbis have rabbis, too). We talked and cried with our family, and together with our rabbis we delved into Jewish law and responsa about abortion.

We worried about the health risks that are part of any pregnancy, and even more we worried about the psychological impact of continuing the pregnancy. We wondered how we would respond when people asked when Shira was due; would we tell them she was due at the beginning of June, and the funeral would be the next day? We were afraid we would not have the strength to try again after that drawn-out trauma, and yet we truly wanted to create a family together.

Together we chose to have a late-term abortion, because it gave us the greatest chance of being able to have children afterward. We were fortunate to be in an excellent hospital, with wonderful staff who didn’t judge us but helped us through the 37-hour labor and delivery.

During the abortion we turned on the television to distract ourselves, and were assaulted with then-President Reagan promising to stop the “inhuman murderers who callously destroy thousands of unborn babies.” We were shocked, and more than that, we were angry. We were neither callous nor inhuman murderers. We had agonized over our decision, and we were comforted by Judaism’s understanding that a fetus has value, but the life and well-being of the mother take precedence over potential life.

We were so angry that right there – even as the procedure was taking place – we composed a telegram pledging to work as hard as we could to make sure Reagan would not be allowed to fulfill his promise. We have spoken out ever since, in public forums, in the classes, at rallies, in congressional offices and at the L’Taken seminars we attend at the RAC.

We did get pregnant again. Our three sons are now in their 20’s, and a daughter-in-law is part of our family, too. The procedure we had is now illegal in most of the US, and state laws constantly threaten a woman’s right to choose what happens to her own body, regardless of gestational age.

Sometimes people hear our story and say, “Well, your case is an exception.” Our response is simple: we are grateful we didn’t need your approval – or a court’s, or a legislator’s – to make the choice we made. It was difficult enough.

We are saddened that today, 40 years after Roe v. Wade and 29 years after our abortion, we are still fighting this same battle. But we will not give up fighting. Ever.

Rabbi Don Weber has been the rabbi of Temple Rodeph Torah in Marlboro, NJ, since 1984. Rabbi Shira Stern is the director of the Center for Pastoral Care and Counseling in Morganville, NJ, and the Primary School Educator at Temple Rodeph Torah in Marlboro, NJ.

A few years ago, I made myself a scrapbook of key documents I had saved from my past. The second page is an article that my mother wrote for WOMANKIND, published by the Chicago Women’s Liberation Union in October 1971, entitled “…and Jill came tumbling after.”  I was two years old and I was Jill. The piece tells the story of my mother’s experience with sexism in raising boy/girl twins, including the sexist feelings she and my father had to resist. As a child of progressive Jewish parents in this era, the most significant moral lesson I marched for and learned throughout my childhood was the idea that women are equal to men.

Not surprisingly, for my senior yearbook quip in the yearbook in 1987, I chose the then-new phrase: “A woman’s place is in the house…and the senate.”  By the time I reached college, the pursuit of women’s equality had become a centerpiece of my identity. I quickly joined the Radcliffe Union of Students and soon thereafter founded the Harvard/Radcliffe’s “Women’s Center,” a group that hosted regular events about women’s issues.

Another page of my scrapbook is a letter I sent to the new President of Radcliffe, Linda Wilson, in December 1989, confirming that she would be speaking at the next Women’s Center event about  her “theoretical and personal definition of feminism.” The next page is the flyer I plastered around campus advertising the event, which read: “THAT DIRTY WORD: Come discuss feminism with new president of Radcliffe, Dr. Linda Wilson.” I chose the title to convey the controversial nature of the word on campus. In retrospect, I wonder how President Wilson felt about doing this event fewer than 6 months into her tenure and appreciate her courage.

It was through the lens of feminism that I first attached myself to the issue of abortion rights.  I remember riding the bus on April 9, 1989, from Boston to Washington, DC, to attend the first “March for Women’s Equality/Women’s Lives.”  I challenged myself early that morning to explain to myself why I was pro-choice, examining the issue from a myriad of perspectives and recording them in a notebook. I still remember the reason I found the most compelling — that only a woman could get pregnant and only a woman would have to carry the pregnancy and be a parent at a time she did not intend. My commitment to abortion rights was an extension of my feminism. To take that decision away from a woman was an injustice — treating her like less than a person.  The April 10, 1989 New York Times article in my scrapbook reported that “feminist leader” Gloria Steinem said later that same day: “’We are marching here to ask, is the Supreme Court going to affirm that women are full citizens and not property, or is the Supreme Court the captive of the extreme right wing?”

I admit that I was somewhat surprised when, as a law student, I learned that Roe v. Wade was not rooted in an equality argument. Instead, Justice Blackmun found that the right to privacy “is broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.” But even when I read it today, the decision’s clear understanding of the predicament of a woman facing an unintended pregnancy still does justice to my personal feelings about the issue.

As Roe turns 40, just three years after me, I pause and feel a deep gratitude. My feelings today are still rooted in that same commitment to women’s equality. Through years of life experience and professional work on abortion rights, I have also come to understand deeply the critical contribution Roe makes to racial and economic justice and human rights. It is a right we must not take for granted.

Though still an important value in my own household, the issue of women’s equality will not have played the same central role in my daughters’ and son’s growing up that it did for me. Although my three children, now two teens and a pre-teen, certainly wouldn’t be counted among the 56% of young adults today who reportedly do not know what the Roe v. Wade decision is about, I’m still going to take out my scrapbook on January 22^nd. Then I will ask them to think for themselves about why it’s crucial for a woman, consulting her closest confidants, to be the one who ultimately decides whether or not to have a baby.

Rachel Laser, Deputy Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, has been the General Counsel for Planned Parenthood Metropolitan Washington, Senior Counsel for the National Women’s Law Center and Director of the Culture Program at Third Way, where she helped draft the first ever pro-life/pro-choice abortion bill in Congress.

As women, it is both our biological duty and right to be the mediators between society and our bodies. In a world where the ideals and thoughts of true beauty are far from true and forever changing, it is imperative that we remain in control ourselves. Yet acquiring and maintaining such control is a struggle; a struggle, a storm through which we, as a gender, have battled. Against the wind of others’ voices, those who feel they are brimming with a knowledge which they in reality entirely lack. Against the rain of others’ tears, using emotion alone to fuel their fire. Against the clouds of thought that fogs the minds of those both near and far, embossing that which should in truth be suppressed.

In contrast to these arguments, invalid at the core, we know the truth. We realize it is – or should be – no one’s choice but our own whether our physical being is to be filled with pain or treated with the utmost happiness by both strangers as well as ourselves. The individual; the most dangerous yet compelling character of conscience. Throughout history, this realization has been thrust into the spotlight, again and again. This question of the validity of women, and of whether or not they are capable of controlling their own bodies. It is now, as we recognize the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, that this question comes to the forefront once again. This month, we celebrate forty years in which our personal understanding and acceptance as well as the country in its entirety have evolved.
Some may say I am lucky. Lucky that in my fifteen years, I have never known a day without the protection Roe v. Wade now offers. A time when a “choice” for women meant a dangerous procedure just in a hope to preserve even the slightest bit of dignity. In one altering moment, it was truly recognized. A woman’s right to her own privacy and discretion. Physical and mental control over the body granted from God.
Yet this physical control is not one I have always experienced, or ever taken for granted. With my hospitalization due to anorexia in the past year, I continue to be vastly aware of the ways in which our bodies can be abused, in some cases more so by the individual. To me, it is startlingly familiar how deeply personal these issues can become – moral choices we are capable of making yet continue to be denied.

In response to this brave fight, the curtains have revealed a new reality. If, when and how we choose to alter our body throughout our life, including through pregnancy or abortion, is a decision that is supposedly entirely our own. However, this new era is fraught with the freedom to embody this constitutional women’s right in jeopardy. And we must realize it and grasp this chance for freedom. If we as women cannot save ourselves, why should we trust anyone else to do so?
To understand the emotions of others, the concern of a young adult with no escape and the fear of an individual watching this injustice occur, I chose to bring this distress upon myself by simulating a pregnancy while out in my hometown. In this position, I received the most harsh of criticism and was judged on my appearance alone, as a teenage mother, one without a ring on her finger and no future ahead of her. Little did they know that I am a high honor roll student who has never even had her first kiss. No one takes the time to consider the situation women find themselves in. Within a mere two hours, I was desperate to return to the comfort of my own skin. And soon, I was myself once more. However, what of the women who have no say in this matter? Those who are judged by society and barred from freeing themselves from the chains that bind them? Without the Roe v. Wade decision – this monumental and inspiring point in our history – they would cease to have the choice I did, to relieve themselves from the pain.
We must realize that the time to act is rapidly slipping from our grasp. Without a dedication to the refusal of this thinking, the rights past generations fought to secure will be lost to history. If the rights granted in Roe v. Wade are taken away, as a country and as a people we will have failed. But more important, we will have failed as a religion and a culture and a faith. By remaining quiet, we will refute all that we believe as the Reform Jewish Movement. It is our duty, as women, as Jews, as Americans, as people to stand strong and speak. For me, though still under-aged, I am a woman and am ever conscious of what may lie in my future. I remain acutely aware of the ways in which my life could become depraved. This is one. One that I choose not to watch in silence.

Lindsey Oren is a passionate writer of fifteen who is deeply dedicated to her art. Hailing from Ridgefield, Connecticut, she is deeply honored to have dedicated her writing to this blog  after having been introduced to the RAC on an amazing trip to Washington, DC.

Social justice advocacy has formed an integral component in WRJ’s organizational life since its founding as The National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods (NFTS) one hundred years ago in 1913. (NFTS, was renamed Women of Reform Judaism (WRJ) in 1993.) WRJ involvement in social justice issues stems from who we are — Reform Jewish women committed to the values of Judaism. The Jewish vision of a just world is stated early in our tradition, with Abraham pleading with God not to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah,

“Will You indeed sweep away the innocent along with the wicked? . . . Must not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?” (Genesis 18:23, 25)

The values expressed in Abraham’s call for justice and throughout the texts of our tradition, WRJ’s constitution, and its resolutions are the foundation for WRJ advocacy. The constitution adopted by the delegates to the first NFTS biennial assembly in 1915 calls for service to “Jewish and humanitarian causes….” and “special relationships, concerns, and interests on behalf of … national and international issues.” The delegates to the 1915 assembly also adopted resolutions that protested against the requirement of literacy tests for immigrants in a bill before President Wilson and called for raising funds for the Jewish women of Palestine. Immigration reform and concerns regarding Israel remain important issues on WRJ’s advocacy agenda today.

WRJ and its affiliates have spoken out, within the movement and in the community, on domestic and foreign issues that affect the quality of life, freedom, and justice for all people, with a priority on women’s well-being, including peace, civil liberties, hunger and poverty, environment, health care, reproductive rights, and equal pay for women. In addition to their advocacy efforts, sisterhoods engage in hands-on social justice projects such as providing new school shoes for inner-city youngsters, services for patients with HIV/AIDS, gift bags and programming for women in shelters, packages for overseas military personnel, and efforts to alleviate hunger. To see the breadth of WRJ’s one hundred years of social justice action, see resolutions and policy statements, the sampling of recent advocacy alerts, and the Or Ami Light of my People Award for Excellence in Sisterhood Programming publications in the Advocacy section of the WRJ website.

A few highlights of WRJ’s (NFTS’ prior to 1993) one hundred years of long-standing advocacy:

• Reproductive health and rights – in 1935 NFTS endorsed amending federal legislation to enable medical personnel to send birth control literature through the mail and in 1965 called for liberalization of abortion laws, continuing to speak out on this issue even today.
• Ordination of women as rabbis –NFTS called for HUC-JIR and other liberal seminaries to ordain qualified women as rabbis during its 1963 fiftieth anniversary assembly. Employment equity continues to be an important part of WRJ’s advocacy agenda.
• Soviet Jewry – NFTS urged affiliates in 1963 to call on the State Department to seek equal rights for and to oppose persecution of Jews in the Soviet Union. From 1970 to 1991, NFTS actively worked on the Women’s Plea for Soviet Jewry, holding events, rallies, and marches.
• Domestic abuse – in 1983 NFTS adopted a resolution urging that spouse, child, and family abuse be viewed by the police and courts as criminal acts and that sisterhoods work with other organizations to provide services for victims of abuse. NFTS first published When Love is Not Enough: Spousal Abuse in Rabbinic and Contemporary Judaism, Rabbi J.R. Spitzer’s landmark study on spousal abuse in the Jewish community, in 1985.Through the 1980’s and 90’s, NFTS/WRJ conducted campaigns in sisterhoods and congregations to raise awareness of the issue. WRJ’s advocacy on this issue continues with its support of the International Violence against Women Act.
• Environment – since 1969, NFTS/WRJ has expressed ongoing concern about environmental issues. WRJ began working with the National Religious Partnership for the Environment in 1991 to conduct a four-state three-year campaign to raise awareness and advocate for legislation on children’s health and the environment. WRJ has been a long term member of the Jewish Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL).

NFTS’ early support for the LGBT community was spoken of in a recent Huffington Post article:

Jewish support for the LGBT community was visible even in 1965, when the National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods (now Women of Reform Judaism) passed a resolution condemning the criminalization of homosexuality when no one else would. (Stuart Milk, “Jewish and Gay: One Choice in This Election,” HuffPost Gay Voices, 10/31/12)

Stuart Milk’s mention of our 1965 stand, on an issue of key importance to the LGBT community, indicates that Women of Reform Judaism’s social justice advocacy statements have a long life, continue to have an impact, and do make a difference.

Carolyn Kunin is the former WRJ Director of the Department of Advocacy and Program. She serves on the Board of the Sisterhood of Temple Israel of Northern Westchester and on the congregation’s board. Carolyn was temple president in the mid-1980’s.

Originally published in Ten Minutes of Torah, a daily e-mail on a topic of Jewish interest. Sign up now to add 10 minutes of Jewish learning to your life each day!

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