Five Ways to Participate in National Gun Violence Awareness Day 2016
On June 2, millions of people across the county will be observing the second annual National Gun Violence Awareness Day, also known as Wear Orange Day.
My Mother vs. the Angel of Death
When my mother was born in the Polish town of Dabrowa Gornicza in 1921, her Hasidic parents sought their rebbe’s advice on how to protect their infant from the sword of malach-hamavet, the angel of death.
They had good reason to fear. They had lost a son and daughter in the scarlet fever epidemic of 1909, which was followed by the outbreak of World War I in 1914, and the worldwide influenza pandemic in 1918. The angel of death, it seemed, was insatiable.
Honoring My Mom's Legacy, on Mother's Day and Every Day
Although it’s true that I don’t celebrate Mother’s Day with my own mom anymore, I do cherish and celebrate her love, her life, and her wisdom. In creating an ethical will for my sister and me, she plainly and thoughtfully laid out the values and ethics that mattered most to her, along with her hope that we will carry them on. She wrote, “We try to put our financial estate in good order, so how about our ethical estate? I’ve always told you the only thing of value you can leave behind is your good name…”
5 Ways to Participate in National Gun Violence Awareness Day 2016
On June 2, the Reform Jewish Movement will join millions of people across North America in observance of the second annual National Gun Violence Awareness Day, also known as Wear Orange Day. Here are five ways to get involved.
Holocaust Memorial Day: Pink Triangles, Yellow Stars, and Hateful Laws
A less well-known part of the Holocaust is that the Nazis also rounded up gays and lesbians, forcing them to wear pink triangles on their clothes so they could be easily recognized and further humiliated inside the concentration camps.
April Voting Rights Roundup
April was a busy month in the struggle to protect voting rights, with several significant advancements and setbacks in guaranteeing equal and easy access to the ballot across the country. Here are a just a few of the most important voting and elections developments from the past month.
Why The Man Who Coined the Term “Genocide” Is Turning in His Grave
Genocide has been in the news lately. On March 17th, Secretary of State John Kerry declared, “In my judgment, Daesh (ISIS) is responsible for genocide against groups in areas under its control, including Yazidis, Christians, and Shia Muslims.” But unless the world’s most powerful nation fulfills its legal and moral obligation under the Genocide Convention, thousands more men, women, and children will fall victim to the crime that once had no name.
Every Home Renovation Needs Holiness in the Foundation
According to Jewish tradition, the home should resemble a mikdash me’at, a small sanctuary that echoes the holiness of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem. Renovating this home, however, did not feel entirely sacred.
How to Find Your Place in College, Jewishly and Otherwise
At college, I found the little moments in a Shabbat dinner with a group of upperclassmen girls, baking challah, ordering take-out, and hearing their stories of their time at school so far.
Modern-Day Slavery: Bringing Awareness to Human Trafficking in 2017
National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month serves as a time to bring awareness to the issue of modern-day slavery: the trafficking in persons that occ