By Noa Maltzman

The week before I started as a Machon Kaplan intern, I was having a conversation with my mom about education and graduation. It began with my mom saying that she thought it was silly that next year she would have to go to my sister Mica’s eighth grade graduation. She thought it was weird that schools even celebrate graduating from eighth grade.  So I pointed out that she went to my fifth grade graduation: “Did you find that silly?”  My mom replied, “Yes! Because Dad and I knew you were going to graduate from fifth grade, just like we know Mica will graduate from eighth grade and from high school, and that both of you will graduate from college.” We ended the conversation there. That my parents assumed I’d make it through high school and college wasn’t much of a surprise to me.

In my first few weeks as an intern at The Peace Alliance, I have already realized that what my mom told me is not a given for everyone: I am fortunate to be a part of a family where we can safely assume that a college degree is affordable and attainable. Of course, I already knew before starting my internship that only about 40% of working aged Americans hold a college degree.  What I didn’t know was that one reason some people don’t make it to college is because sometimes existing law can make it very challenging for students to afford a college education.

I first learned this when I started my internship and was assigned the task of creating a two-page fact sheet on H.R. 2521, the REAL Act of 2015. The Restoring Education and Learning Act of 2015 is a bill to restore Pell Grant eligibility for federal and state incarcerated individuals (Pell Grants are federal grants, up to $5,500, that are given to undergraduate students to help them finance their college educations).

Since 1994, incarcerated individuals have not been eligible for Pell Grants and the number of prison college education programs has drastically decreased because of the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act.  Supporters of the REAL Act point to research that shows inmates with access to college education and degrees are less likely to commit more crimes when they are released and are better able to contribute to their communities.

Since the earliest days of Judaism, learning and teaching have been important values. One of the 613 commandments in the Torah orders us “to learn Torah and teach it” (Deuteronomy 6:7).  We even have a prayer that one is meant to say before learning Torah: Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech haolam, asher kid’shanu bemitzvotav vetzivanu la’asok b’divrei Torah. We praise You, Eternal God, Sovereign of the universe, who calls us to holiness through mitzvot, commanding us to engage in the study of Torah.

These examples of how our tradition urges us to go and learn might be specific to learning Torah, but I think we can translate them to modern times, and more broadly interpret them to illustrate the value of education and learning in a society. I believe now that it is our duty as members of the Jewish community to follow those that came before us and urged us to go and learn: Let’s work to make it possible for everyone — even those incarcerated—to have access to education and opportunities to learn.

Noa Maltzman is a rising sophomore at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York. She is a 2015 Machon Kaplan participant, and interned at the The Peace Alliance.

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By Jonah Baskin

In this week’s parsha, parshat Eikev, Moses continues his final speech to the Israelites before they enter the land, much of which is devoted to admonishments to remember the mitzvot and the various punishments for failure to comply.  Moses cautions the Israelites not to forget that God ultimately ensures their prosperity, “lest when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses, and live within them, and when your herds and flocks multiply, and your silver and gold is multiplied, and all that is yours is multiplied… you will say in your heart: ‘My own power and the might of my own hand have produced this wealth for me.’” (Deuteronomy, 8:12-17) This caution against arrogance is interesting because it represents a unique strain of the vice that is easy to forget about. 

We often use a model of arrogance where people fail to see their own limits and arrogantly fly too close to the sun or build a tower that reaches too high. In this form of arrogance, people try to change and reach beyond the status quo in improper ways. The arrogance Moses cautions against is of a very different type: it is rooted in a contentment with the status quo, and moreover an utter conviction that a pleasant status quo is entirely self-caused.  It allows us to think that we are solely and directly responsible for our good situation, and because of that, that the status quo is both legitimate and just.  It is when food, shelter and general economic wellbeing are all properly secured and a privileged position in society is obtained, that we can not only enjoy our privileged position, but moreover move to incorrectly justify it. When we arrogantly see our prosperity as a result entirely borne of our own power, it becomes far too easy to make the leap that we deserve all of the privilege we have, and that there is no obligation of justice to redistribute our prosperity to be more equitably spread out in society.

As Americans, we can sometimes fall prey to believing that all of the many things that make our country great are the direct result of our own power. Energy efficiency and climate change pose an interesting counter example. Our nation was one of the first to reap the incredible economic benefits of the Industrial Revolution, powered by cheap carbon fuels.  Our early carbon head start has allowed us to ascend to a position of economic power and prosperity on the world stage. Less wealthy countries who did not industrialize before we realized the dangers of greenhouse gasses now can’t pay for green energy sources and the infrastructure needed to adapt to the changing climate.

The United Nations created the Green Climate Fund through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to help these less wealthy countries adapt to our changing world.  President Obama has committed to paying $3 billion dollars into the fund and to meet that commitment has asked Congress to allocate $500 million for the fund in this year’s budget.  Beyond the significance of the funds ability to help people around the world, meeting our commitment would signal that the U.S. is finally ready to commit to being a leader in the fight against climate change. Like the Israelites, we must heed Moses’ warning and recognize that the status quo of our economic prosperity is not solely do to our work, but due to the luck of the US to be blessed by early industrialization, before we realized its global costs.  Urge your members of Congress to support allocation for the Green Climate Fund.  We must recognize that our accomplishments are not the “might of our own hand alone,” and that circumstances beyond “our own power” have put our nation and some of the world’s other biggest economies in a position to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change. We must use that knowledge to recognize the injustice in vulnerable communities around the world having face the effects of a crisis without the means of protecting themselves, and we must act to correct it.

Jonah Baskin is a rising third year at the University of Chicago, where is planning to double major in Environmental Studies and Public Policy, which he hopes will lead to a career in environmental policy. This summer, Jonah is interning at the AFL-CIO, where he is analyzing legislation passed in various states over the past legislative session. 

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By Megan Sims

If I drive east from the house I grew up in for five minutes, I will go by an abortion clinic. If I drive west from the house I grew up in for five hours, I will be in Lubbock, a moderately sized city, home to Texas Tech University and the economic hub of the largest contiguous cotton-growing region in the country. One-fifth of the city’s population lives in poverty.

Lubbock is pretty much your standard American city, with one major difference. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Texas law that puts very strict regulations on abortion clinics (causing many to close). Now, a woman from Lubbock would have to drive at least five hours in order to obtain a legal abortion. And that’s just for the initial visit. She must then potentially make that same five-hour trip again after a mandatory waiting period of 24 hours to “reconsider her decision.”

I grew up in a place where debutante balls were common. White dresses supposed to symbolize purity to remind us all of the imperative to abstain from sex.

The Texas law would impose an undue burden on 17% of Texas women and their access to reproductive health care. Undue burden, so they say, is only undue if enough people will suffer.

If we start drawing lines, where should they stop? What percent makes the burden undue? 20%? 30? If less than half of the people have a burden imposed on them, is it still not undue? Jewish theology teaches that every person is made b’tzelem Elohim, made in the image of God. How can we call ourselves people of faith if we try to quantify the essence of the Divine on earth?

It is my deeply held view that reproductive services should be affordable and accessible for all people. This is not a numbers game. This is not about an amount in a bank account. This is not about a zipcode. This is not 24 hours. This is not 17%. This is every person’s right to choose what they want to do with their body.

Right now I am in the city where everything happens, where changes can be made. And I feel helpless. Because there are women far too close to the house I grew up in who are carrying the burdens of unplanned pregnancies, that might only increase without adequate access to childcare.

These women are being denied their rights, and the Fifth Circuit Court believes this isn’t an undue burden. Luckily, the Supreme Court stepped in on June 29 and blocked this law from taking effect, but the battle to defeat this highly restrictive bill is far from over.

I feel burdened. I feel empathy the size of Texas for my home state. I am in this fight. There is no turning your back on your home. I would like to remind the Fifth Circuit of our proudly proclaimed motto, our symbol of strength. I would like to say to them:

Don’t Mess with Texas.

Megan Sims is a rising sophomore at Harvard College, where she plans to study Folklore and Mythology and competes on Harvard’s slam poetry team. She is a summer 2015 Machon Kaplan participant and is interning at the National Council of Jewish Women.

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Even in 2015, equal pay for equal work for women is not a reality in the United States and it’s no different for female professional soccer players. The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) only pays its players between $6,000 and $30,000 per year, while Major League Soccer (MLS) players earn a minimum salary of $50,000 per year. These low salaries act as a serious deterrent to players starting the game. Jazmine Reeves, 2014 Rookie of the Year for the NWSL’s Boston Breakers, had to leave the world of professional soccer because she was unable to get by on her $11,000 salary (that’s less than annual earnings on the U.S. minimum wage!).

The women’s international team doesn’t fare any better. The women of the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) just claimed their third title as winners of the World Cup. Despite the fact that the women’s team is far more successful on the international stage, winning two out of six possible World Cups while the men haven’t made the semifinals since 1930,  their salaries don’t come anywhere close to those of their male counterparts. The total payout for the Women’s World Cup this year will be $15 million, compared with the total for the men’s World Cup last year of $576 million, nearly 40 times as much.

When we address the gender pay gap, most are already familiar with the fact that women make on average just 78 cents for every dollar their male counterparts make. While this remains true, not all women make even that: women of color face an even greater disparity. African American women make an average of 64 cents for every dollar earned by their white male counterparts and Latina women earn an average of 54 cents.

This year, April 14 marked Equal Pay Day, the day in the new year until which white women would have to work to earn what their male counterparts made in the previous year. On June 4, we observed Moms’ Equal Pay Day, when mothers’ average earning catch up to fathers’. Because the gap is wider for women of color, their day for equal pay comes later in the year: Equal Pay Day for African-American women is on July 28 and Equal Pay Day for Latina women is on October 8.

These dates show that the gender pay gap is a multifaceted problem that is in dire need of a multifaceted solution. The gender wage gap persists at all levels of education, within occupations and across industries, including sports. Part of that solution is raising awareness about gender pay discrimination and advocating for legislation to help correct this injustice, and the upcoming Equal Pay Days are excellent opportunities for action.

The Reform Movement has long advocated for an end to the indignity of pay discrimination. In Leviticus 19:13, we are taught that to withhold a worker’s wages is to defraud her, an act akin to robbery. In Genesis 1:27, we learn that all human beings are created b’tzelem Elohim, in the image of the Divine, and are thus deserving of equal rights and treatment. Together, these teachings compel us to fight for fair wages for all people—for women and men, mothers and fathers alike. We heed our tradition’s call for equality so that neither gender nor parental status prevents anyone in our society from earning just compensation for their work.

Learn more about the RAC’s work on pay equity here!

Emily Brundage is a rising senior at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania and is studying Political Science and Public Health. She is a 2015 Machon Kaplan participant and is interning at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.

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By Joelle Leib

During my time at Scripps College, a women’s college in Claremont, California, I have learned much about feminism and the critical fight for gender equality. Luckily for me and my female millennial peers, American women have made tremendous strides in the past few decades, so much so that Hillary Clinton is now a frontrunner in the Democratic presidential primary. Yet as someone who also identifies as a Zionist as well as a feminist, a great deal must still be accomplished before these two identities can be completely reconciled.

I’ve been to the Western Wall many times between the three trips I have taken to Israel. The first time I went to the Western Wall I was thirteen on a three week tour of Israel with my family and members of my congregation. During the first Shabbat of our trip, our rabbi wanted us to experience the quintessential Shabbat in Jerusalem by taking us to the Kotel. When I first saw the Kotel, I was mesmerized by its incredible history and power to unite scores of people spanning thousands of generations. But quickly my amazement dissipated and turned to scorn when I peered over the separation barrier and watched with envy as all of the men on the other side of the fence danced and sang, contrasted by quiet prayers on the women’s side. It irritated me that the men’s side was far larger than the women’s, even though it seemed like the same amount of men and women were at the wall. Despite being a young teenager, I understood the injustice present at the Western Wall. While I still found Israel to be an incredible place, some of her magic wore off for me that night.

In the fall semester of 2014, I took a class entitled “Women and Gender in Jewish Tradition” at Claremont McKenna College. The class covered a broad range of topics and spanned the entire history of Judaism, including the modern era. Toward the latter half of the class, I was first introduced to the organization Women of the Wall (WOW). Founded in 1988, WOW strives to bring equality to the Western Wall by fighting for women’s ability to read from the Torah and wear prayer shawls at the wall, which they are currently prohibited from doing. The female activists who comprise WOW are incredibly inspiring, often facing physical and verbal harassment just to be able to practice their Jewish faith at the Wall. Thankfully, it seems as though WOW, albeit slowly, is becoming more accepted as a legitimate, religious organization. For the past three months, WOW has successfully smuggled a Torah to the women’s section of the Western Wall for their monthly prayer service. Recently, Prime Minister Netenyahu refused to condemn the organization after being encouraged to do so by an Ultra Orthodox member of the Knesset. Netenyahu cited his belief that Israel should be a home for all Jewish people in his decision to strongly disapprove the statements made by the Knesset member.

I wish that my 13 year old self knew of the efforts of WOW, as I likely would have felt much more supported and dignified at the Western Wall. Instead of having my bat mitzvah on a balcony overlooking the Holy City, I could have had it at the Wall with WOW, an ideal scenario which would have made me proud to be both Jewish and female, a feminist and a Zionist.

Joelle Leib is a 2015 Machon Kaplan participant. She interned at National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. Joelle is a rising junior at Scripps College where she is majoring in American Studies with a focus in history. She is a member of the Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company and on the boards of Claremont Hillel and the Claremont Israel Alliance. 

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By Jenny Swift

When I was a senior in high school, the question I was asked by family and friends more times than I would like was where I would be attending college next year. For students who are undocumented the question might be different: what will you be doing next year? It’s a small difference, but a noticeable one. Tens of thousands of children who have grown up in this county and have attended and graduated from public schools are stuck, without the opportunity to advance, because the documentation required to apply to college, and more importantly, federal aid, is often out of the grasp of students whose parents brought them to this country when they were small children. Future doctors, lawyers, teachers, and the scientist who will cure cancer are all unable to reach their true potential due to immigration laws that keep children down, not raise them up to achieve the American dream.

The DREAM Act, most recently HR 1751, has been proposed in Congress seven times, failing year after year. Though it has bipartisan support and would help thousands of people by putting more money into the economy, decreasing rates of criminal activity and allowing teenagers to stay in the only country they remember living in, elected officials have continued to vote it down. The DREAM Act’s effects are wide reaching and positive. The Department of Defense endorses it, saying that it will contribute to the military’s recruitment efforts and readiness. Furthermore, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that in its current form, this law will cut the deficit by 1.4 billion dollars and increase government revenues by 2.3 billion dollars over the next 10 years from the added taxable income; all economically positive effects of a law that would touch thousands.

Living in Arizona, this issue is in the forefront of daily life. Though I have been fortunate enough to have been born in America, I know many who were not. Their contributions are just as valuable, and deserve to be recognized by the government in the country that they call home. Good students, great friends, all with a future stunted merely due to which side of the border on which they were born.

If statistics and the personal stories are not convincing enough, immigration is also a moral issue, and one that people of all faiths should take seriously. The Bible has strong words about immigration, and Leviticus says, “The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the stranger as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” We as Jews and more importantly, as humans, are obliged to welcome the stranger, and to help them find their way, especially when all sides benefit. All of us were welcomed into this country at one point or another; for the DREAMers, maybe the eighth time will be the charm.

Jenny Swift is an incoming sophomore at Cornell University studying industrial and labor relations. This summer, she is interning at the Center for Responsible Lending. When she is not at school or studying, Jenny enjoys Netflix and rock climbing (even though she’s not that good).

Featured image courtesy of Eric Paul Zamora/Fresno Bee/MCT

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By Elvera Gurevich

At the ripe age of 20, I have spent almost a quarter of my life already in the workforce and have always worked for a minimum wage salary or less. As a student, this salary is “do-able;” the money I make usually goes to optional expenses like gas in my car or going out to eat with friends. My parents are still paying my rent, my tuition, my health insurance, my phone bill, etc. Eventually, I will be responsible for paying these expenses, but hopefully that will be post-graduation and with a job making more than a minimum wage salary.

But what happens when you are the parent working at my same job, making my same wages, but having to completely support yourself or another? For many Americans, there is no moving on to the next chapter. They will continue to work minimum wage jobs for years to come.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2014, 1.5 million people earned an hourly wage of $7.25 and almost 1.8 million people earned even less, because they fell under exemptions such as tipped employees, full-time students, workers with disabilities and more. According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, members of these groups make less money annually than the cost of living in many of their places of residence, and these figures only address housing!

Cities across the nation have begun the fight for minimum wage reform. For instance, Los Angeles recently passed a law that raised the minimum wage to $15/hour. Other cities have been working to achieve reform, but the goal for many organizations such as the National Employment Law Project (NELP) and the RAC is to address the issues at a national level and raise the federal minimum wage.  In particular, to raise the federal minimum wage level to $12.00/hour by 2020. From there, the level would be adjusted subsequently by year to adjust for inflation and the annual increase of wages in general.

Our Jewish tradition teaches about fair wages and fair work. The Torah says, “you shall not abuse a needy and destitute laborer… but you must pay him his wages on the same day, for he is needy and urgently depends on it (Deuteronomy 24:14-15).” It is our job as individuals and Jews to fight for increase in the minimum wage so that all members of our nation have the opportunity to earn fair wages and live a comfortable life.

Take action and urge your Members of Congress to support legislation to raise the minimum wage!

Elvera Gurevich is a Machon Kaplan 2015 participant. She loves food, social media, and her dog. She is a junior at James Madison University majoring in Communications with a focus in Advocacy. She is interning this summer at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.

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By Abby Kirshbaum

When I was in 10th grade, I attended the Religious Action Center’s L’Taken Seminar with my confirmation class. On the last day of the trip we got to lobby to one of our senators on an issue that appealed most to us. Little did I know, the legislation in which I lobbied, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), would become such a huge part of my life.

At a young age, I was taught by my family, rabbis, and Jewish day school teachers that everyone deserves equality and justice. As a Jew, I was obligated to make the world better not only for my family and friends, but for everyone. In the hope that my best friend would be comfortable coming out of the closet to me when he was ready, LGBT rights became ‘my thing’ and it became important for me to find a way to fit sexual orientation and gender identity into my life.

Five years after confirmation, I found myself back in D.C. and still working on the connection between Judaism, LGBT rights and worker justice. This summer I am interning at Pride at Work, which is a contingency group of the ALF-CIO. Pride at Work represents LGBT union members and their allies. It is imperative for these people to be a part of a union and have access to so many workplace protections, because in 29 states someone can be fired for being gay, and in 32 states someone can be fired for being transgender. The thought of my best friend being fired for his sexual orientation, something he has become so proud of, makes me want to scream. But as a civilized American, it also makes me wonder why ENDA has not yet become the law of the land.

ENDA would provide basic protections against workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity for all. But unfortunately, even though it has been on the table since 1994, it has not yet passed. In the 113th Congress, the bill passed in the Senate which makes me hopeful that we are getting closer and closer to workplace equality. However, in the 114th Congress, in which we are in now, the bill has not yet been introduced. Research shows that the majority of voters support the ENDA act and many don’t even realize that this type of discrimination is legal in so many states.

Soon, there will also be a comprehensive LGBT civil rights bill introduced in Congress that will address equal access for LGBT individuals to credit, education, employment, federal funding, housing, jury service and public accommodations. This bill will become a new center point for the LGBT movement and will provide deserved equality to all people no matter their sexual orientation or gender identity. This movement will not be stopped until LGBT people achieve the full equality they deserve.

It is amazing that 10th graders lobby their members of Congress on such important issues as ENDA. But, it is not amazing that despite huge leaps in LGBT rights, including the landmark marriage equality decision handed down by the Supreme Court last week, workplace discrimination still exists and is legal. My Jewish values and the Religious Action Center have helped pave my work and my voice on workplace non-discrimination. I am hoping to see an equal and just workplace in the near future for the sake of my best friend and for the sake of us all.

Abby Kirshbaum is a senior at Brandeis University. There, she is a Psychology major, and Business and Social Justice & Social Policy minor. This summer, she is interning at Pride at Work, a contingency group of the AFL-CIO. She is excited to be in DC and is honored to be a Machon Kaplan participant at the Religious Action Center.

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By Elise Glaser

With the correct resources and aid, those suffering from mental illness can find a way to a cure, or a way to effectively manage their illness. I watched my brother climb out of a deep addiction after years of rehab, sober living, Narcotics Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous and therapy. Only with my parents’ health insurance was this possible and was his stability secured. I have many friends who have found their way out of depression, anxiety, eating disorders and obsessive compulsive disorder with the right medication and treatment. However, these treatments were always accessible by their families’ income and insurance. Throughout these rehabilitation processes, there was little help or guidance from the government, putting the majority of the stress on the concerned family members.

With a disorganized, under-funded mental health care system, there is significant economic discrimination against those who cannot afford private practice treatments and pricey medication.

On June 16, a hearing was held on the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act. Congressman Tim F. Murphy (R-PA-18) stated that this bill (H.R. 2646): “aims to fix the nation’s mental health programs by refocusing reforming grants and removing barriers to care.”

“We spend 130 billion on 112 programs and agencies that don’t work together and don’t have good results.” More than 11 million Americans suffer from severe mental illness, Chairman Pitts asserted in the hearing. Rep. Murphy also stated: “I hear judges sometimes say, ‘well it’s not against the law to be crazy.’ Well, it’s not against the law to have a heart attack but we do something about it.”

The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act is a significant step forward as the committee recognizes the numerous flaws in the mental health system. The bill resonated deeply with me, as many of the barriers listed are ones my family had to break through. Although we had the money, due to a flawed law, in court, my unstable brother chose to walk out of mental wards onto the streets instead of coming home.

June 16, I attended a child nutrition hearing, there, Congressman Dave Brat (R-VA-7) voiced his worry about the impact that SNAP and children’s free meal programs would have on the family structure. He felt that the more the government did, the less the parents would work for their kids. The witness, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, refuted this claim quickly. He stated: “I was an orphan and my adopted mother was an addict, she was not there when she was using or drinking. We all wish that there is a family member there for that child, but if not, someone has to be there.” This relates closely to the government’s role in an individual’s mental health. Although one would hope this person could help themselves out of their mental illness or have the money, family and access to deal with their illness, there is substantial evidence that that is often not possible. As Tom Vilsack said: “someone has to be there”, a functioning, accessible mental health system should be that support system.

At the same child nutrition hearing, Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR-1) stated succinctly: “no one struggles by choice.” It is difficult to remember that no individual makes the decision to be hungry, uneducated, overworked, homeless, mentally ill or addicted.

After about 10 days in D.C. navigating The Hill and attending hearings, my main takeaway is the detached but impactful influence decisions here have on the individual constituent. It is my hope that legislation like the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act is a positive gateway to a more obtainable outlook on treating mental illness. As individuals, we must advocate for a more efficient mental health system, we must also take steps in our own lives to combat the persistent stigmas around mental illness.

To learn more, visit the RAC’s page on mental health.

Elise Glaser is an incoming sophomore at Lewis and Clark College. She currently plans to major in Psychology and French. She grew up in Woodinville, Washington, outside of Seattle. She is currently interning at MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, where she tracks bills on child, senior and military hunger. She hopes to have a career working with non profits. 

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By Talia Berniker

Though skeptics will argue if it’s scientifically true, and politicians will argue about whether it’s relevant, climate change is a threat to our environment, health and economy. When confronting an international issue, like climate change, it is imperative that the United States be at the forefront of creating innovative policies. By refraining from acting on this increasingly time-sensitive issue, our government is ignoring the repercussions of America’s contribution to greenhouse gasses—endangering not only our livelihood, but the well-being of people around the world. In a nation categorized by its wealth and opportunity, it is unjust that the effects of climate change are impacting those in developing countries who leave a much smaller carbon footprint as a result of their inexistent spending power.

As a sophomore in high school, I participated in the RAC’s L’Taken seminar program. I remember writing a passionate essay on the detrimental effects of climate change and proudly sharing my concerns with my Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley of Oregon. As a result of my liberal, eco-chic upbringing in Portland, I was raised with an awareness of climate change. However, I was surprised that other students on the program weren’t as familiar with the concept. Working in Washington, D.C. this summer has reignited the passion I have towards addressing climate change in our national legislature, reminding me of the destructive consequences of inaction. While being environmentally aware may be a cool, cultural trend in Portland, this attitude is not universal and the serious repercussions of ignoring global warming are not explicit in our media and legislative policies

Though the United States is home to only 5 percent of the world’s population, we produce about 19 percent of the world’s greenhouse emissions, impacting the well-being of communities other than our own. The United States can rectify this issue by investing in clean energy. Researching, utilizing and producing renewable sources of energy, such as wind power and solar power, produce both environmental and economic benefits. Furthermore, as new jobs are created by investing in clean energy, our nation reduces our dependency on foreign oil and foreign power. In the wake of arguments surrounding the keystone pipeline, and other proposals to harness oil in North America, I am frustrated by our desire to invest in industries that are unable to produce energy in the long-run. In an era of Google Glass and recreational space shuttles, I find it dumbfounding that we haven’t created means to make clean energy more affordable and sustainable.

I find solace in the fact that the Jewish community acknowledges the realities of climate change and the consequences of inaction. Jewish values corroborate a need to take initiative as our religious texts emphasize that we much each be stewards of the earth. The book of Genesis stresses this concept, highlighting our duty as individuals to care for our environment and all that dwell in it, “the human being was placed in the Garden of Eden to till it and to tend it”(Genesis 2:15).

As individuals, and as Jews, it is our duty to care for the environment. We don’t need to all wear Birkenstocks and chastise those who drive to work, but it is essential that we recognize that climate change isn’t a problem that will solve itself. Rather, we need to address the issue from a political standpoint— acknowledging that climate change is not only an environmental and economic dilemma, impacting multiple facets of American politics and infrastructure, but an international threat to public health and developing nations.

Talia Berniker is a Machon Kaplan 2015 participant. She loves playing the guitar, going to concerts and drinking coffee. She is a sophomore at the University of Oregon and plans on majoring in Journalism with a focus in advertising and minors in Political Science and Multimedia Design. She is interning this summer at the Jewish Council for Public Affairs.

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By Sophie Ranen

As an intern at The National Religious Campaign Against Torture, I have had the opportunity to learn about a pressing racial justice issue: solitary confinement.

Currently, the United States holds at least 80,000 prisoners in isolation, more than any other country in the world. Prisoners in solitary confinement are held alone, or with another person, in a small cell for 22-24 hours a day and deprived of human contact, natural sunlight, and productive activities for months, years, or even decades. Isolation is used both as punishment for behavior in prison as well as gang management. For the former, prisoners receive a sentence for a specified time-period while prisoners with assumed gang affiliation often receive indefinite sentences. Additionally, solitary confinement is often used as punishment for non-violent infractions of prison discipline such as talking back, having too many postage stamps, wearing the wrong sweatshirt, or cheering too loudly for the Patriots during the Super Bowl.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, Professor Juan Méndez, declared in 2011 that solitary confinement for periods over 15 days should be absolutely prohibited based on scientific evidence of irreversible psychological damage caused by isolation. This damage is extremely problematic for both those who enter the prison system with mental illness as well as those who do not. Solitary confinement has been proven to worsen, intensify, and induce psychological disorders and fundamentally alter brain structure and function.

In his speech at the Strategic Convening on Solitary Confinement and Human Rights, Dr. Terry Kupers, M.D., M.S.P. describes the universal and predictable symptoms of individuals in solitary confinement. These symptoms include terrible headaches, trouble sleeping, anxiety and panic attacks, profound anger, dread, and paranoia. Prisoners in solitary confinement also become victims of cognitive and memory problems, perform ritualistic compulsive acts, and suffer from severe depression.

For individuals with pre-existing mental illnesses and those prone to mental illness, the effect of solitary confinement on their mental health is even more significant. Prisoners often experience psychotic episodes while in solitary confinement and others are placed in solitary confinement because their psychotic breakdowns are interpreted as “acting out.” Suicide is also a harrowing result of solitary: in California, 60-70% of successful suicides occur among the 5-6% of the population in conditions of solitary confinement.

Genesis states that “It is not good for a human to be alone” (2:18) and the Talmud, when speaking of a man who had outlived his study partners and wished to die, points out the necessity of companionship for human existence when it teaches, “Either companionship or death!” (Babylonian Talmud Ta’anit 23a). These texts, along with the evidence of inhumane and degrading treatment of our fellow citizens, reveal that as Jews and members of the human community, we must take action to stop the use of solitary confinement and advocate for alternatives that provide an avenue for rehabilitation and therapeutic interventions.

Sophie Ranen is a rising junior at the University of Pennsylvania where she is majoring in Health and Societies with a concentration in Health Policy and Law. As a Machon Kaplan participant, Sophie is interning at the National Religious Campaign Against Torture.

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By Elise Sugarman

On June 2, one day after the Patriot Act expired, the Senate passed the USA Freedom Act to renew three parts of the Patriot Act, including the controversial Section 215. Despite keeping the section which allows the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to require all professionals and companies, including doctors, universities, restaurants, etc., to share their customer and/or clients’ records, the legislation ended the National Security Agency’s (NSA) phone collection program. This program granted the NSA the authority to collect records and information on terrorist suspects through their phone calls. Furthermore, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals determined on May 7 that the program was unconstitutional as it represents a shift in the government’s approach to combating terrorism. Specifically, the court ruled that the program is illegal because it does not fall under the clear language of the law.

The termination of this program is a small victory, as the Reform Movement has long cherished and sought to protect individuals’ right to privacy. Judaism teaches that privacy is an essential element of personality and without this right, people are denied their individuality and are thus dehumanized. The Jewish tradition emphasizes the importance of this right through the story of Balaam’s refusal to curse the children of Israel. When he reached the Jewish community, “he saw that the entrances to their tents were not directly opposite each other, so that one family did not virtually intrude the privacy of the other” (B. Talmud, Baba Batra 60a). The Israelites’ value of privacy convinced Balaam to bless the community, “How fair are your tents, O Jacob, Your dwellings, O Israel!” (Numbers 24:5) rather than follow his original intent to curse them.

Since the September 11^th attacks, privacy issues have become ever more salient as the need for heightened efforts to ensure national security have come up against the unassailable civil liberties that shape and inform our government and society. Despite the USA Freedom Act’s limited victory for privacy, their phone collection program will continue for an additional six months because the Justice Department requested authorization from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act created the FISA court, which acts as a secret tribunal to make the final decision on almost all NSA requests, thus allowing them to determine the program’s extension. Furthermore, regardless of the Senate passing the USA Freedom Act, and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling that the NSA’s phone collection program was illegal, the Obama administration also agreed that NSA should be allowed to continue their phone collection program for an additional six months.

While the Senate passage of the USA Freedom Act is an encouraging, important step forward to ensuring privacy rights for all Americans, many obstacles remain in place that require our attention and action.

Learn more about the RAC’s work on civil liberties here.

Elise Sugarman is a rising junior at Occidental College in Los Angeles, California. She is a 2015 Machon Kaplan participant, and is interning at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.

The post What Can We Call a Victory for Privacy Rights? appeared first on Fresh Updates from RAC.

Each summer, the RAC hosts a series of Intern events for Jewish college students in Washington. Join us! We look forward to meeting you.

Tuesday, June 9th, 6:00pm | Meet S’More Interns!

Welcome to Washington! Start your summer off with s’mores and pizza at the RAC and mingle with other Jewish college interns who are spending the summer in D.C. Spread the word!

The event is free but please RSVP here so we know how many to expect.

Brown Bag Lunch Events

Bring your lunch (and your friends!) for some learning and conversation. The RAC will provide dessert!

Thursday, July, 2nd, 12:00-1:30 | The Morning After: the Supreme Court Term in the Light of Day

Every June, the Supreme Court hands down high-profile decisions. We’ll be discussing the rulings in King v. Burwell (the ACA case) and Obergefell v. Hodges (the marriage equality case), as well as looking at the landscape of cases over the last term that have particular importance to the faith community. Come to this lunch and learn to get an understanding of the cases, the decisions and what the future might have in store for healthcare, LGBT equality, religious freedom and a number of other topics the Supreme Court has opined on this year.

Thursday, July 9th, 12:00-1:30 | Changing the Conversation on Climate 

As Jews, we know that we have an obligation to our earth, to “till and tend” it as God told humankind in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:15). But environmentalism is about more than just tilling and tending the earth so that our children and our children’s children can inherit a habitable planet. When we think about climate change and the effects scientists have predicted in the coming years, we should also be thinking about communities that are affected today and the injustice of unequal access to clean air and clean water and unequal vulnerability to rising sea levels, increased hunger from decreased crop availability and extreme weather events. In Proverbs 31:9 we are told: “Speak up, judge righteously, champion the poor and the needy.”  Join us for a discussion and workshop on climate justice, the intersection between climate change, economic inequality and racial injustice.

We are located at 2027 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20007. 

The post Intern Events at the RAC this Summer appeared first on Fresh Updates from RAC.

Jewish tradition teaches us that our bodies and the preservation of our health is above all the most cherished value.   God bestowed onto us the opportunity for life and prosperity and we have to obligation to treat our bodies with the utmost care and respect.  We see this value reflected in the current U.S healthcare system.

One of the most important pieces of legislation implemented during Obama’s presidency is the healthcare reform bill known as the Affordable Care Act.  The bill states its mission within its title- improving access to high quality health care at an affordable price for all Americans.   The first aspect of this bill is patient protection: safeguards from the devastating costs of contracting an illness or losing your job and having no means of getting appropriate medical care.  Prior to 2010, with the enactment of the Affordable Care Act, 1 out of 5 Americans under the age of 65 were uninsured.  This not only puts their safety at risk, but it makes a high percentage of the American people vulnerable to bankruptcy if faced with a health emergency. Through the implementation of the Affordable Care Act it is making it possible to protect patients, at any age, from the realities of rising medical costs.  By increasing the number of Americans with insurance coverage, we can care for our bodies through an affordable and accessible system of care.

Through a Jewish lens, our bodies are a gift from God for us to borrow. Being healthy and caring for ourselves is almost a religious obligation.  As stated in the Torah, “He who does good to his own person is a man of piety” (Proverbs 11:17)  In the Jewish tradition, the predominant reason to not observe the practices of Shabbat or fast during Yom Kippur is if you are caring for yourself or others.

In Jewish communities throughout history, there have been public programs in place following the value of tzedakah, a shared obligation of the community to meet basic human needs for all.  In this sense, it is not on our doctors and health care facilitators to provide the care, it is a communal obligation to help the poor gain access to the appropriate health care they need to first be healthy individuals then good Jews.

It is not enough to make health care accessible, but we must use resources well in order to make it affordable. Through our course with the RAC on social justice and Jewish values, Rabbi Saperstein taught us of the commandment of Bal Tashchit, do not destroy, we must be cautious not the waste limited resources.  By improving communication and implementation of health care through electronic records and the avoidance of excessive testing and treatments, we can avoid the wastefulness of the current health care system, which is becoming increasingly unaffordable.  As health care spending becomes the leading cause for our nations debt, it continues to represent almost 18% of our GDP.

In the Talmud it states, “He who saves a single life saves the entire world.”  Through the improvements and effective implementation of the Affordable Care Act to better provide high quality care for all Americans, we can better maintain the belief that all people are created b’tselem Elohim, in the image of God, and deserve access to affordable, high-quality care.

Emily Hornstein is a senior at the University of California, Berkeley, where she is a psychology major. Originally from Ventura, CA, Emily grew up attending Temple Beth Torah. 

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On Sunday, April 13, 2014, just before Passover began, Fraizer Glenn Cross opened fire outside the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City, killing Dr. William Lewis Corporon and his grandson Reat Griffin Underwood. Corporon was accompanying Underwood to auditions for the KC SuperStar singing competition, which were held at the JCC that day. Cross opened fire again at Village Shalom, a Jewish old age home about a mile away, killing Terri LaManno, an occupational therapist who was visiting her mother. After being taken into custody, Cross yelled, “Heil Hitler.”

Based on both this exclamation and his previous history, it is not unsurprising that Cross–known also by his pseudonym, Fraizer Glenn Miller–attacked two Jewish institutions. In the 1980s, he founded and ran the Carolina Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) sued Cross for operating an illegal paramilitary organization and intimidation of African-Americans. Carolina Knights were barred from operating and Cross was forbidden to establish another white supremacist group. Within a month, however, Cross established the White Patriot Party.

In 1986, a marine admitted to selling the White Patriot Party anti-tank rockets, mines and explosives. Cross was sentenced to six months for violating the SPLC suit. He appealed, and went underground.The FBI found him with a cache of weapons. Cross was indicted, and as part of a plea deal, he testified against 14 other white supremacists in exchange for a shorter sentence of five years. He only served three of them.

Cross ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2006 and for the Senate in 2010. His campaign ads urged White Americans to take back the country from Jews and mud people. In a 2010 interview with Howard Stern, he was asked whether he hated Jews or African-Americans more. He answered Jews, saying that, “Compared to our Jewish problem, all other problems are mere distractions.” His explanation was that Jews were using their control of the federal government, the mass media, and the Federal Reserve to commit genocide against the white race. None of Cross’s victims that April day were Jewish but it is clear based on his past history and the places he targeted that he meant to, in his words, “help solve America’s Jewish problem.” Therefore, he will be tried on hate crime charges–in addition to first-degree murder–at both the state and federal level.

The Kansas City shootings hit home with me in a way I’m sure it hit home with Jews across the country. It could have been my community. It could have been my JCC. Jews are more secure in the United States than we have been anywhere, ever, but there are still people who wish to harm us because we are Jews. I would love to feel safe and comfortable in temple or at another Jewish institution, or walking down the street with a tar of avid or a chai around my neck, but incidents like these remind me that we are still targeted for who we are. No one likes to feel insecure. No one wants to be a target.

Could Cross’s violent acts have been prevented? The SPLC had him on a tracking list for hate groups and extremists, but they are a nonprofit organization with no law enforcement power. The Department of Homeland Security does not have a domestic security intelligence operation. A DHS report about right-wing extremism did leak in 2009, but backlash from conservatives led the agency to withdraw it. Homeland Security has not issued another report on the topic since. If the DHS had tracked Cross could the shootings have been prevented? It is impossible to know for sure, but if law enforcement agencies rethink strategies to prevent all forms of terror and intimidation, it is possible that hate crimes like Cross’s could be prevented in the future.

Rosie Berman is a junior at Clark Univeristy, where she is majoring in Political Science. As a Machon Kaplan participant, Rosie interned at STAND.

The post Issues of Extremism in America Today appeared first on Fresh Updates from RAC.

I spend every Tuesday at a local nursing home visiting my dear friend, Fay, a Holocaust survivor. At ninety years old, her mind is as sharp as a nail and she easily recounts the story of her life: from the horrors of the camps, to the beauty of Israel, and finally to the hard work, freedom, and challenges of America.  Each week as I ready to leave her and return to school, a look of loneliness washes over the smile on her face and I am reminded that her only other visitors are nurses and her devoted daughter who can only visit once a week.

The elderly compose a significant amount of the United States population. Statistics indicate that 10,000 baby boomers will turn sixty-five each day for the next fifteen years.  The U.S. population is rapidly aging yet the elderly are often viewed in an intensely negative light. The elderly are a target population for abuse of all kinds: physical, sexual, verbal, and financial exploitation.  It is estimated that a shocking 500,000 older adults  are abused each year in the United States. The overwhelming majority of abusers are the individual’s own family members, with the majority being partners and children of the individuals. Most of these cases go unreported because the abused individual does not have the physical capability or mental capacity to inform an official of the mistreatment.

Elder abuse is a major issue currently plaguing Israel as well. A report by the University of Haifa in 2005 indicated that 18 percent of the elderly participants in their study were subject to some form of abuse. The most common form is verbal abuse, indicating a potential problem in interpersonal relationships as individual’s age. Verbal abuse may also be used as a method to instill terror and power in a relationship, lending way for the path to more types of abuse.

Our tradition teaches us to respect and revere the elderly. In Leviticus 19:32 we are commanded to honor the old and the wise. The Mishnah reads, “Don’t look at the flask, but at what it contains.” An individual’s exterior does not properly convey the depth of its contents. Fay appears to be a frail old woman with a failing body, but her mind is as active as ever. The elderly are people, above all else, and they deserve to be treated as such.

It is impossible to ignore the fact that we will all grow old one day. With this in mind, I urge you to take some time and think about giving back by volunteering with a senior in your area.  You may be the only contact that person has with the outside world besides their caregiver and can advocate on their behalf if you are suspicious of abuse. You can visit Give Back to Seniorsto search for volunteer opportunities in your community.

Linda Nakagawa is a senior at Brandeis University. She is a double major in Psychology and Politics with a minor in Social Justice Social Policy. Linda is originally from Newburgh, New York and is a member of Temple Beth Jacob. As a Machon Kaplan participant, Linda interned at the National Association of States United for Aging and Disability.

The post A Comparative View of Elder Abuse in the U.S. and Israel appeared first on Fresh Updates from RAC.

As the only thriving democracy in the Middle East, Israel is a beacon of light in a region often filled with despair. And yet, despite its democratic nature, when it comes to religious pluralism, Israel has a long way to go. In 1947, Israel adopted the Ottoman Millet system, formerly in place under the British Mandate, which allowed for religious groups within Israel to establish their own legal systems governing personal status laws (marriage, divorce, alimony, etc.) The URJ notes that there are presently 13 recognized religions in Israel, including Judaism, Islam, Druze, and several Christian denominations. Within the Jewish tradition, however, only Orthodox Judaism is recognized by the state under the Ministry of Religious Affairs. All other Jewish denominations, including Reform and Conservative, function under the Ministry of Culture and Sports.

The founders of Israel believed that by giving the Haredim (ultra-Orthodox) authority over personal status issues, it would help ensure the cohesiveness and strength of the Jewish majority in Israel. The ultra-Orthodox in Israel have used this authority to mandate that personal status ceremonies follow halachic law. Thus, Jews are only permitted to marry other Jews and Israel recognizes only heterosexual marriages, among other restrictions.

According to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, Haredi Jews make up only 12 percent of the population of Israel, while all other Jews constitute nearly 63 percent of the population. Despite being in the minority, however, the ultra-orthodox Rabbinate controls practically all personal status law for Israeli Jews. Naturally, this has caused significant problems for the Conservative, Reform, secular, and other Jewish communities in Israel.

As a result, many Israelis now choose to marry outside of the country. For example, Anat Hoffman, Executive Director of IRAC, described in a compelling article the marriage of her son outside of Israel due to these restrictive personal status laws. Hoffman reports that leaving the country is the only way for Israeli Jews “to marry outside of the framework of the ultra-Orthodox Chief Rabbinate.” Consequently, there have been many calls for reform of the personal status laws and Millet system. Last year, Finance Minister Yair Lapid and Labor Party Chairwoman Shelly Yachimovich called for official recognition of the non-Orthodox streams of Judaism, as well as of civil marriage, same-sex marriage, and women’s equality within the Israeli Jewish community. Indeed, a majority of Israeli Jews feel discriminated against by the present personal status laws. Moreover, most Jews (particularly non-Orthodox Jews) in the diaspora want more religious pluralism in Israel and have increasingly been making their voices heard. The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, for example, continuously works for religious pluralism in Israel and has helped bring about positive changes.

As with every true democracy, the legitimacy of Israel’s democratic character depends on a vibrant degree of religious pluralism. It is an issue important to Jews the world over.

Hannah Ehlers is a rising junior at American University in Washington, D.C. She is a Jewish Studies major and German Area Studies minor. Originally from outside of Philadelphia, Hannah grew up attending Congregation Beth Or in Maple Glen, Pennsylvania. As part of Machon Kaplan, Hannah is interning this summer with Americans for Peace Now. 

The post Religion in Israel: Democracy and Pluralism Must go Hand in Hand appeared first on Fresh Updates from RAC.

“Whatever valuable information testing mandates provided have been completely overshadowed by the enormous collateral damage inflicted on too many students. Our schools have been reduced to mere test prep factories and we are too-often ignoring student learning and opportunity in America.”- NEA President Dennis Van Roekel

The National Education Association recently hosted the Annual Meeting and Representative Assembly (RA) Conference in Denver, CO. The RA is the primary legislative and policymaking body of the association. The NEA members, reaching nearly 9,000 delegates, voted to launch a Toxic Testing Campaign to bring the focus back to supporting students learning. These delegates, most of whom are teachers themselves, are not against testing to understand student comprehension, but rather the excessive need to test of local, state, national and district levels to evaluate a school or teacher. Many times these tests are not as beneficial to the students as the financial gain for the school.

On average, a month’s worth of school is being spent on testing. This is about 1/3 of school time being used to prepare, give and review standardized tests. Unfortunately, it is significantly more difficult to pass legislation on testing than on other facets of education reform. The issues surrounding testing surpass the excessive time used on testing and move into issues of student capability. Part of why these tests are toxic, in terms of mandates, is because they can lack nuance. Students within the same grade but different learning levels are faced with being challenged at a different level than they are accurately capable. As a result, the National Education Association is making an effort to restructure the No Child Left Behind Act to eliminate some of the toxic testing and return to a public school education that genuinely focuses on the needs of the students.

In a resolution adopted by the Central Conference of American Rabbis, we are reminded that “The Reform Jewish movement has developed very strong policy supporting the maintenance and enhancement of the public schools and opposing any schemes to divert resources from them”. There is strong support of the education system in the United States. We must provide students with a safe, nurturing environment for them to learn. The first step to creating a strong, connected community is ensuring that every student, no matter their socio-economic status, have access to an education that provides them the best opportunity. This will ensure a strong sense of community and continual growth in and out of the classroom.

What is the purpose of education? And how do we teach creativity? These questions should remain at the core of our education system. Some forms of testing do not provide the younger generation with the tools to effectively learn material and creatively problem solve and, therefore, should not have such high stakes in the progression of students’ lives. The ultimate goal should be to implement policy and education reforms that will increase the quality of education to ensure that K-12 students are being given their best chance.

Lauren Offermann is a rising junior at Brandeis University. She is an Education Studies major and French and Judaic Studies minor. Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, Lauren grew up attending Baltimore Hebrew Congregation. As a Machon Kaplan participant, Lauren is interning at the National Education Association this summer.  

The post Toxic Testing in the Class Room appeared first on Fresh Updates from RAC.

As someone who has traveled a good amount, I can’t say I’m always proud of some of the American stereotypes that are out there, worst of all – that Americans are overweight. This is more than a stereotype nowadays when one in three children in the United States is either overweight or obese. In order to fight the past few decades’ transition to unhealthy behavior, First Lady Michelle Obama started the Let’s Move Campaign in 2010.

Children have more access to technology which requires little to no movement to entertain them and parents have less time to make home cooked meals than ever before. The task of eating and engaging in more healthy behavior is the responsibility of every American citizen. The campaign makes the point that healthy activities and foods need to take place in all stages of childhood- prenatal, infancy, and early childhood through high school age. Through every developmental stage, others involved in a child’s life should be involved in promoting healthy habits. Parents, caregivers, schools, community members and food providers all need to be part of this movement for it to be successful.

The overarching goals of the campaign are strong and Michelle Obama has narrowed its scope through initiatives such as Let’s Move Faith and Communities, where focused attention is placed on faith-based and community organizations. These places serve as a great source to reach out to families and communities. These organizations could help by creating frequent exercise activities or nutrition classes and by feeding children over the summer when they may have more free time. Another initiative is the Chefs Move to School where Chefs are paired with schools and school districts to work with the students and staff to create healthy school environments. Many of the other initiatives aim their focus in one community or large organization in a community to help bring people together to increase activity and eat healthier.

In our own communities, we can make a difference too. Talmud Bavli describes, “By the breath of children God sustains the world” (Shabbat 119b). Judaism has always taught the importance of children and teaching them. Children need to be taught further than the standard school curriculum and must learn how to live a healthy lifestyle. Children are the next generation in America and if the Let’s Move Campaign can help raise healthy children, it will help raise a healthier America as well.

So what can you do? It is summer: go outside, get some fresh air and some fresh food. Bring a friend, a neighbor, or family member to engage in activity with you and be aware of what your community is doing, what needs to be done, or how you can get involved in the Let’s Move Campaign.

Rebecca Benoff is a rising junior at The George Washington University where she is majoring in psychology and minoring in Judaic studies. She is from Newtown, Pennsylvania outside of Philadelphia, where she attended Congregation Shir Ami. As a Machon Kaplan participant, Rebecca interned at the Alliance for Justice this summer. 

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Years ago homelessness was only found on the streets of cities, a phenomenon hidden from rural and suburban towns. However with a population of over 3.5 million people per year, homelessness is an issue that has spread to all areas of the country. Homelessness affects people of all races, religions, ethnicities, genders, and other various backgrounds. Unfortunately as homelessness has increased in the United States, the amount of violent acts committed towards these individuals has simultaneously followed the pattern. According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, during the last 15 years there have been 1,437 acts of violence towards homeless individuals, 375 of which resulted in the death of the homeless individual. With the intended goal of providing equal rights to homeless people through the means of medical care, free speech, free movement, voting, employment opportunities, and privacy provisions, the Homeless Bill of Rights was presented. The first state to adopt this legislation was Rhode Island in 2012 and since then Illinois, Connecticut, and Puerto Rico all ratified this bill.

As of June 11, 2014, Delaware entered the path for the ratification of this essential legislation.  While the Homeless Bill of Rights would secure broader access to shelter facilities, legal counseling, and the education for the children of homeless families, many states are reluctant. In fact, discussions on the ratification of this legislation have only occurred in California, Minnesota, Missouri, Oregon, Tennessee, Vermont, Baltimore, Maryland, and Madison, Wisconsin. As Jews it is our obligation to help homeless individuals.

When our ancestors were slaves in Egypt, they faced horrible conditions, but they were freed from their enslavement. Since we can empathize with the situation of many homeless individuals, it is our duty as Jews to provide tzedakah. While donating money or food is helpful, there are larger steps that should be taken.  According to Maimonides there are eight levels of charity, each grander than the one that precedes it. The lowest level is when a person unwillingly gives tzedakah, a situation that occurs quite frequently. When you reach the highest level of charity, it includes helping the person “strengthen their own hand until he need no longer be dependent on others”, through finding employment or other similar endeavors.

The passage of The Homeless Bill of Rights would do just as the highest level of charity suggests, helping homeless individuals search for job opportunities to allow self-sufficiency. This bill is the first US state-level law that has the intention of protecting the rights of homeless individuals. Ratifying the Homeless Bill of Rights in each state will make great strides for tikkun olam, and as Jews, we should do all that we can to help repair the world and aid those who are in need in our community, state, and country as a whole.

To find out more about how you can help, learn about the National Coalition for the Homeless, and take action here to support low-income housing!

Alia Degen is a rising sophomore at The University of Vermont. She is a Global Studies major with a minor in Spanish as well as a minor in Community and International Development. Originally from Groton, Massachusetts, Alia is a member of Congregation Shalom in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. This summer Alia interned for Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch.  

The post The “Right” Action to Take in Aiding the Homeless appeared first on Fresh Updates from RAC.

“DOMA’s principal effect is to identify a subset of state-sanctioned marriages and make them unequal…for it tells those couples, and all the world, that their otherwise valid marriages are unworthy of federal recognition.” – Justice Robert Kennedy, Majority Opinion in U.S. v. Windsor

On June 26, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in this landmark case, declaring Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act – which defined a spouse as someone of the opposite sex and marriage as a union between one man and one woman – unconstitutional. Following this decision, there was a surge in the fight for marriage equality all over the country.  There are currently 19 states along with the District of Columbia that have removed bans on same-sex marriage.  Recently, states have been overturning bans on same-sex marriage every other week.  It seems that the movement for marriage equality and LGBT rights is at its highest and most successful point.  But it’s not.

With states removing their bans so quickly, many people believe that this country has almost, if not already, won the fight for marriage equality; however, marriage equality is just one of many issues that the LGBT community continually faces.  Only 21 states have laws that prohibit workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and only 18 on gender identity.  Transgender people all around the country do not have full access to proper healthcare.  Very few states allow same-sex couples to adopt children from the overwhelmed foster system. The LGBT movement cannot push these and various other issues to the wayside.

To win the fights that the LGBT community still faces, we must not lose the momentum that exists alongside the fight formarriage equality.  The federal system should be the example for the states. Congress needs to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and the Every Child Deserves a Family Act.

Our tradition demands, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Leviticus 19:18). At the simplest level, this text demonstrates the need for equality. This is one of the first basic texts that we learn as children and one that is reiterated consistently throughout our Jewish adult life.  Discrimination of any sort is in complete conflict with this text.  As Jews, and as moral human beings, must fight for equality on all fronts; we are fighting for so much more than marriage equality, we are fighting for total equality because we are Jews, and above all, we are humans and everyone deserves to be treated as

Aliya Levinstein is a rising junior at American University studying interdisciplinary studies of communications, legal studies, economics, and government; with a double major in justice.  She is originally from Newburgh, NY and was a member at Temple Beth Jacob.  Through Machon Kaplan, Aliya is interning at Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, or PFLAG National.

The post Beyond the Fight for Marriage Equality appeared first on Fresh Updates from RAC.

With seemingly near constant news headlines of mass shootings and other acts of gun violence, debate on prevention measures for public safety is critical. The issue of whether universal background checks should be required for all firearm purchases is a possible solution to decrease some of these disturbing statistics:

• One in three people in the U.S. know someone who has been shot;
• On average, 32 Americans are murdered with guns every day and 140 are treated in an emergency room for gun-related injuries;
• Every day, about 51 people take their own life with a gun and 45 people are shot or killed in a gun accident.

Gun violence among children and teens is also an increasingly alarmingly issue. On average, at least one in five U.S. teenagers (ages 14 to 17) report having witnessed a shooting and guns are responsible for the deaths of eight children and teens every day.

While universal background checks are not the only solution to ending gun violence, instituting them will make the accessibility of guns more difficult—keeping some people with serious mental illness or criminal histories from obtaining these deadly weapons. Many Americans support this solution: nine out of 10 Americans agree that we should have universal background checks.

The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act was passed by Congress in 1993. It instituted federal background checks on firearm purchasers in the U.S. and since its enactment, nearly 2 million attempts to purchase firearms have been blocked due to a background check. About half of these blocked attempts were by convicted felons and domestic abusers.

Unfortunately, the current background check system only covers 60% of all gun sales—the 40% of guns purchased through online sales, at gun shows and through straw men buyers are done with no background check.

Gun violence is a particular concern in Judaism—our tradition teaches us the value of human life and the importance of preserving it. Judaism instructs us to use our technological advances for the greater good, not for violence and destruction. Our tradition idealizes a world free of weapons and violence.

The Reform Movement supports strong legislation to prevent gun violence including limiting manufacture, sale and possession of firearms. Tell your members of Congress prevent more gun violence by signing the petition to expand Brady Background Checks to all gun purchases.

Nicole Dimond is a rising junior at The George Washington University. She is an International Affairs major with a Conflict Resolution concentration and a French minor. Originally from Miami, Florida, Nicole grew up attending Temple Judea.

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“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”  -Martin Luther King Jr.

In 1965, change was in the air.  At the height of the American civil rights movement, African-American leaders were working to eliminate the barriers that prevented minorities from exercising their 15th Amendment rights to vote.  The new amendment, known as the Voting Rights Act (VRA), was successfully signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson that year.

Almost fifty years later, these rights were thrown into jeopardy by a 2013 Supreme Court ruling, Shelby v. Holder..  Section 4 of the VRA, which required that any changes to voting laws must be pre-cleared by the federal government as to avoid discrimination, was struck down and today’s civil rights advocates reacted with outrage. http://www.naacp.org/news/entry/naacp-rallies-to-protect-the-voting-rights-act

A country is a democracy when all of its citizens have the right to choose their leaders by participating in elections, and the privilege to make their voices heard.  Voting is the most accessible form of civic engagement, and perhaps even the most important.

Participating in one’s community is not just an American value, but a Jewish value as well.  In the Talmud, Rabbi Yitzhak taught that “A ruler is not to be appointed unless the community is first consulted”.

One Jewish proverb (“Mitzvah goreret mitzvah” and its complement, “averah goreret averah“) teaches us that our actions and ways of thinking have consequences and ultimately make a larger impact.  Just as good deeds (mitzvot) lead to more good deeds, one bad deed (averah) can lead to another.

This philosophy is true for the issue of voting rights.  One bad choice – eliminating the protections of the VRA – could reopen the door for detrimental changes that lead to the same discrimination that the 15th Amendment fought.  At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the one-year anniversary of the 2013 VRA decision, Rev. Francys Johnson of the Georgia NAACP spoke of the discriminatory poll taxes that left many impoverished African-Americans unable to vote in his state.  Other districts subjected African-Americans to a humiliating “literacy” test in order to vote – a test that very few of us could actually pass.

These hurdles do not exist anymore, and we, as citizens of America, must make sure that it remains this way.  As Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said in her dissent last year, overturning Section 4 of the VRA is equivalent to “throwing your umbrella away in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet”. Let’s make sure no that no one is stuck out in the rain, and let’s pass the Voting Rights Amendments Act.

Rachel Hirschhaut is a rising senior at Brandeis University, where she studies English and journalism.  She is a member of North Shore Congregation Israel in Glencoe, IL, and was a Machon Kaplan intern at the NAACP Washington Bureau.

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In 1974, two members of the House of Representatives, Reps. Bella Abzug (D-NY) and Ed Koch (D-NY), introduced a bill entitled the “Equality Act of 1974”.  This bill would ban discrimination against gays and lesbians in employment on a national level. This was the first of its kind. In 1994, this effort morphed into a bill known as ENDA, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.  At first, this legislation would have made it illegal to discriminate on the basis of a person’s actual or perceived sexual orientation.  For some, this wasn’t enough, as the 1994 bill did not include gender identity or expression until 2007 when actual or perceived gender identity/expression was added under what constituted illegal discrimination in the bill. Support for ENDA continued to grow, and in fact, this past November the Senate passed ENDA with sexual orientation and gender identity/expression included.

However, once again organizations are questioning the bill, especially following the recent Hobby Lobby decision. Within the bill currently lies a broad religious exemption that LGBT organizations disliked but many believe it couldn’t pass without it.  Now, over eight prominent LGBT organizations, such as, Pride at Work, where I intern, have withdrawn their support of ENDA in its current form.  Following the decision, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force stated “We are deeply concerned that ENDA’s broad exemption will be used as a similar license to discriminate across the country…We need new federal non-discrimination legislation that contains a reasonable religious accommodation.”

Despite all of the controversy, one thing is clear- employment discrimination is a real and present issue.  In my home state of Indiana, unless I work for the state government, I can be fired solely for being gay.  This is the reality for 52% of the nation’s LGBT population-only 18 states and the District of Colombia have state laws prohibiting employment discrimination based on actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity/expression.  There is a need for a federal law, especially with the recent overturn of marriage equality bans in many states.  There are states where LGBT workers can now legally marry their partner but can be fired for displaying their picture at work.

The need for employment protections was realized 40 years ago.  As Jews, we know what discrimination is like and the need for fair labor practices. As our ancestors took 40 years to escape slavery in Egypt, LGBT workers have waited their 40 years for their promised land – a work environment where they are not judged by who they love.  As Jews, we fought to gain our rights as a people throughout history.  We fought in 1964 for the Civil Rights Act knowing discrimination, and refusing that treatment of others. Now, 50 years later, that fight has not ended- employment non-discrimination with a fair religious exemption needs to be the law of the land.

Frankie Salzman is a rising sophomore at Indiana University double majoring in Jewish and Religious Studies.  Originally from Carmel, IN, Frankie is the President of the IU Keshet Club and hopes to one day become a rabbi.

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When I first began kindergarten, I was very excited about school. However, in the following years, my enthusiasm dwindled as school became a routine part of life. I failed to see my school experiences as a privilege, one I obtained solely because of the location where I lived. However, if had I lived elsewhere I may have had a much different schooling experience. If I had grown up in Malawi, I might have used a brick as my desk and shared a textbook with up to ten other children. In Nigeria, I would have struggled to learn due to the constant fear of terrorist groups breaking into my school.  Or, I could have been one of the millions of children across the globe that are not even enrolled in school.

In 2002, the United Nations Millennium Development Goals made universal primary education a priority. With that goal in mind, the Global Partnership for Education was formed. This partnership includes donor governments, developing countries, private sector organizations and civil society organizations. These groups work together to plan and strategize about ways to provide education in each individual country. They also create programs to train teachers, put learning benchmarks in place, and provide a safe environment for the students. The numbers demonstrate GPE’s success: primary school enrollment has risen so that 22 million more children, including 10 million girls, are now able to attend school. Also, in conflict-affected GPE countries, literacy rates have risen by 19% and 20 GPE partner developing countries have achieved gender parity in their enrollment. However, there are still 57 million children who are not enrolled in school and reaching the Millennium Development Goal will be nearly impossible.

On June 26^th, the GPE donor countries and organizations came together to re-pledge their support for universal global education. The United States committed a total of $90 million for the years 2014-2015 and the Global Partnership in total raised $2.1 billion. This is an incredible start toward fulfilling the replenishment target of $3.5 billion for the period 2015-2018. The GPE will be able to further their work in developing countries and increase the number of children who have access to safe and productive schools.

In the future, we must continue working with congress to ensure that the announced funds are appropriated into the 2015-2016 budget. Also, advocating our continued support of the partnership to our members of congress is of utmost importance. Maimonides taught us that the highest form of tzedakah is enabling individuals to support themselves. More than anything else, education opens the possibility of a brighter future. It provides individuals with basic and critical thinking skills, promotes peace, and prepares children for the rest of their lives. So, I invite you to join with me and show your support for the Global Partnership for Education. By doing so you would not only show your support for access to education for all children, but also show that you support a brighter future for children throughout the world.

Jackie Heymann is a rising sophomore at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. She is majoring in Politics and Sociology. Originally from St. Louis Missouri, she is a member of Congregation Shaare Emeth. As a Machon Kaplan participant, she spent her summer interning for RESULTS as a Global Legislative Intern. 

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Growing up as a Reform Jew in a liberal, socially active environment in Southern California, I always felt that capital punishment and the death penalty were morally wrong and never the right response to crime. Then, as a Reform Jew in the liberal, socially active environment of Boston University, I was faced with a moral dilemma.

A little background for those who aren’t familiar with the layout of Boston and with BU: Boston University’s Charles River campus covers about 130 acres from Boston’s Back Bay District to the Charles River, and every year, it encompasses some of the last stretch of the Boston Marathon. This area includes the 25^th mile marker, where I was watching the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013, when two bombs changed the lives of hundreds of people.

It has been over a year, and I’m still not sure I’ve fully processed what happened that week. I was watching the race from mile 25 on Beacon Street when the bombs went off that Monday. I was looking out my bedroom window across the Charles River when the first helicopters and squad cars arrived at MIT after Officer Sean Collier was shot that Thursday, April 18^th. I counted armored SWAT vehicles from my balcony overlooking Storrow Drive and waved to the armed men in the Blackhawk helicopters, and I hugged every single Boston Police Officer I saw in Boston Common that Friday night.

In the days and months following the Marathon bombings, I found myself deeply conflicted.  On one hand, the case felt very close to home and personal, yet on the other, I wasn’t one of the 200+ victims or even a relative of a victim. I wanted justice for those who had been affected, but who was I to say what justice would look like? I began thinking about how an individual who had intentionally destroyed innocent lives should be held responsible for their crimes, and I began to question who other than God had the right to choose life or death for someone else.

In January, a federal grand jury returned a30-count indictment against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev for the crimes committed at and after the Boston Marathon, seventeen of which carry the possibility of the death penalty. Though Massachusetts abolished the death penalty in 1984, the courts released anotice of intent to seek the death penalty for Tsarnaev on the federal level. US Attorney General Eric H. Holder, who has previously stated that he is personally opposed to capital punishment, stated that the circumstances in this case, such as the fact that there is no question of guilt, compelled him to make the final decision.

It wasn’t until reading Holder’s decision and looking more into what Judaism had to say on the death penalty that I was able to sort out my opinion on this case. According to the Talmud Sanhedrin, “he who destroys one life, it is as though he had destroyed all humankind; whereas he who preserves one life, it is as though he preserved all humanity.” Though the events that happened that week continue to cause pain in an entire community, executing Tsarnaev wouldn’t change the past, but instead would simply create the “illusion of ultimate punishment.” While some of those 200+ victims and their families may feel that they deserve retribution in the form of execution, I have been brought back to the teachings of Judaism, the belief that the death penalty is morally wrong, and that Tsarnaev will be convicted by a higher power.

Natalie Landau is a senior at Boston University, studying socio-cultural anthropology and archaeology, with an interest in international conflict resolution and human rights law. Natalie is originally from West Hills, California, and is a member of Temple Judea. As a Machon Kaplan participant, Natalie interned at the Religious Action Center.

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On June 12, the governor of Louisiana signed a bill that will close three of the state’s five abortion facilities. Several days later, the only medical provider offering abortion care in northern Alabama shut down. And by September, Texas is expected to have only six abortion clinics. In 2011, that number was 44. Within certain regions of the United States, access to abortion is rapidly vanishing due to legislation known as Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers. These TRAP laws attempt to impose burdensome restrictions on abortion providers and limit various services within a state’s borders.

Growing up in the suburbs of Connecticut, I never had to worry about the government intervening with my reproductive health. However, I cannot say the same for my friends who live in different zip codes. I fear for the women who reside in states such as Alabama and have limited access to facilities that provide them with the care they need. If TRAP laws remain lawful in certain areas, thousands of women will be forced to drive many hours to the nearest clinic or worse, resort to receiving assistance under dangerous and harmful conditions. According to The Atlantic, women in Texas are already beginning to purchase contraceptive pills through the black market.

In Judaism, terminating a pregnancy is permitted in several instances, especially when the mother’s own life is threatened. The Reform Movement specifically advocates for reproductive justice and mirrors the ideas of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, which “opposes amendments and legislation which would abridge or circumscribe” a woman’s choice to get an abortion.

It seems to me that TRAP laws contravene the Reform Jewish interpretation of allowing all women to make the health and life choices that are right for them.  For instance, many abortion clinics are forced to close their doors because they do not meet certain building requirements that are costly, yet unnecessary, for performing the surgery. And without these clinics, women put their lives in harms way to access contraceptive services. So, what can the Reform community do to ensure the reproductive safety of American women?

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of lobbying on the Hill with the Center for Reproductive Rights through my internship at Planned Parenthood. We met with numerous members of Congress and pushed for the Women’s Health Protection Act, a bill that seeks to make certain “limitations and requirements concerning abortion services unlawful and prohibits their imposition or application by any government.” We need to look seriously at legislation like the Women’s Health Protection Act to ensure reproductive freedom to women across the nation. State and local governments should not control what women do with their bodies, nor should they indirectly force them to put their lives at risk.

Natalie Magioncalda is a rising junior at Georgetown University where she studies sociology and Jewish civilization. Originally from Cheshire, CT she is a member of Temple Beth David.

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Thousands of years ago the Jewish people were expelled from the land of Israel into the Diaspora. They remained there until 1948 when the Jewish people finally achieved the dream of a homeland when the State of Israel was born. The Jewish people have never been strangers to exile or xenophobia. Having had this unique background and history enables Jews to examine the issue of immigration reform through a fresh perspective, which will hopefully add some common sense to the chaos with which this issue has been associated in recent years. The immigrants who come to the U.S. are often exploited for cheap labor while also being robbed of any semblance of human dignity and human rights. In the Bible, Moses flees from Egypt after slaying one of the Egyptians, eventually wedding Zipporah who bears him a son, Gershom. Translated into English, Gershom means the sojourner and the Bible exclaims that Moses named his son thus because “I have been a stranger in a strange land.”

One of the more quotable lines from Scripture, this refers to Moses’s upbringing in Egypt and his subsequent escape to Midian. While Pharaoh’s anger with Moses after he committed murder is undeniable, the fact remains that he took Moses in as a baby when he had no cause to do so. Many years later Zipporah’s family did the same thing in accepting Moses into their family. Moses teaches us that it is a fundamental Jewish value to accept the stranger because we, the Jewish people, have been strangers in a strange land and we have been humbled by the experience.

The subject of immigration reform should be approached in the same way. America should be a society in which diversity and multiculturalism are embraced, not rejected. Last year, California made impressive progress on this front when Governor Jerry Brown signed into law the TRUST Act, which limits the ability of local law enforcement to detain individuals for processing by federal immigration authorities. Last spring, before the TRUST Act was signed into law, a group of Reform Jews journeyed to the State Capitol building in Sacramento to lobby in support of the TRUST Act. An Assemblyman passing by noticed the Jews by their kippot and stopped to ask, “You’re here about the TRUST Act?” They answered in the affirmative. “Is immigration a Jewish issue?” he asked. They responded unanimously: “We believe it is.”

There is no question that immigration reform has its challenges, but barring access to the country and deporting those who have already made a home for themselves here is not the answer either. As Jews, we must remember our ancestors who were cast out of their homes and became “strangers in a strange land.” We must extend hands of compassion and friendship to those who have need of them in order to uphold the ideal that America is the land of opportunity and acceptance of which it has always claimed to be.

Noah Tananbaum is from Belmont, Massachusetts and attended Beth El Temple Center in Belmont. Noah goes to school at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York and is majoring in Government. Here in DC, Noah interns at the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association (NFPRHA).

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College students nationwide are uniting in the fight to prevent and penalize sexual attackers on their campuses.  The Obama Administration has taken a “strong stance” on the issue.  The White House has created a Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault.  These and other attempts to combat sexual violence on college campuses are promising, but lack a critical collaboration of university administrators, government officials, student activists and concerned constituents.

Alarmingly, one in five women is assaulted while in college, most often during her first two years.  In a new survey by Chegg, a California-based academic company, 41 percent of female students ranked non-lethal and sexual assaults as their top concern on campus, compared to 25 percent of men.  Forty three percent of female students expressed concern in their schools’ lack of action to prevent assaults and protect victims.  Student perpetrators of sexual violence are rarely expelled, receiving punishments such as a one-semester suspension. There is virtually no transparency of university policy in the management of sexual assault cases and victim support services.

This issue is not exclusively a women’s issue.  Domestic and sexual violence are issues of public health, education, LGBT discrimination, mental health, and quality legal representation.  There has been a wave of Title IX suits against colleges and universities, including Columbia University, Yale University, University of Connecticut, University of Montana, Swarthmore College, Occidental College, and Northwestern University, seeking action outside of the confines of the normal campus disciplinary process.

On my campus this year, sexual assault was a topic of constant debate and discussion, arousing emotion and campus activism reminiscent of the student protests of the 1960s.  Hundreds of seniors donned red tape on their graduation caps to critique the infamous university bureaucracy’s handling of sexual assault cases.  The university administration hosted town hall meetings, sent informational emails from the University President and created support groups for victims.  Still lacking, however, is the powerful cooperation and collaboration among students and administrators.

The time spent on a college campus is a critical time for growth and personal exploration.  The university environment is designed to provide safety and support for such intellectual, social, and emotional development.  However, the pervasive issue of sexual violence on college campuses disrupts this experience, disempowering American youth.  Our Jewish tradition teaches us that mental distress and moral humiliation are equated with physical harm.  Our faith commands us not to stand idly by while our neighbor bleeds.  The physical and emotional abuse inherent in sexual violence is a direct violation of the Jewish tradition, but also, of a broader sense of morality, which implicates us to protect ourselves and our peers.  Whether faith, legal, grassroots, or other activism, it will take support from all of society to end sexual violence on college campuses.

Rebecca Fisher is a rising sophomore at Columbia University in New York, where she studies Political Science with a concentration in Women’s Studies.  Originally from Cherry Hill, NJ, she grew up attending Temple Emanuel.

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There are 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, 1,440 minutes in a day, and 525,600 minutes in a year. In just 60 seconds, 1 child in Africa will die due to malaria. If this doesn’t change, how many children will die this year?

Malaria is just one example of the poverty trap children globally are facing today. Getting bed net to a family in Africa only takes $10, so why have we not seen this disease eradicated? Without foreign aid, families struggle to keep their children safe from this disease. In order for families to buy these life-saving nets, they need money. Money is earned through jobs; and jobs are earned by working hard. In areas with tremendous amounts of poverty, parents usually cannot stay well enough to hold a solid job, receive a steady pay, and eventually be able to provide their children with a safe and healthy home. On top of that, many families who are living inside this poverty trap are refugees running in search of safety from their original homes.

Nothing But Nets is an organization within the United Nations Foundation that has been working hard to get insecticide coated bed nets to Africa. These beds are essential in saving families and their most susceptible family members, children. The problem is that over 40% of the world’s population is living in countries where malaria can easily be contracted, and only 50% of the funds that are needed to get rid of the disease all together are given in foreign aid.

1 minute, 1 person, 1 goal: you. You can help end malaria. You can help save our children from one of the easiest diseases to prevent. All we need is your help. Pick up the phone and call your member of congress. Tell her the importance of saving our children from the inevitable poverty trap caused by malaria. Tell him how Judaism teaches us that, “if one were to destroy a life, it would be as though he destroyed an entire world, and if one were to save a life it would be as though he has saved an entire world” (Talmud Sanhedrin 37a). These children are somebody’s world. These children are the future of our world, and letting a single disease destroy them is what is destroying our world.

Marisa Goldstein is an incoming junior at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. She is a Political Science major with a focus in American Government and International Relations. Originally from Gurnee, Illinois, Marisa grew up attending Beth Hillel Temple in Kenosha, Wisconsin. As a Machon Kaplan participant, Marisa is interning at United Nations Foundation this summer.

The post The Power of One appeared first on Fresh Updates from RAC.

There is no shortage of rhetoric from American politicians about the value of work. The problem is that far too many people are working as hard as ever, only to find that they do not make as much as their colleagues for doing the same work. The wage gap is an unfortunate reality for a significant number of American women.

On average, a woman presently makes 77 cents to every dollar a man makes in America and for women of color the situation is even more drastic. It is estimated that African-American women make 64 cents for every dollar a man makes, while for Hispanic women the figure drops to 54 cents. Women are now the primary wage earners in more families than ever before. This means that millions of people are depending on the wages of women for the basic necessities of living.

The wage gap most directly affects women, but its reach stretches far beyond their salaries. Many families need two incomes in order to support themselves. There has been a steady increase in the number of married couples, both with and without children, relying on a woman’s income. More and more children find themselves in poverty with a single mother as the only wage earner. Lesbian and trans women find themselves especially vulnerable due to an added layer of homophobia and transphobia.

When we agree to pay women less for their work, we devalue them and their work. We are sending a message now that women and their work do not matter as much as that of men. The principles of this country have long held that if you work hard enough, you should be able to support yourself. That is not the case right now for everyone, and a large part of this is based in the wage gap. Eliminating the wage gap will go a long way towards reducing poverty in America; it is something we must do.

David Blumberg is majoring in Gender Studies at Indiana University. Originally from Munster, Indiana, he is a member of Temple Beth-El. As a Machon Kaplan participant, David is interning National Council of Jewish Women this summer.

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Crime is prevalent everywhere in our world. When a person commits a crime, they are punished and, depending on its severity, are eventually brought back into society. While many crimes are perpetrated by adults, teenagers and even children – juveniles – can also commit offenses. A person is considered a juvenile delinquent if they are under the age of eighteen and commit an act that otherwise would be considered a crime if they were an adult. Many juveniles are placed in adult prisons and forced to endure sentences that are inappropriate to their age. The criminal justice system needs to realize that simply locking up a juvenile and throwing away the key is not the answer. We must find ways to keep our young people out of adult facilities and do whatever we can to rehabilitate them and keep them away from a life of crime.

The Sentencing Project compiled a study in 2011 that showed nearly 8,000 minors were in adult jails or prisons that year. In my opinion, this is simply unacceptable. If we work to rehabilitate our juveniles and do whatever it takes to keep them out of prisons and jails, it can lead to better futures for them.

But what can we do to keep our juveniles out of prison and jails? In my opinion, we must develop programs that focus on brightening a child’s future instead of darkening it. According to the Central Conference of American Rabbis, “every synagogue must organize clubs and classes for the neglected children in the community so that they may be saved from physical, mental, and moral breakdowns that lead to delinquency and crime.”

There is an urgent need in our society to reframe the way we handle juvenile delinquency cases. Stop locking up our juveniles for minor crimes. Instead, lets rehabilitate them back into society and attempt to help them become successful and lead them down the right path. Whether that may be setting up an organization or club to help them learn what is right and what is wrong, or if it is a set of classes that teach them morals and norms in society, we must do whatever is in our power to keep our youths from falling into the hands of the criminal justice system.

Cameron Vasta is a senior at Oneonta State University, studying Criminal Justice. Originally from Middletown, New York, he is a member of Temple Beth Jacob in Newburgh, New York.

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In 2010, the United States Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, ruled in favor of Citizens United in the landmark case Citizens United vs. Federal Election Committee. This decision meant that there would be no limit on independent spending by private corporations to organizations that clearly support but do not coordinate with specific candidates. These organizations have been termed Super PACs. Essentially, corporations are seen through the eyes of the court as people, with the ability to donate however much they see fit. This amount was astronomical in the 2012 presidential election ($567 million).

The Justices’ reasoning in this case was based on the notion that the federal government cannot limit the spending of a private company because it is a violation of their First Amendment right to free speech. This decision clashes with Jewish tradition, which commands “Do not pervert justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the innocent” (Deuteronomy 16:19).

Unlimited amounts of spending by a Super PAC will blind the average American voter from the policy debates at hand because they do not follow the same rules as political campaigns. They can spend large sums of money on negative attack ads that blow minor issues well out of proportion, forcing the opposing candidate to respond, and devoting a lot of airtime to something that should not be a primary concern to voters.

Opponents of the Citizens United decision have been working diligently to undercut its impacts in primary and general elections. Members of Congress and the advocacy community have even discussed a constitutional amendment to overturn the decision. Money-and an exorbitant amount at that-should not have this much influence on our right as American citizens and voters to select our leaders.

Matt Singer is a rising sophomore at Indiana University, majoring in Public Management with a minor in Spanish. Originally from Lexington, Massachusetts, Matt is spending his summer as a Machon Kaplan participant interning at Jews United for Justice.

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America is called the land of opportunity, but upward mobility is much more of a challenge in 2014 than it was in past decades.  Wealth is becoming ever more concentrated in the hands of the one percent while wages in the middle are becoming stagnant.  Further compounding this problem is the fact that the minimum wage has become dated—it does not rise with inflation or increased living costs.  The current federal minimum wage in the United States is $7.25 per hour–its value is so low that it cannot keep a single parent with one child out of poverty.  For the countless individuals living on the minimum wage, any chance of advancement or prosperity can seem impossible. 

Most Americans are cognizant of the need to raise the minimum wage.  Roughly 71 percent of adults stated that they would support a law that raised the federal minimum wage to $9 per hour.  Despite the differences between the political ideologies governing in Washington, a majority of Americans firmly believe that nobody who works a full day should live in poverty.

As Jews, we are instructed to stand up for those who do not have the ability to do so themselves.  Proverbs 31:9 reads “speak up, judge righteously, champion the poor and the needy.”  Increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 or even $9.00 per hour will not solve all of the problems, but it is an effective first step towards tackling poverty in America.

Take action today and tell your members of Congress to raise the minimum wage.

Greg Klein is studying history and political science at the University of Michigan. Originally from Deerfield, Illinois, he is a member of Congregation Solel. As a Machon Kaplan participant, Greg is interning Jobs With Justice this summer.

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We sit in a finely furnished room, all in comfortable chairs, around a wooden table. Dressed in business attire, we position ourselves in a relatively comfortable way, a way that jointly exhibits our determination and professionalism. It is when we begin sharing stories, though, that the most vital characteristic we share surfaces: compassion.

As I observe most of the lobby visit we are having, I take notes on key points. There was one statement that reached me like a punch to the stomach, made by a congressional staffer. She said: “I can’t imagine that.” That is in part a caring statement, but is also actually part of the problem. The lack of knowledge of what it is like to live in poverty, to go hungry, is something that should be used not as a way to sadly mention pain and move on, but as a hint at the necessity of mobilization.

I kept this feeling with me, and allowed it to drive me in researching the many issues impacting child hunger. I learned more about programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and about what life is like living with SNAP. One way that advocates and politicians have spread awareness of SNAP is through a program called the “SNAP Challenge” or the “Food Stamp Challenge.” The object of this program is to help people, including ‘average’ citizens, faith leaders, and policy makers, fully understand what it is like to live on a SNAP budget ($40 a week per person). Most of us cannot imagine a day, let alone a month, eating on $1.50 per meal.

Children are in a unique situation in the hunger crisis, in that the younger they are, the more likely they are heavily dependent. Programs like SNAP help children, but only to an extent. School lunch programs help children eat too, but schools cannot provide all the food children need in a day. This food insecurity can negatively affect a child’s development, both in brain development and academic performance. 90% of SNAP benefits are used up before the fourth week of the month, and food banks are sought out by many who live on food assistance programs. When 15,898,000 American children go hungry every day, you would think that something more would be done to combat that hunger. We might hope for more help for these children, but say, “there’s barely a thing we can do.”

If we limit ourselves that way, there is barely a thing we can do. When we take the time to imagine – the pain or the possibilities – we begin our engagement in progress. From this beginning, we can join together, and mobilize to action. Every stomach need not be hungry to reach this change, but every heart must be hungry for this change to come. Every heart is prepared for this challenge, but, are we willing to together fill the void? I am willing, and I will imagine. Will you imagine with me?

Leah Rose Staffin is a rising senior at Brandeis University. She is majoring in Social Justice Studies and Education Studies. She is from Teaneck, New Jersey, and attended Temple Emeth in Teaneck. As a Machon Kaplan participant, Leah is interning at the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) this summer.

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As many already know, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has completed a comprehensive investigation on the CIA’s use of enhanced interrogation techniques after 9/11. The committee decided by an 11 to 3 bipartisan vote to make the 500 page executive summary and conclusions of the report available to the public.

At this point in the process, the CIA is completing their redactions to the report. Redactions are a necessary piece of this process. While I hope that as little as possible is redacted, I understand specific names and locations will need to be redacted for national security reasons, as well as the safety of the agents and their families. Redactions beyond those absolutely needed for the safety of this country however hurt more than they help. This report provides a great opportunity for public debate, the foundation of our democracy. The more that is redacted the less information the public and our leaders will have to use in a thorough and meaningful public debate. Furthermore, redacting the truth of the extent and specifics of torture will leave much to the imagination, leaving the opportunity for the public to assume the worst. Instead, admitting to the human rights violations this country has committed in the past, will allow us to better safeguard against similar crimes being committed again. Rev. Ron Stief, Executive Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture has stated that, ”Admitting the truth about the United States’past is the first step toward redemption.”

As Jews, we have debated this very sensitive topic throughout the ages.In a Resolution on The Use of Torture or Lesser Forms of Coercion to Obtain Information from Prisoners adopted by the Central Conference of American Rabbis in 2005, a variety of Jewish teachings on the subject are explored. These teachings, overall, emphasize human dignity. Maimonides, for example, cautions the Rabbinical Court that although it has the power to exert physical force in support of the Torah’s decrees, it should do so with humility and full respect for the human dignity of those upon whom it exercises discipline.

Beyond religious texts, the Israeli Supreme Court presented a model of a legal standard in this area. In the case of Public Committee Against Torture in Israel v. the Government of Israel and the General Security Services, 5100/94, the Court ruled that it is unlawful to torture the suspect, even when we know that a terrorist attack or incident is about to occur. While this was not the law in the United States, it is widely believed that the report from the Senate investigation will reveal, as many already have, that no critical intelligence was gained through torture during the CIA enhanced interrogation program.

Finally, this report will be revolutionary for oversight of the security and intelligence apparatus in the United States. As early leaks and other comments from high level officials have suggested, this report will publicize just how much the CIA mislead both the public and the Bush Administration about exactly what they were doing in the enhanced interrogations. With hopefully very little redacted this report can help lawmakers fully oversee CIA and other agencies activities so that misinformation like this is never given, especially when human rights and dignity is involved.

It is important that this report is publicized with as little taken out as possible, this will allow us to truly continue to move in the right direction away from torture sponsored by our government and away from our recent history toward a more humane future.

Josh Luger is a rising Junior at Brandeis University where he is a double major in Politics and American Studies with a minor in Legal Studies. Josh is from Minneapolis, Minnesota where he attends Temple Israel. As a Machon Kaplan participant, Josh is interning at the National Religious Campaign Against Torture. 

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Negotiations are currently taking place in Geneva, Switzerland on the future of Iran’s nuclear capabilities and the Joint Plan of Action (JPOA) interim agreement arbitrated between Iran and the P5+1 (the 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council – United States, Russia, China, United Kingdom, and France plus Germany). The current terms of the 6-month interim accord allow for daily inspections of all Iranian nuclear sites and a discontinuation of work on or with centrifuges. In return, the international community has granted a reduction in a number of economic sanctions, allowing Iran access to $4.2 billion previously frozen assets. The P5+1 and Iran hope to agree upon the terms of the JPOA by July 20^th, if not, negotiations will be extended by an additional 6 months.

If approved, the JPOA would have ramifications on the Middle East and Israel. As a neighboring country, Israeli leaders urge the United States not to work with Iran on this agreement. Prime Minister Netanyahu described the negotiations as a “historic mistake”, fearing Iran might come out with nuclear weapons capability. The United States, also weary of nuclear efficiency, believes the reduction in the number of centrifuges as well as verification and monitoring measures set in the JPOA will prevent Iran from further developing nuclear weapons. The halting measure in the talks between the P5+1 and Iran is on the exact number of centrifuges Iran will be permitted to maintain. Some US politicians have voiced their aversion of the JPOA and insist Iran should be left with zero centrifuges. Others believe asking Iran to rid themselves of 15,000 centrifuges they currently hold will lead to no agreement being signed; asking instead for a reduction in numbers rather than elimination.

Diplomacy between the P5+1 and Iran is a momentous step towards peacefully resolving the dispute over Iran’s nuclear capability. As the July 20 deadline approaches, the P5+1 are working hard to reach a consensus.

The Reform Jewish Movement has demonstrated its commitment to the formation of peaceful solutions. Great is peace, for all blessings are contained in it, as it is written . . . Seek peace and pursue it (Psalms 34:15).

• The RAC’s resolutions, resources, statements, and news stories on Iran can be found here.
• Read the RAC’s previous blog posts on Iran. 
• Learn about the unresolved issues in the Iraq nuclear talks, New York Times.
• Watch President Obama’s speech on Iran’s nuclear program and international negotiations.

Claire Glezer is a senior at Indiana University.  She is a majoring in Political Science and International Studies with a minor in French.  She is from Champaign, Illinois and a member of Sinai Temple.  As a Machon Kaplan participant, Claire is interning at the Center for International Policy on the Win Without War campaign.

The post The Nuclear Problem in Iran appeared first on Fresh Updates from RAC.

This week, on the eve of his retirement, Israeli President Shimon Peres visits DC, where he met with President Obama and yesterday was presented with the Congressional Gold Medal.   The bill awarding him the medal received bipartisan support in the House and a unanimous vote in the Senate.

Shimon Peres was born in Poland in 1923 and immigrated to Israel at age eleven.   Peres was educated in Tel Aviv, where he founded two kibbutzim, and was deeply involved on the Labor-Zionist movement.  When Israel gained independence in 1948, David Ben Gurion, Peres’s political mentor, appointed him to a key leadership position with the Israeli army.  In 1952 he was appointed deputy director-general of the Ministry of Defense, and he later served as director-general and deputy defense minister.  In 1965 he resigned to join Ben-Gurion in founding a new opposition party, Rafi.  This led to the establishment of the Israeli Labour Party, which he would later lead and through which he served as prime minister.

When Yitzhak Rabin became prime minister of Israel in July 1992, Peres became foreign minister, handling negotiations that led to the Oslo Accords between Israel and the PLO.  After Rabin was assassinated in 1995, Peres succeeded him as prime minister.  He decided not to seek reelection as leader of the Labour Party in 1997, but served as foreign minister, deputy prime minister, and vice prime minister.  In 2007, Peres was elected president of Israel.

Today, at age 90, Peres is the last surviving member of Israel’s founding generation of politicians.  He has played a key role in every major event in the nation’s history, from the Suez Canal crisis to the peace negotiations with Jordan, Egypt, and, as noted earlier, the Oslo peace accords, for which he was awarded a joint Nobel Peace Prize with Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat in 1994.

In 1996, Peres founded The Peres Center for Peace, with a mission to help build a sustainable infrastructure for peace, by and for people in the Middle East.  In 2012, Peres was awarded the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom, honored by President Obama as “a warrior for peace,” who “teaches us to never settle for the world as it is.”  Shimon Peres has authored eleven books, including David’s Sling, The New Middle East, and Battling for Peace; A Memoir.  He is the first Israeli to receive this award, and he is one of only nine recipients of both the Congressional and Presidential Medals.  The RAC joins the Jewish community in celebrating Shimon Peres and his lifetime of achievements.

Rebecca Fisher is a rising sophomore at Columbia University.

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Through the Machon Kaplan program this summer, I am interning at the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL), the longest- running national cross- disability, grassroots organization run by and for people with disabilities. As a membership organization, NCIL advances independent living and the rights of people with disabilities through consumer-driven advocacy. NCIL envisions a world in which people with disabilities are valued equally and participate fully.

Over the past few weeks, I have had the opportunity to do some really awesome things with NCIL!  I attended a hearing on Capitol Hill about adoption and the rights of parents and children with disabilities called “Rocking the Cradle” and helped write comments for the Proposed Priority – Assistive Technology:  Alternative Financing Programs. I have learned a lot about NCIL’s policies and know that I am contributing to the advocacy works for the human and civil rights of people with disabilities throughout the United States.

However, the United States is still a long way from realizing the vision that NCIL is working towards. People with disabilities want to live in their community and not be forced into living in an institution. In order to do so, many people with disabilities require personal care and direct support assistance. Medicaid- dependent home and community- based providers (a term that includes many centers for Independent Living) play a critical role in our healthcare system by providing long-term services and support to people with disabilities.

Jewish tradition teaches us of our obligation to ensure equal access for all people and to help facilitate the full participation of individuals with disabilities in religious and public life. We are taught “Do not separate yourself from the community” (Pirke Avot 2:5); accordingly, we must prevent anyone from being separated against their will. This occurs frequently; for example, Medicaid will often pay for long-term services for people with disabilities only if they live and receive care at institutions such as hospitals and nursing homes.

In the United States, we are lucky to have the ADA and subsequent Supreme Court rulings that make the rights of people with disabilities a priority.  Around the world today, we know that nearly 650 million people live with a disability.  As Jews, we also know the importance of advocating for disability rights on the world stage.  Take a minute to let your Senators know that you support disability rights worldwide.

Please take a moment to urge your Senators to support the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities today!

If we don’t act now to develop options for Medicaid-dependent providers, it could have devastating effects on the ability of people to get the services they need to stay out of institutions. Forcing these Medicaid-dependent agencies to abide by the Affordable Care Act would severely impact providers and force some to close their doors.

Emily Rabin is a rising junior at Lake Forest College. She is a Communication major and Politics minor. Originally from Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, Emily grew up attending Beth Hillel Temple. As a Machon Kaplan participant, Emily is interning at the National Council on Independent Living this summer.

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“I challenge you to bring to the Summit bold pledges. Innovate, scale-up, cooperate and deliver concrete action that will close the emissions gap and put us on track for an ambitious legal agreement through the UNFCCC process.” –UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

As part of efforts to combat global climate change, the United Nations will hold a Climate Summit in New York in September. The Summit, organized by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, will serve as an opportunity for global Heads of State, government officials, and business, finance, civil society and local leaders to discuss catalyzing action to help the world shift toward a low-carbon economy.

As a global population, we have reached the point where we can no longer ignore the issue of climate change. Though the threat of global warming has been contested in the past, there is now indisputable scientific evidence supporting its existence. Unfortunately, as a greater portion of the world has started to take environmental hazards more seriously, the consequences developing from our planet’s rising temperatures have also increased dramatically. These include irreversible physical changes such as melting glaciers, rising sea levels, and a shift in atmospheric composition and weather patterns.

Ironically, though these effects of climate change continue to negatively impact the human population, anthropogenic factors can largely be identified as the primary source. As such, many scientists, politicians, and other concerned civilians across the globe are advocating for profound modifications to our lifestyles, policies, and practices in favor of a more sustainable and environmentally focused model. As a part of this effort, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has invited leaders from around the world to begin to make substantial progress.

Taking care of our planet is a highly regarded value in Judaism. The principle of Bal Tashchit, do not destroy or waste, encourages a strong environmental ethic and sense of responsibility for the earth. In a rabbinic interpretation of Deuteronomy 20:19-20, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch states, “Yea, ‘Do not destroy anything’ is the first and most general call of God… God’s call proclaims to you, ‘Do not destroy anything! Be a mentsh! Only if you use the things around you for wise human purposes, sanctified by the word of My teaching, only then are you a mentsh and have the right over them which I have given you as human. However, if you destroy if you ruin, at that moment you are not a human but an animal and have no right to the things around you.’” (Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, Horeh, #56).

As Jews created in God’s image, we are obligated to conserve and protect our natural resources, and it is crucial that we do not take them for granted. In line with this interpretation of the biblical Jewish law, the upcoming UN Climate Summit serves as the perfect opportunity for world leaders to stimulate the global effort to take action to combat climate change.

Rachel Spiegel is a rising sophomore at Pitzer College in Claremont, California. She plans to double major in Environmental Analysis and International/Intercultural Studies. Originally from Portland, Oregon, Rachel is a member of Temple Beth Israel.  As a Machon Kaplan participant, Rachel is interning at the Children’s Environmental Health Network this summer.

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“I am a Jew because in every place where suffering weeps, the Jew weeps.
I am a Jew because whenever despair cries out, the Jew hopes.”

—Edmond Fleg

Though the United States represents only 5% of the world’s population, it holds 25% of the world’s prisoners. Over the past thirty years, the U.S. prison population has increased by 500%, bringing the number of prisoners in local, state, and federal prisons to nearly 2.3 million people.

Just as astonishing as mass incarceration are the racial disparities within this system. The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 reduced the crack/powder cocaine sentencing disparity from 100:1 to 18:1, thus reforming the sentencing imbalances between racial minorities and whites. Nonetheless, the racial disparities within the criminal justice system have not been eliminated. People of color represent over 60% of total prisoners. Black males are 6 times more likely to go to prison than white males and 2.5 times more likely to serve time in prison than Hispanic males. One in every ten black men in their thirties is in prison or jail. Perhaps most alarming is the fact that 1 in every 3 black men can expect to go to prison or jail in his lifetime.

In April of 2014, the Department of Justice rolled out a plan to reduce prison sentences for offenders who committed non-violent crimes and who do not have significant criminal histories. Attorney General Eric Holder has affirmed his support for this new clemency initiative. Following the Fair Sentencing Act and the Smarter Sentencing Act’s introduction in the Senate, the Justice Department’s announcement serves as the Obama Administration’s latest attempt at sentencing reform.

This initiative—dubbed the Clemency Project of 2014—may mark a monumental step towards ending mass incarceration, particularly of people of color. Decreasing undeservedly harsh sentences will no doubt help to alleviate some of the injustices of the criminal justice system. Nevertheless, the Clemency Project alone cannot correct the wrongs within our justice system.Instead of perpetuating the criminalization and incarceration of individuals, our state, local, and federal governments should focus human and monetary resources on programs proven to more effectively ensure public safety. Such programs include initiatives ranging from early preschool education to drug rehabilitation programs.

As Jews we weep with those who suffer, yet we also hope when there is despair. We know that criminals represent much more than the title we give them—they are human beings, capable of making change and contributing positively to their communities. We should wholeheartedly support the Clemency Project and urge Congress to pass the Smarter Sentencing Act with the belief that the needless, unjust suffering of individuals within the prison system can soon end.

Aliza Cohen is a rising sophomore at Middlebury College. Originally from Chattanooga, TN, Aliza attends Mizpah Congregation. As a Machon Kaplan participant, Aliza is interning at the National Low Income Housing Coalition for the summer.

The post The Beginning of an End to Mass Incarceration appeared first on Fresh Updates from RAC.

Embroiled in the very idea of Medicare is the question of, to what extent is each person responsible to take care of and protect others?  Medicare is a federal program that American taxpayers pay into—the resulting pot of funding is used to pay for the medical coverage of people over the age of sixty five, as well as younger disabled people.  Some people feel that although it is good to help people, it should not be a mandated responsibility to give their hard earned money to others. This question and debate was settled a long time ago for the Jewish people.  

Giving tzedakah is a central teaching of Judaism—but we must remember that it includes not only charity, but justice.  As long as I have been involved in the Jewish community tzedakah has always been an integral part of my experience. As many of us know, the cost of medical coverage has been rising greatly, making it near impossible for many people to pay for essential medical needs.

In addition to the commandment of tzedakah, Judaism also follows the tradition of tikkun olam,  repairing the world. It points to a deeper shared responsibility of all Jews to make the world a better place.  One way to repair the world is to help try and heal the sick.  As a nation, we must join together to champion the just cause of helping to care for the sick.  There have been many attempts to cut slash funding to Medicare, which the Reform Movement opposes. As Jews, we know that caring for elderly, the disabled, and the sick is key to creating a more just society.

Andrew Simon is entering his junior year at Binghamton University.  He is a double major in history and English with a concentration in rhetoric.  He is from Roslyn, New York and a member of Temple Sinai. As a Machon Kaplan participant, Andrew is interning at the Center for Medicare Advocacy this summer.

The post Medicare and Jewish Law appeared first on Fresh Updates from RAC.

By Jane Wiesenberg

There are quintessential images the word “college” tends to evoke: classic literature, complicated equations, and state-of-the-art labs – to name a few. Yet, in recent years, months, and weeks, another – less fitting and certainly more lethal – term has been added to the list: gun violence.

The history of gun violence on college campuses is both extensive and alarming. The 2007 Virginia Tech Massacre, in which a student killed 32 people and then turned the gun on himself, remains the most deadly shooting in U.S. history. In 2013, there were 27 shootings on or close to college campuses, and just last month, a shooter in Isla Vista, California killed six students and then himself at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

The response to such tragedies has become nearly formulaic. After each episode, a passionate dialogue ensues, with a broad swath of the public demanding sweeping reforms related to firearm possession, including changes to campus regulations. Yet, the emotionally-charged motivation following each incident fades with time, and with a lack of legislative progress, a seemingly endless cycle of ongoing tragedies, public outrage, and no change in policy continues.

It is currently legal in 29 states to carry a concealed weapon in some capacity on college campuses, with 22 states allowing individual schools to determine their policies and seven others making firearms legal on all campuses.

College campuses are, quite simply, not the place for firearms. As Boise State University Professor Greg Hampikian points out in a powerful recent op-ed entitled, “When May I Shoot a Student?,” college environments tend to include students under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, who are likely to make poor and impulsive decisions; the presence of firearms could turn an innocent social dispute into a deadly one. Yet, on a more basic level, colleges exist to breed debate and discussion, both academic and non-academic. With guns on hand, an impassioned classroom debate could end with shots fired.

In short, we must make every effort to curb the presence of guns on college campuses. Arming students against attacks is hardly the answer, as accuracy is low and response times are slow, likely endangering more lives in the process. Instead, recent cases like Isla Vista have shown us that non-lethal tools – like pepper spray – can serve as safe means of defense against a shooter.

Judaism places a high value on human life. Campus safety is an issue that not only students and professors should address, but also one in which the Jewish community should have a voice. To use the words of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, “Living is not a private affair of the individual. Living is what man does with God’s time, what man does with God’s world.” With Congress’ inability to close simple loopholes in background checks for purchasing firearms in our recent memory, we know that campus safety legislation will require a robust and bipartisan commitment. Ultimately, with changes to campus firearm regulations, colleges will return to what they should be: beacons of learning, research, and innovation – not gun violence.

Encourage your member of Congress to take a first step towards ensuring campus safety by expanding background checks on firearm purchases.

Jane Wiesenberg is a rising junior at Colby College. She is a Government and Spanish major and Economics minor. Jane is from Mamaroneck, NY and attended Congregation Kol Ami. 

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When schools break for summer, free and reduced-price meals that millions of low-income children and families rely on during the regular school year end, leaving families to figure out how to close this gap in nutrition for their children. Fortunately, the D.C. Free Summer Meals Program helps families close the gap by providing nutritious meals and snacks to children ages 18 and under. The D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) is the District’s largest summer meal sponsor, delivering meals to over 200 recreation facilities, community programs, and faith-based programs.

As a Machon Kaplan participant interning at the Food Research and Action Center, I had the opportunity to visit two DPR-sponsored summer meal sites with D.C. Hunger Solutions. Both sites were located at affordable housing units. Going into this experience, I was unaware of the educational and enriching programming that is sometimes offered in conjunction with nutritious meals during the summer. When we walked into the first site, children were drawing and writing based on the assignment: If they could be any animal, what animal they would be? After asking a series of questions about their animals, the conversation turned toward the food they received every day through this program. The children told us about their favorite foods, ranging from chicken wraps and salads to pizza. These meals keep them energized and engaged throughout the day, allowing them to continue their education throughout the summer. I witnessed this firsthand, as the children were enthusiastic and excited to share their animal stories and favorite foods.

Both sites had a strong focus on literacy; one is participating in the DC Public Library “Dig Into Reading” challenge, which rewards children with prizes and activities for reading each day. The same site also features a group summer bucket list, opportunities to write in a newsletter, and capstone projects that allow participants to teach their peers new skills. These feeding sites go beyond providing meals to children and encourage summer learning as part of their programs. Program Coordinators at both sites we visited highlighted that the summer meals provided were central to the success of their programs. Children are unable to learn and participate if they do not have nutritious meals and snacks.

The summer feeding program is a national program with sites all over the country. Nevertheless, millions of children are not benefitting from this important resource. Our Movement has regarded hunger as one of our highest social justice priorities as Reform Jews. The Book of Isaiah (58.7) teaches us to “share your bread with the hungry,” and it is our obligation as Reform Jews to uphold our duty to those less fortunate than us and reach out and help these children where we can. One thing we can do is partner with anti-hunger organizations to conduct outreach so that families know how to access sites nearest to them.

Jenna Gorlick is a rising junior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a Psychology major and Social Entrepreneurship minor. Originally from Weston, Florida, Jenna grew up attending Temple Dor Dorim.

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I have Potomac Fever, not to be confused with Potomac Horse Fever, a deadly disease spread by mayflies. Rather, I have become enamored with the District of Columbia, or as I like to call it, simply ‘The District.’ DC has so much to offer young people: for the thirsty, there’s happy hour; for the hungry, there’s brunch; and for the politically concerned, there’s no better place to be. It’s not uncommon to be walking up the escalator from the metro (staying to the left, as I learned on my first day) and overhear a conversation about topics ranging from the coup in Egypt to the tragic death of Trayvon Martin to the Employment Non-Discrimination Act mark-up in the Senate HELP committee to the overturn of the Defense of Marriage Act in the Supreme Court. This is a city where things happen, but more importantly, this is a city where people make things happen.

This summer, I was lucky enough to spend time exploring this city: I lived in Northwest D.C. and interned in Northeast D.C. Being from New York and knowing how to navigate that city pretty effectively, DC confused me with its quadrants and letters and multi-syllabic words by which one is supposed to measure distance. With the Capitol building at its center (but really more towards the lower right of the city), the quadrants are uneven and the street numbers begin again and that should be enough to make your head spin.

Now with this summer a couple of weeks behind me, I have the chance to reflect on just how much Potomac Fever actually affected me and just how privileged I was to have the opportunity to experience it.

1. I got to work at a small nonprofit (with one paid staff member), where all of the work I did mattered;
2. I got to stand outside of the Supreme Court the day DOMA was overturned;
3. I saw a city rise up in anger and solidarity after the Trayvon Martin case;
4. I figured out the Metro system and saw a lot of the city with my feet;
5. I went to a record number of museums because Smithsonians are awesome and free;
6. I traveled short distances to New York and Delaware and Philadelphia. Location, location, location.

The District is an incredible place to spend a summer, and I’m highly considering making it the place where I spend the first part of my adult life.

Mil Dranoff is a rising senior at Washington University in St. Louis, studying Political Science and Jewish, Islamic and Near Eastern Languages and Cultures. She is originally from Suffern, New York and belongs to Temple Beth El in Spring Valley.

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In Washington, D.C., according to D.C. Municipal Regulation 18-2302, it is illegal for an individual to cross a street when faced with a “DON’T WALK” or “WAIT” sign.  However, there are times when this will simply not work.  Washington is a city in which seemingly everyone has an important meeting to get to, as well as an important cause for which to fight. For me, that cause is the protection of religious freedom and the separation of Church and State.  In my internship, I have seen firsthand how busy this fight can make me, even on a supposedly slow day.  If I have to get to a lobby meeting on the Hill at 1:00 PM, and I am coming from a coalition meeting that went a little over time at 12:20 PM, I don’t always have time to wait for a “WALK” signal, particularly if the street is clear, nor do congressional staff have time to wait for me.

More importantly, those impacted by policies like the Defense of Marriage Act, or who are not protected by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, do not have time to wait.  They are being oppressed at this very moment.  They do not have the luxury of waiting for the Federal Government to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act before they can put food on their table without the fear of being fired for their sexuality or gender identity.  They do not have time to wait for their individual states to pass marriage equality initiatives so that their families and children can be recognized as legitimate.  And they most certainly do not have time to wait for a generational shift in ideas before they can even start one of those families.

When we talk about passing ENDA, or about the landmark DOMA case at the Supreme Court last month, we are not talking about abstract concepts, but about the very real livelihoods of millions of Americans, which are at stake in every one of our political struggles.  Just as I, and many others, do not always have time to wait for a signal giving us permission to cross the street (but stay safe! Be sure to look both ways!), there are millions of Americans who do not have time to wait for a law to be passed in order to be recognized as legitimate and equal citizens.  Working at Interfaith Alliance through Machon Kaplan has given me the opportunity to act to meet some of these urgent needs, and for that I could not be more grateful.  I came here looking for a way to immerse myself in a new, Jewish experience, and to better live my Jewish values.  I will leave here with a new appreciation for what it takes to make social change happen, and a new drive to participate in that process.

Matt Andersen is a rising senior at New College of Florida, studying Anthropology and Religion.  He is originally from Lake Wales, FL and is a member of Temple Emanu-El in Sarasota, FL.

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As an intern for the NAACP Washington Bureau, I was afforded the opportunity to attend the NAACP National Convention, themed “We Shall Not Be Moved,” in Orlando (coincidently landing us in Florida just in time for the announcement of the verdict in the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman case).  In between some staff responsibilities, I attended plenary sessions, mass meetings, luncheons, workshops, a resolutions meeting and a variety of other events covering topics that ranged from the Voting Rights Act and the George Zimmerman case to Immigration and Veterans Affairs.  I heard from NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous, NAACP Chairwoman Roslyn Brock, Myrlie Evers-Williams, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Attorney General Eric Holder, several Members of Congress and countless others who each provided words of wisdom and inspiration.

At the first mass meeting, Chairwoman Brock delivered the keynote address in a powerful, preacher-like manner.  This was the first time during the convention that I heard someone use the phrase “stand your ground” in a positive way, reclaiming the term that refers to a set of statutes passed in a number of states including Florida, which lower standards for killings based on self-defense and have increased “justifiable homicides” three-fold, according to the FBI.  Chairwoman Brock said the following: “We are resolved at this hour to stand our ground with a reply that we shall not be moved.”  I was at first taken aback by the boldness of using this phrase in such a manner—after all, we were only 30 miles away from Sanford, FL, where Trayvon Martin was killed.  But as Chairwoman Brock used the phrase more and as I heard it again in others’ speeches, the phrase began to take on new meaning.  It transformed from a frightening, threatening law to a statement of confidence, rootedness, and pride.  It was no longer a defensive strategy, but a declaration of purpose and vision.

At the end of her speech, Chairwoman Brock invited all of the youth and college students in attendance to come to the front of the hall, asserting our leadership in the world today and announcing that we are standing our ground.  In a swirl of passion, Chairwoman Brock asked the adults standing behind us to reach their arms out over us and state, “We’ve got your back” because “it takes a village to raise our children.”  And as I turned around, I was overcome with emotion as I saw a hall comprised of generations of adults, with lifetimes of experience, extending their arms toward us.  I looked to my left, and there stood Myrlie Evers-Williams and Julian Bond, champions of the civil rights movement.  Down the row stood Benjamin Jealous and out in the crowd stood over 1000 NAACP members, declaring their support.  As we chanted, “courage will not skip this generation,” I felt empowered to stand my ground because I will not be moved.  I will stand my ground against bigotry and hatred.  I will not be moved in the face of injustice.  But more importantly, I will move forward because progress does not happen when we stand still.

As the NAACP slogan goes, I am “fired up, ready to go.”  I became a member of the NAACP and look forward to staying involved with the organization in the fight for justice and equality.  I came back from the convention with a bag full of flyers, information packets, freebies, and NAACP buttons, but more significantly, I came back with a fire lit within me and a mindset that change can and will happen.  Together, we shall not be moved.

Watch Roslyn Brock’s speech, and other speeches from the convention.

Emily Aronson is a rising junior in the Joint Program at Columbia University and the Jewish Theological Seminary, majoring in Ethnicity and Race Studies at Columbia and Jewish Philosophy at JTS.  Originally from Bethesda, MD, Emily belongs to Temple Micah in Washington, DC.

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Did you know that there is not a single state in the United States in which a person earning minimum wage, working 40 hours a week can afford a two-bedroom apartment?  A person earning the federal minimum wage – $7.25 – cannot provide for his or her basic needs and the basic needs of his or her family.  The current federal minimum wage has only been increased three times in the past thirty years, despite inflation.  In fact, had the minimum wage been adjusted for inflation over the past 40 years, it would now be $10.69.  Instead, it remains more than $3 per hour lower in real value than it was 40 years ago.  As such, the minimum wage is currently decreasing in real value, affecting the lives of millions of minimum wage workers throughout the country working full time and living in poverty.

Growing up, I often worked as a volunteer at a homeless shelter.  I remember hearing the residents’ stories of how difficult life was for them, working full time but still unable to afford a home for themselves and their children.  Hearing these residents’ stories taught me at a young age that employment does not guarantee that a person will be able to rise out of poverty or even provide for the most basic needs of his or her children.

The current minimum wage is far below a living wage – a term used by activists and economists for the minimum income needed for a worker to be able to meet his or her basic needs, such as food, shelter, and clothing.  A living wage would allow a person working full time to rise to the poverty line, rather than be perpetually stuck below it.  Although the cost of living and, as such, the living wage varies throughout the country, the current minimum wage is too low and leaves too many working people without a means of paying for their basic needs.

The fight to raise minimum wage to a just wage will almost certainly be fought in state legislative battles.  While in an ideal world, Congress would pass a federal law creating a national fair minimum wage.  However, as individuals, we have far more power to affect legislation on the local and state levels.  This summer, I am working as an intern at Jews United for Justice – a non-profit organization that works to organize the Jewish community in the greater Washington, D.C. area around issues of social justice.  JUFJ is currently running a campaign to raise the minimum wage in Maryland.  We must take this approach to the issue of the minimum wage and employ it in our communities throughout the country.

As Jews, we have the responsibility to care for those in need.  The great Jewish philosopher Maimonides teaches us that we have the responsibility not only to feed the hungry and provide basic necessities for those in need, but also to ensure that those in need are able to become self-sufficient.  Raising the minimum wage to a living wage – or at the very least to a wage closer to the living wage – would allow Americans currently living in poverty to attain a decent standard of living.  I urge you to learn about and support living wage campaigns in your community, your home state.  Together, we can make a difference in the lives of millions of people and allow people the dignity of being able to provide for themselves and their families.

Take action today: Urge your Members of Congress to raise the minimum wage!

Madeline Cooper is a rising sophomore at Dartmouth College, studying History, Women and Gender Studies, and Jewish Studies.  She is originally from Lexington, MA and is a member of Temple Isaiah.

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You never know. You never know what an experience will hold; you never know how life can change; you never know how you can change; you never know what you may discover. Something that I have learned this summer, however, is that it is okay to not know. Within our first few weeks of being here, former White House Jewish Liaison Zach Kelly gave us an important piece of advice: do not be concerned with your future job title. Being that I have many interests and am a future-oriented person, I appreciated his advice because I suddenly no longer felt in a rush to decide exactly what I wanted to do in my life. Being on Machon Kaplan, I have learned that each piece of my journey and each experience with which I engage helps me reach that goal, so there is no need to rush.

One example of something I accomplished that unintentionally gave me a little insight into what I want to do in the future was through my internship site, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. In my time at JCPA, I created a Resource Guide for Young Adults (for Hillel’s and college students). I wanted to create something tangible that JCPA could utilize to foster a relationship with a new audience and that could help their institutional brand. Utilizing my Public Relations major (and keeping in mind that I’m not too interested in working on policy issues in the future), I tailored my internship responsibilities to fit what I like to do: publicize and form relationships.

Machon Kaplan has encouraged me to struggle with what I am interested in, to question why people hold certain views, why I hold certain views, to truly struggle with whether or not I want to become a rabbi, and more. And, for once in my life, I am okay with not knowing all of the answers, which is a significant step for me. The answers will come on their own, as I learned at the JCPA. I am proud to say that Machon Kaplan has helped me reach such a vital conclusion that will make me a more patient leader and person.

Tara Levine grew up in Doylestown, Pennsylvania as a congregant at Temple Judea of Bucks County. She now attends Temple University where she studies Strategic Communications and Jewish Studies and is an Assistant Unit Head at Congregation Rodeph Shalom.

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In 2011, there were 14,612 homicides in the United States. 43 people were executed in 13 states. This year, there have already been 18 executions, including Texas’ 500^th since 1982. Dismal statistics like these consume my days working at the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

On a more positive note, six states in the last six years have abolished the death penalty, bringing the total to 18 states. Sure, those states are all blue as can be (Obama won NY, NJ, NM, IL, CT, and MD in 2008 and 2012), but the next abolition victories will likely be in some purple and red states– including Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, and New Hampshire.

This emerging pattern is not accidental: abolition unites people. Conservatives point to cost effectiveness. A study from the Urban Institute showed that the death penalty cost Maryland taxpayers $186 million from 1976-2008. There were five executions in Maryland in that time period – that equates to a staggering $37.2 million per death sentence carried out. Liberals point out racial bias: the death penalty is more often sought if the victim is white or if the defendant is not white. In Arizona, for example, 15.6% of the population is African-American, yet 63.1% of Arizona’s 127 death row inmates are black. Conversely, 80.1% of the state’s population is white yet only 36.8% of death row inmates are.

Religions, too, unite against the death penalty.  Catholics oppose executions using the very same pro-life arguments that put them at odds with the Reform Movement’s position on reproductive health issues. Communities who often find themselves at odds in many other debates rally together around abolition.

Last week, I succumbed to the D.C. spirit and began binging on The West Wing.  To my surprise, Episode 14 (Season 1) revolves around the death penalty! President Bartlet must decide whether to stay an execution scheduled for 12:01 AM Monday.  Bartlet, like any fictional, Catholic President of the United States, debates calling the Pope for guidance but knows the answer he will receive – stay the execution. Meanwhile, Toby, a senior advisor, hears an oddly apropos sermon denouncing capital punishment on Shabbos morning at synagogue and later returns to seek guidance from his Rabbi. In a feat of juxtaposition rivaled by none, while Toby and his Rabbi discuss Jewish values, a woman beautifully sings the Hashkiveinu – asking to lie down in peace at night and awaken to a fresh tomorrow. Jews and Catholics, finding the basis of their feelings on the death penalty in their religion and fighting the same fight. President Bartlet eventually decides not to grant the stay, and he immediately goes to confession.

On February 9, 2000 when the episode “Take This Sabbath Day” originally aired, no state had abolished the death penalty in a quarter century. Governor Ryan of Illinois had issued a moratorium halting the use of capital punishment until studies could be done – a monumental and reinvigorating moment for abolition activists – just 10 days earlier. The movement’s spark had just been reignited. I wonder what President Bartlet would do today.

Josh Berlowitz is a rising sophomore at Middlebury College where he is a joint Classics-Political Science major. He hails from Ardsley, NY and belongs to Woodlands Community Temple.

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This June, the Supreme Court was quickly running out of days to announce decisions, and all eyes narrowed on the few cases left before the close of the Court’s term — among them, the decisions about marriage equality and affirmative action.”  Some ambitious interns, including me, decided that we wanted to witness history being made. For better or worse, witnessing history required us to camp outside the Supreme Court at 2am on Monday morning.

After 7 hours on the sidewalk, we entered the Court.  The opinions for two different decisions were being read, and all I wanted was to sleep in my chair when the Court clerk announced the decision of Fisher v. University of Texas. There was a collective gasp of anticipation as everyone in the room sat a little straighter in their seats.

The decision itself, however, was extremely anti-climactic.  After leaving the courtroom, I was not even sure who won the case. At first, I attributed my confusion to lack of sleep and caffeine, but after reading the particulars, I realized that the Court did indeed give a mixed decision, with both sides claiming victory. The justices decided that diversity serves a “compelling interest” and is indeed something valuable in institutions of higher education – something that NCJW applauded in its press statement.  However, some justices also  said that affirmative action is implemented in the same way that colleges once used  racial profiling in order to keep racial minorities out. The case was sent back to the lower court to reevaluate if the university required affirmative action to achieve racial diversity.

This case reminded me that history does not often take a clear path “forward,” and that we still need to actively work to combat racism.  As Justice Ginsburg pointed out, race neutral admissions processes are far from “race unconscious.”  Race must be a factor in admissions at the very least because it will never not be. This reminder was doubly reinforced by the deeply disappointing decision SCOTUS soon handed down rolling back the Voting Rights Act.

And yet less than a week after my midnight vigil, I returned to the sidewalk in front of the Supreme Court, but this time with the sun blazing overhead at 9 am.  I joined NCJW’s Senior Legislative Associate Amy Cotton and Legislative Fellow Lauren Weiss, along with hundreds of others waiting for decisions in the marriage equality cases, Hollingsworth v. Perry and United States v. Windsor. We were all united in the hope for equality.

At around 10 am, the search for Wi-Fi was desperate and our only source of information was the collective voice of the masses around us. Someone finally got through to SCOTUS blog: DOMA and Prop 8 both were struck down, expanding marriage equality to people in California and allowing legally married same-sex couples to receive federal benefits. With everyone glued to their smartphones, shouts of excitement and relief swept through the crowd.

We all knew this day would be remembered in history books and marriage certificates. Lauren and I shared in an incredible, historic moment, as our country made another important step towards equality.

Becca Diamond is a rising junior at Muhlenberg College, majoring in History and Jewish Studies. She is a member of Barnert Temple in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey.

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Two weeks after the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in the DOMA case and the related decision that led to the end of California’s Prop 8, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee this week voted to send the Employment Non Discrimination Act to the full Senate. We’ve talked a lot about ENDA at various Commission meetings over the years, and it’s gratifying to finally see some progress being made. Rachel Laser and Benny Witkovsky have done great work building support for the bill among senators – even coordinating a letter in support of ENDA signed by 50 faith groups – and you can see Rachel’s comments on the HELP Committee vote in this press release.  Of course, we still have a ways to go before this bill is signed into law, so take a minute to email your members of congress in support if you haven’t done so already.

Speaking of Supreme Court decisions, the disappointing ruling in the Voting Rights Act case has prompted many people to ask “what’s next?” for the protection of voting rights. ZEEK, an online site operated by the Forward, asked me for some suggestions – here’s what I came up with. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy has scheduled a hearing on the VRA for next week featuring civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) and former House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), who oversaw the House’s bipartisan passage of the 2006 VRA reauthorization.

At the other end of Pennsylvania Ave., the White House this week named Matt Nosanchuk as the new liaison to the Jewish community. Nosanchuk is the brother of Rabbi Rob Nosanchuk, the senior rabbi at the URJ’s Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple in Beachwood, OH.

After several months of speculation, confirmation came this week that Ambassador Michael Oren will leave his post in the fall and be replaced by Ron Dermer. Dermer is American-born, made aliyah in the 1990s and is a longtime advisor to Prime Minister Netanyahu. We’re looking forward to getting to know and work with him when he arrives in DC.

Women of Reform Judaism is celebrating its centennial year, which will culminate with their Assembly in San Diego that coincides with December’s URJ Biennial. David Saperstein wrote a piece this week highlighting just some of WRJ’s remarkable accomplishments over the past 100 years, leading both our Movement and the Jewish community more broadly.

You may have seen the news about the intense rain and flooding in Toronto this week, coming just a few weeks after terrible flooding in Calgary, Alberta. I’m told that as of now, it appears that our Toronto-area congregations did not sustain any major damage. With the growing incidence of extreme weather events, the urgency of tacking climate change becomes clearer every day. We have an action alert you can use to urge your members of Congress to take action on climate change.

The summer is flying by and it’s hard to believe our Machon Kaplan interns will be with us for just one more week. They’re getting ready for their lobby visits with their home state members of congress. The RAC LAs did a lobby prep session with them last week, teaching them some tips and skills for effective advocacy.  They’ve been a great addition to the staff this summer and we’ll miss having them here.

The post This Week at the RAC: ENDA in the Senate & New Appointments appeared first on Fresh Updates from RAC.

A few years ago, after moving to Cincinnati for to enroll in Hebrew Union College, I saw a sign along the interstate with a quote from the book of Jeremiah that stated “Before I formed you in the belly, I knew you; and before you came forth out of the womb I sanctified you. I have appointed you a prophet unto the nations.” The quote refers to God comforting an incredulous Jeremiah after being told he will be a prophet to all the people at an almost impossibly young age. It’s a lovely sentiment, that God knows us and loves us even before birth. However, the billboard was not there to serve as a reminder of the prophet Jeremiah. Rather, this was a billboard subtly implying that abortion was Biblically prohibited, as if by being “known” by God, a fetus is no longer rendered just a fetus, but a person, capable of receiving God’s love. And if it is capable of receiving God’s love, the logic proceeds, then its termination at the hands of a doctor is akin to murder.

This is a popular line of argument used by anti-choice advocates, who call themselves “pro-life.”. However, with Ohio Governor John Kasich’s recent signing of the state budget, it’s difficult to see – despite Governor Kasich’s recent protestations – how he and his administration view their new “pro-life” measures as anything other than “anti-women’s health.“ If indeed Governor Kasich is “pro-life,“ how can he justify a budget that cuts funding to family planning centers all over the state, effectively shuttering a majority of these centers, and cutting off necessary medical resources to the poorest in the state? How can Governor Kasich claim a “pro-life” perspective when this new budget imperils the lives of women who are barred from public hospitals during their abortion procedure, should any complications arise? What is “pro-life” about censoring rape crisis centers, threatening to shut them down if crisis volunteers and counselors even mention the word abortion in their intake sessions with already scared and traumatized women? Worse yet, as State Representative Connie Pillich (D-Montgomery) described in a recent interview, there is very little “pro-life” sentiment in surreptitiously adding so much of this legislation as last-minute amendments to the state budget, making them impossible to put to public voter recall (as happened to Ohio SB 5 two years ago), and hidden from public scrutiny.

It is undeniable that abortion is a complicated and fraught issue, and recent polling demonstrates that people across generations have a range of opinions on legal abortion. However, what cannot be denied is the inherent danger within the “pro-life”/“pro-choice” binary, and with the notion that measures that are anti-abortion somehow inherently value life more than those that promote reproductive choice and freedom. If indeed the “pro-life” movement seeks to present the view that all life is sacred – a point that I would imagine is virtually agreed upon by people on all sides of the debate – legislation like that within the Ohio budget is an underhanded and even potentially malevolent way to do so. Additionally, the use of this particular biblical quote, both beautiful and spiritually fulfilling when read in context, disregards the plethora of opinions in the Bible and attendant texts regarding the life and rights of the mother, the moment at which a fetus becomes ‘ensouled,’ and the specific contingencies and qualifications that would warrant an abortion. I think it’s time for those of us who seek to provide options, services and resources to all people to take back that term, and to promote a “pro-life” agenda that promotes healthcare from conception to death, and everywhere in between.

Photo courtesy of progressohio.org.

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Even as a born and raised Washingtonian (OK, Marylander…), the last week of the Supreme Court’s term was incredibly exciting.  DOMA, Prop 8, Voting Rights Act and affirmative action—we heard it all.

The battle for equal rights for the LGBT community is one of THE issues of our generation, and is just as important as past campaigns of the civil rights movement. We are living history as it’s happening, and there’s no other place I’d rather be than the hub of these changes – Washington D.C.

This summer, through the RAC’s Machon Kaplan program, I work at  Jubilee USA Network, a non-profit that deals with debt-relief advocacy for low-income nations. You are probably thinking huh?? My first few days were like that too, a whirlwind of information that taught me about what it is we do and why it is so important. Huge companies, such as the Apples and Googles of the world, find loopholes in tax codes to avoid paying taxes; much revenue is lost that could go toward low-income nations. Furthermore, many of these developing countries are so far in debt that they are unable to pay what they owe, creating a vicious cycle and deepening the divide between the world’s rich and poor. Jubilee promotes legislation that defends those cannot defend themselves, the most vulnerable among us. Embedded in the traditions of Judaism are these same principles; the Torah designates specific mitzvot one must do for the poor. And, although the news cycle has been focused on the Supreme Court instead of debt relief this week, we have had some exciting news too—so hear out the underdog!

The G8 Summit last month in Northern Ireland declared that it would take a stand against tax avoidance by multinational companies through transparency acts (making tax records public so people can see who’s paying what). Boring, right? I thought so too until I found out that my favorite coffee spot Starbucks was one of those big companies acting so shady. Did you know that Starbucks hasn’t paid corporate taxes in the UK since 2008? Well, this week Starbucks has finally agreed to shed some pounds—promising to pay £20 million in taxes by 2014.

So these updates have been keeping me particularly busy blogging, e-blasting and researching. And, when I wasn’t working I was stalking CNN (who let me know Twinkies are coming back July 15 J), and SCOTUSblog for minute-by-minute updates on the decisions. I love living in D.C., and can definitely say it has a thing or too on Maryland. It is an active area of informed people, and there is always something to do or learn.

Image courtesy of Convention and Tourism Corporation

Maya Shair is an upcoming senior at the University of Michigan double majoring in Political Science and International Studies and minoring in Judaic Studies. She is a member of congregation Temple Shalom of Chevy Chase, MD.

The post International Debt Relief appeared first on Fresh Updates from RAC.

At 6:17 pm on June 26, lethal injections entered the body of 52 year old Texan Kimberly McCarthy. At 6:37 pm, she was pronounced dead and officially became the 500^th Texas inmate executed since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976. She was put to death for the robbery, beating and fatal stabbing of her 71-year-old neighbor, Dorothy Booth, in 1997.

While this crime is obviously heinous, the correlation of race and execution is crucial to fully understand the case. We cannot fully examine this case without understanding that McCarthy was black and Booth was white. This scenario of a white victim and black defendant has resulted in an execution 13 times more often than it has for a white defendant accused of murdering a black victim. In fact, death rows all over the country are disproportionately filled with minorities. Psychological research shows that even when controlling for the charges filed and the evidence entered, this disproportionate sentencing is consistent.

The Supreme Court ruled in Furman v. Georgia in 1972 that capital punishment, as carried out under current state statutes, was a form of “cruel and unusual punishment,” violating the 8^th Amendment. The application of the punishment was unequal, often discretionary and haphazard. This ruling provided an invitation for states to rewrite their capital punishment statues. When the consideration of aggravating and mitigating factors was added in 1976, capital punishment was reinstated on the standard that new provisions made sentencing less arbitrary.

Despite the Supreme Court’s decision to reinstate the death penalty, we recognize that the enforcement of capital punishment may fall short of the standards the Court sought to impose. McCarthy’s case raises questions about the discriminatory nature of capital punishment. Would McCarthy have been put to death if she was white or if the victim of her crime was black?

Aside from racial disparities and other flaws in the penal system, it is important for us as Jews and as humans to reflect on what state killings say about our society. Do we want to live in a community that kills its own citizens?

The Mishnah includes a lot of discussion about the use of the death penalty, suggesting it was frequently used and widely accepted during the time of the Sanhedrin. However, with a closer read, one can discern this was not the case. There were many conditions that needed to be met before a member of the community could be put to death. Two witnesses, who not only saw the murder take place, but who also warned the criminal of the consequences before he or she continued with the act, were required to give testimony. Who would proceed with a murder with two witnesses present and after a warning of the death penalty had been issued?

These unlikely conditions for a murder made the use of the death penalty rare, and also implicated the community as complicit in the act. The specific requirements for a death-eligible crime described in Mishnah Sanhedrin ensure that capital punishment, if imposed, is imposed in the most just manner possible. Execution is only permissible if it is absolutely necessary and if it can be guaranteed that the person being executed is indeed the criminal. Most of the Mishnaic writings on capital punishment came from a time when the right to impose capital punishment was taken from the Jewish courts by the Romans, making these laws more theoretical than practical.

There are still 32 states in America where capital punishment is legal. Despite the fact that 61% of Americans would prefer other means of punishment to state killing, people are still being executed. McCarthy’s execution was historic for the United States and for the state of Texas, the leading state in executions. Will we see 500 more lives taken, or will we seek an alternative punishment through death penalty reform?

Lizzie Stein is a rising sophomore at Occidental College. She is originally from Phoenix, AZ, and belongs to Temple Kol Ami.

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For the past 4 years I have spent my summers immersed in music, studying vocal performance. I traveled to Italy to perform operas, took voice lessons and attended arts summer camps. However for this summer I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and pursue a meaningful internship. My brother Devin participated in the Machon Kaplan program when he was entering his junior year of college and I remember how much he enjoyed and grew from his summer interning with the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. Remembering my brother rave about his amazing summer, I knew that an internship through Machon Kaplan was the perfect opportunity to have an enriching summer. I am beyond excited to intern with an organization – the Violence Poverty Center – that conducts and presents research, which serves as the basis for strong advocacy around gun violence prevention.

On December 14, 2012 a mass murder at Sandy Hook Elementary School left 20 little first-graders and six educators dead. All of America was shaken as we were, yet again, reminded that the places we consider safe are not exempt from the horrors of gun violence.  Americans fear that they can become a victim anytime, in anyplace, by anyone. More than anything, I will work so that another 6 months do not go by without Congress taking action to prevent gun violence. Since December 14 over 4,800 Americans have died from gun violence. Whenever I listen to the news and hear of another shooting I do not understand why the government continues to remain idle. As a Jewish young adult I feel it is my obligation to dedicate myself to tikkun olam which means “repairing the world.”  When I heard the news of the shooting in Sandy Hook I felt so helpless. I wanted to do something but I did not know what.

Fast forward 6 months (June 14, 2013) and I have my first big assignment: representing the Violence Policy Center at the “No More Names” ceremony, which commemorated the anniversary of the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut in front of the nation’s Capitol building. The day was humbling and inspiring as I interacted with the families who lost their siblings, children, parent, friends and community members in the Sandy Hook tragedy. I heard them tell their stories and relive the day that would forever haunt them. After hearing the families and passionate politicians, I feel even more motivated to work as hard as I can in my internship so that another six months does not go by without congress taking action.

Take action now: Tell your Members of Congress to pass legislation that will expand background checks!

Ilana Goldman is a rising junior at Lawrence University where she majors in music and religion. She is originally from New Jersey where she is a member of Temple Beth Miriam.

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This summer through the Machon Kaplan program I am interning for the Children’s Environmental Heath Network (CEHN). As an organization, we work to protect developing children from environmental health hazards and to promote a healthier environment. I have done some really awesome things with CEHN! Over the past few weeks I attended a hearing on Capitol Hill about breast cancer prevention and helped write comments for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) developing policies on  Motor Vehicle Emission and Fuel Standards. Something that I have enjoyed the most about my job is learning about how simple choices that we make everyday can impact our health both now and in the future. This is especially true during the summer, so here are a few summer safety tips to keep in mind so that everyone is a little healthier over the next few months! 

Sunscreen Safety: While spending time in the sun, it is important to protect skin from an increased risk of burns, wrinkles and cancer. While any type of sun protection is better than none at all, some sunscreens are safer than others.

• Try to use a physical sun block over a chemical sunscreen. Chemical sunscreen gets absorbed by the skin and degrades sunlight, which may be dangerous. Physical blocks sit on the skin and reflect light like a mirror.
• Physical blocks are made with zinc oxide or titanium dioxide, and because they are not absorbed into the skin, they are nonirritating and recommended for people with sensitive skin.

Recreational Water Safety: During the summer, I love to take trips to the beach! However, swimming in polluted water can result in minor illnesses such as sore throats, and even some more serious illnesses. Try following some of these tips to avoid exposure to chemical toxins in water:

• Don’t swim after a heavy rain. Rain can cause wastewater to seep into lakes and oceans.
• Try not to swallow water, and keep small children’s heads above water. Children and the elderly are at greater risk if in contact with contaminated water.

Grilling Safety: I love to help my dad cook food on the grill every weekend during the summer. Recently, I learned about Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are a group of classified carcinogens. One source of PAHs is the smoke generated and the foods cooked through grilling. Grill safer and keep these tips in mind the next time you have people over for a barbeque!

• Use lean meats and trim excess fat and skin.
• Try precooking meats to minimize cooking time on the grill.
• Wrap fish in foil before grilling to prevent smoke deposition.
• Don’t eat the charred or blackened bits on grilled food, including vegetables.

Environmental health has, for a long time, been considered a “Jewish issue” by our Movement. The URJ has passed multiple resolutions concerning the environment, environmental health and toxic waste and chemicals. A 1983 resolution states, “As inhabiters of the environment, we all bear responsibility for solving the problem of toxic wastes.” We can all take small steps in our daily lives to positively affect our environment and our health.  For more information, check out the RAC’s environmental health issues page.

Tracy Wolf is a rising junior at Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA. She is a Religion and Judaic Studies double major, and a Political Science minor. Originally from Long Island, NY, Tracy belongs to North Shore Synagogue in Syosset, NY.

The post Stay Safe This Summer! appeared first on Fresh Updates from RAC.

From the moment I stepped off the airplane at Dulles airport, I felt ready. For the first time in my life, I was completely comfortable entering a city with which I was unfamiliar, where I knew basically no one. Instead of being filled with worry and anxiety over the destination, I was, as they say, excited about the journey. I do not know if it is the magical spell of D.C., the fact that I might finally be growing into my “adult” self, or both, but acclimation has never come so easy for me.

As my time here has progressed, I have become increasingly interested and passionate about politics and the inner-workings of government, as well as the ins and outs of public policy. From the start of my internship at The Peace Alliance, we interns, all three from California, were thrown into the world of grassroots campaigning and advocacy. In a way, however, such a sudden push into this environment has allowed me to learn about the organization quickly and efficiently. The Peace Alliance targets violence both nationally and internationally. One of the biggest items on our agenda is a piece of legislation called The Youth Promise Act, which works at the community level to establish and fund programs working to prevent youth violence. The United States has the highest incarceration rate than any other country in the world, and the financial burden of these incarcerations is felt at the federal and state levels, as well as by taxpayers. This bill introduces evidence-based programs and installations proven to not only prevent youth from getting involved in violence and crime, but also to save large sums of money. The Peace Alliance’s 10,000 foot vision is to help establish a Department of Peacebuilding, a bureaucratic institution made to function alongside the already existing Department of Defense. In the meantime, The Peace Alliance has lobbied for Members of Congress to support already existing institutions, such as the United States Institute of Peace, to be sure they still receive funding in the proposed 2014 budget.

Ari Naveh and Rabbi Namath, coordinators of the Machon Kaplan program, informed us that at some point throughout the summer, program participants will have the opportunity to lobby officials over issues about which we are passionate. I am eager for that opportunity, but on just day two of my internship, we were told to dress our sharpest, as The Peace Alliance would be off to lobby on the Hill. The day started with our attendance at the release of the 2013 Global Peace Index, where I began to learn the real significance of the work done at The Peace Alliance. The United States, according to this data, is ranked 99 out of 162 countries in terms of peacefulness (number 1 being the most peaceful, and number 162 being the least). Even though my nerves were a little on the rocks, I soon felt at ease following around one of the Peace Alliance colleagues as we made our way from Senate office to Senate office. Not only was I able to visit Senator Chuck Schumer’s office (I had interned in his New York office this past semester), but I also was able to visit my home-state California Senators. And it just so happened that while we were waiting in the offices, Senators Boxer and Feinstein happened to stroll by. A couple of days later, The Peace Alliance participated in a briefing led by Representative Bobby Scott, a leading congressmen on the Youth Promise Act. As I looked around the room (I was the designated photographer), I noticed some of the young staffers whom we had lobbied only a few days before. This was week one of my internship, my first time on the Hill, and my first week ever in Washington D.C.

My experiences outside my internship, both those on my own and those designed by the RAC staff, have been equally as stimulating and exciting. We have had meetings with White House staff, gone paddle boating on the tidal basin, and went on a private tour of the Capitol building. What I have come to love about the D.C. summer culture is that everyone is interested in everyone else’s internships, which all range from advocacy work to working on the Hill (“Hillterns,” as some call them). The responses to the “Where do you intern?” question are so different from the responses I’m used to hearing in NYC: the Investment Banking world, something in magazines/fashion, something in the theatre/movie business, etc.

There are still so many things I plan to do, and I still have much to learn. I wonder what will happen next…

Image courtesy of The Peace Alliance.

Allee Karmazyn is a rising senior at Barnard College majoring in Political Science and Religion. She is originally from Santa Monica, CA and is interning at The Peace Alliance this summer.

The post Building Peace in the Capitol appeared first on Fresh Updates from RAC.

*This post is written in a series of entries to chronicle the experience of camping out overnight in order to gain entry into the Supreme Court on a decision day.

2:30am: I am currently sitting on the sidewalk in front of the Supreme Court with 19 other Machon Kaplan participants.  We have all decided to camp out for the night in the hope of gaining admittance to the 50 permanent public seats in the Supreme Court, where the Justices will (hopefully) announce one of the “big” cases– DOMA, Prop 8, Fisher, and Voting Rights– later today.  We are all very excited since there are only 4 people ahead of us in line!

4:00am: After playing cards and a failed attempt at sleeping, I walked up to the Capitol building with a couple of people.  It is incredible how peaceful it is without hundreds of tourists milling about.  It is hard to appreciate the significance of what we are waiting for in our sleep-deprived states, but as I stand admiring the grandeur of the Capitol and I look back at the Supreme Court building, I realize for the first time that we could truly witness history.  Even if we don’t hear the ruling on a major case, we will hear rulings first-hand from the very people who made the decisions.  The Fisher case (about affirmative action) and the Voting Rights Act case are particularly relevant to my internship at the NAACP Washington Bureau.  While I am mainly working on a research project about the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013, other interns in the office are focused on the very issues at hand in these cases.  These two decisions have the potential to change the course of the NAACP’s work.  It is hard to wrap my head around the idea that I might get to witness those very rulings.

8:00am: The press has slowly been arriving and setting up since 5am.  Our group has befriended some of the other people in line.  After going to Starbucks in shifts since its 5am opening, we are directed to move up onto the steps of the Supreme Court.  We are finally given green tickets, confirming our spots in those 50 coveted seats (we feel like Charlie getting his golden ticket in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory)!  We make our way through various security checks and are led to a hallway in which to wait.

11:00am: We just got out of the Court session, where we heard rulings on five cases, one of which was the Fisher case.  Even though I didn’t understand everything in the Justices’ opinions since I am not well-versed in “legalese,” it was an incredible feeling to hear the rulings read by their writers.  As another Machon Kaplan participant excitedly pointed out before the session began, we were the first people to hear the decisions.  We didn’t read about them through filters of media (although I will definitely read SCOTUSblog to clarify some of the decisions) or by word of mouth.  Even in my exhausted state, I can say with absolute certainty that this was worthwhile and meaningful.  After our White House visit last week, this Supreme Court adventure, and our meetings with Congressmen at the end of this week, I will have witnessed and experienced all three branches of government.  I’m still in a bit of shock that I have been awake since

1:30am, but I can’t wait to share my Supreme Court story with everyone at my internship!

Emily Aronson is a rising junior in the Joint Program at Columbia University and the Jewish Theological Seminary, majoring in Ethnicity and Race Studies at Columbia and Jewish Philosophy at JTS.  Originally from Bethesda, MD, Emily belongs to Temple Micah in Washington, DC.

The post The Supreme Court: Overnight Edition appeared first on Fresh Updates from RAC.

Five years ago, I served as a volunteer on the campaign opposed to the ratification of Proposition 8. In my mind, the proposition was a direct assault on the rights of same-sex couples, many of whom are members of my community. During the 2008 elections, I walked through my neighborhood passing out leaflets encouraging people to vote against Proposition 8. I even picked up a sign for my family’s front yard that said “Vote No on Prop 8.” 

As a Boy Scout at the time, I did not realize that the BSA had discrimination policies in effect that denied many individuals the right to participate in the organization based on their sexual orientation. Fortunately, I was blessed to participate in a troop that stated on its website that it was opposed to the discrimination practices being carried out by other troops within the BSA. Even though I am still upset about these discriminatory practices, I am comforted by the fact that my troop continues to speak out against these practices.

I left the “No on Prop 8” campaign feeling disappointed because the state adopted the initiative despite my efforts to fight the initiative from the beginning. Because I felt so upset about the initiative passing, I left the campaign in pursuit of other extracurricular activities including baseball, soccer and scouting, instead of continuing to fight for the cause of marriage equality.

When I think about the need to speak up for others, I think of a quote said by Martin Niemöller, a Lutheran pastor who was imprisoned by Nazis during World War II.  After the war, Niemöller expressed his deepest regrets for not standing up and helping other victims of Nazi war crimes. He states:

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist

When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn’t a Jew

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

If I choose not to speak up for others, no one will speak up for me in a time when I need it the most. When we do not speak up for civil rights as a community, the rights of others become ignored. Any one of us could find ourselves in a situation where no one will left to speak up for us. If we do not reach out to individuals who need help, often taking courage, we may never receive another opportunity to lend them a hand. While I was on the steps of the Supreme Court building on the morning that the Windsor v. United States and Hollingsworth v. Perry decisions were handed down, I kept these thoughts in the back of my mind.

I was thrilled to hear that DOMA was declared unconstitutional and that the Supreme Court ruled that it had no jurisdiction on the Prop 8 case, in part because the state of California refused to defend the law after the state supreme court and a federal judge struck down the law.

Nevertheless, what an incredible moment for me personally was to be able at the place where the ballot was first cast enacting a law that would deny gay couples the civil right of marriage, and then to stand in front of the steps of the Supreme Court to hear its decision on this initiative. I will cherish this for the rest of my life.

After Prop 8 was passed in my home state, I became disconnected from the world of politics. I felt frustrated, as if maybe I hadn’t done enough to stop the initiative from being passed during the state election in 2008. In the months that followed, I became less in touch with the initiative. I assigned a huge amount of blame on myself, even though I was not old enough to even vote against it.

The Talmud states, “Who can protest and does not, is an accomplice in the act.” Even when you feel discouraged by the way a case is decided, do not lose hope. Whenever you are given an opportunity to stand for an issue about which you feel passionate about, do not back down from the opportunity. This will only delay justice. If this story has taught me anything, it has been to not dwell on past losses but to continue to engage in the fight for justice. When we push past these barriers, it will lead us one step closer to ensuring justice for all.

Sam Stone is a rising sophomore at Warren Wilson College in North Carolina. He is a Machon Kaplan participant interning at the Religious Action Center.

The post Never Turn Your Back on Justice appeared first on Fresh Updates from RAC.

For the last few weeks now, I have been working as the Operations Intern at the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC). In this position, I get to see everything that is going on around the other parts of the coalition: policy, outreach, communications and research.  I have learned about many major issues involving economic equality and providing homes for low-income people. These are major problems that need to be addressed, despite some government programs that have already been implemented.

NLIHC’s biggest priority right now is ensuring funding for the National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF).  The trust fund was a huge effort for many years to find a way to supply funding for low-income housing across the country.  Although it was finally passed and established under the W. Bush administration, it was never funded.  At the NLIHC, we want to correct this issue, since without funding, it is impossible for the NHTF to fulfill its mandate.  By advocating for funding for the NHTF, we are encouraging the importance for the government to provide a social safety net.

Sequestration has proved to be a big stumbling block preventing the coalition from receiving funding for the program, so the NLIHC has been supporting a piece of legislation in the House of Representatives known as H.R. 1213, the Common Sense Housing Investment Act of 2013.  This program would not only raise revenues to help fund the NHTF by lowering the cap on the amount of mortgage for which interest can be deducted, but it also changes the mortgage deduction to a tax credit so that a person filing their taxes does not have to itemize them in order to receive their reimbursement.  By supporting this legislation, elected officials are providing funding for low-income housing while providing an easier process for people who currently have mortgages to receive the tax credit.

Overall the start of this summer has been amazing.  I have learned so much about the issue of low-income housing and the work of advocacy organizations.  I am really excited about the next four weeks and all that I can achieve during them.  Through the NLIHC, I’m not only trying to help people find a house, but make sure everyone has the home they deserve.

Ben Litwin is a rising Junior at Gettysburg College originally from Wilmington, DE and belongs to Congregation Beth Emeth.

The post Making Homes Affordable: Funding for the American Dream appeared first on Fresh Updates from RAC.

This was originally published on State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s blog, on June 28, 2013.

This was a big week at the Supreme Court and I was thrilled to have the privilege of a front row seat to history. After camping out all night , I was first in line to get into the court’s chamber to hear the decision on Alabama’s challenge to a key provision of the Voting Rights Act. The process itself was certainly something to behold, occurring in an ornate chamber like a temple built to justice with a level of decorum rarely seen in any other government body.

What I found  most surprising of everything I experienced though, was how deeply emotion ran through the courtroom. The emotion and very human reactions were in stark contrast to the ordered, measured process of handing down decisions. What often gets lost in the shuffle of Supreme Court drama is that the decisions the Justices make are not merely academic answers to legal questions, but have very real and emotional consequences.

Wednesday morning I was again in front of the Court, this time not in line but with the crowd on the steps waiting for the decisions in the cases challenging the Defense of Marriage Act and Proposition 8. These provisions, which have hindered the freedom of millions of people, were struck down by the court. When the decisions were announced and cheers rang out across the crowd, my pride and my heart swelled. Our work is, of course, not yet complete—inevitably there will continue to be much debate over whether marriage equality is a threat to religious freedom which we of course do not believe it is. We must still overturn the rest of DOMA, not to mention push for marriage equality nationwide. But these monumental decisions worth much celebration.

When Justice Ginsberg expressed her regret at the court’s decision in the Voting Rights Act case, she quoted Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: “The arc of history is long, but it bends towards justice…” Though on Tuesday Justice Ginsberg used this quote to say that the court’s decision slowed the bending of the arc of history, the arc has, with Wednesday’s decision, bent a little closer to justice.

Matt Anderson is a rising senior at New College of Florida and is interning at Interfaith Alliance as a Machon Kaplan participant.

The post My day in (and outside of) court appeared first on Fresh Updates from RAC.

In the Book of Isaiah it states, “They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks” (Isaiah 2:4).  Instead of using swords to fight others, we should use the sword as a tool to reconnect with the land. A similar ideology should also be applied to the way that society deals with first-time youth offenders who commit minor offenses.

In our society, a ‘get tough’ approach has been adopted for too many cases committed by first-time youth offenders. Instead of helping these individuals learn from their mistakes, we apply punitive sentences that try to discourage future unlawful behavior from occurring. This ineffective methodology of punishing criminal behavior does not address the core reasons why these types of crime were committed in the first place. Additionally, this approach denies offenders the opportunity to provide a form of restitution to the victim and community that suffered from their actions.

Such harsh penalties to dealing with crime can create a strong disconnect between families. In many communities, family members are often separated from each other many times as a result of their interactions with the juvenile and adult justice systems. These separations can cause offenders to experience prolonged periods of isolation, which can deteriorate some of the pre-existing relationships that they may have had before they entered the criminal system.

Not only does this policy ruin family relationships, it also creates a class of disengaged citizens. Instead of developing healthy ways of encouraging youth to re-engage with their communities, this policy has had the opposite effect. As a community, we need to interact with at-risk youth and provide them more opportunities to reconnect with society.

These are just some of the many consequences we see from the ‘get tough’ policies enacted. These ‘get tough’ policies have played a huge role in the growing incarceration epidemic we have seen throughout the United States. The money that could be spent on opportunities to help keep youth engaged with their communities is instead being spent on housing thousands of youth in our prison system. These expenses have taken a huge toll on all of us. Now is the time to being discussing alternative policies, including ending discriminatory sentencing, racial profiling, three-strikes policies and mandatory minimums, that will help first-time youth offenders emerge from their sentences as children with bright futures. ‘Getting tough’ is not good enough!

The post Getting Tough is Not Good Enough appeared first on Fresh Updates from RAC.

Yesterday morning I went to the Supreme Court of the United States. As I stood below the steps of the Court with my best friend and her girlfriend, a man waving a rainbow flag and another holding a sign reading “gay Mormon for marriage equality,” the gravity of the upcoming decision on the Defense of Marriage Act started to sink in: by the end of the week, already-married same-sex couples might finally gain access to the (over one thousand) federal benefits already granted to opposite-sex couples. What a time to be in Washington, D.C. What a time to be interning for Pride at Work.  The energy in the District was palpable.

Being a proud Californian, this week’s pending Supreme Court decision on Proposition 8 also hits close to home. In 2008, California voters voted to amend our state’s constitution to include a clause defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Now, almost five years later, the Supreme Court is on the verge of announcing their decision regarding California’s definition of marriage. The details of the Court’s impending decision have the power to affect how states define marriage and if same-sex couples in California will be granted the right to marry. Needless to say I am on the edge of my seat.

For those of you, who, like me, have a hard time deciphering law jargon, www.scotusblog.com is a great resource for live updates on announcement days and “In Plain English” articles that translate lawyer-speak into more understandable language. And check back at RACblog for our reactions as these landmark decisions are handed down! Keep updated and keep informed.

Aaron Steinfeld is going to be a senior at UC Berkeley and is majoring in Peace and Conflict studies with a concentration in Education and Identity. He is originally from Sherman Oaks, California and a congregant at Temple Beth Hillel.

The post Awaiting Their Decisions appeared first on Fresh Updates from RAC.

The fifth annual ‘Facing Tomorrow’ Presidential Conference kicked off in Jerusalem on June 18 with a grand event to celebrate Israeli President Shimon Peres’ 90^th birthday and former U.S. President Bill Clinton’s efforts towards peace in the region. There were nearly 5,000 guests in attendance at Jerusalem’s International Convention Center, including former Prime Minister of the Untied Kingdom Tony Blair, American singer/actress Barbra Streisand, prince of Monaco Albert II, our own Rabbis Rick Jacobs and David Saperstein, and several other diplomats, celebrities and prominent Jewish thinkers.

During Wednesday morning’s plenary session entitled “Leadership that Makes a Difference,” Peres awarded Bill Clinton with Israel’s highest distinction, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Peres praised Clinton for his peace efforts, calling him “my dearest friend, President Bill Clinton – and when I call you my friend I know that I speak for the entire people of Israel.” Peres also added that he believes Clinton has “laid the foundations which one day will bring peace to our region – the two-state solution.” Clinton joins the impressive club of leaders who have received the award in the past, including President Obama, former Secretary of State Dr. Henry Kissinger, the Music Director of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Israeli Attorney Uri Slonim and Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz.

The rest of the conference continued with plenary sessions focusing on the subject of “tomorrow”– engaging in and discussing a variety of issues that will influence Israel’s future in geopolitics, economics, society, environment, culture, identity, education, new media and more. Coinciding with the 2013 Presidential Conference is President Shimon Peres’ 90^th birthday, where the massive celebration included a rendition of avinu malkeinu by Barbra Streisand.

Shimon Peres, the 9^th President of Israel, has been a long-time advocate for peace with the Palestinians. Leviticus 19 commands us to “love thy neighbor as thyself.” His statements at the conference stressed the need for a two-state solution and for peace with Israel’s Palestinian neighbors, a commitment shared with the Reform Movement. Throughout his time in the Israeli government, Peres has been a symbol of hope for a peaceful future in the Middle East.

Lizzie Stein is a rising sophomore at Occidental College. She is originally from Phoenix, AZ, and belongs to Temple Kol Ami.

The post Yom Huledet Samech: Peres turns 90 appeared first on Fresh Updates from RAC.

It is hard to believe that we have already been in Washington, D.C. for a week. I am having a great time at my internship at American Jewish World Service (AJWS) and have liked the classes that we have had so far. It has been great getting used to this city and exploring. The days are long but it is definitely a great experience and I am so glad that I am spending the summer here and not at home.

On Monday we got to go to the White House with the Machon Kaplan program! We went there to meet with the Administration’s liaison to the Jewish community. It was a very interesting meeting and a cool experience to be able to go to the White House and meet with someone who works there. He told us about what he does and what makes his work “Jewish” and how it plays a role in the creation and implementation of public policy. I did not know there was a White House liaison to the Jewish community before, so this was a good opportunity to see what type of work he does.

For my internship I have been going to different meetings and conferences. I have met with everyone in my office in order to understand what he or she does for AJWS. I have found these meetings helpful because I was able to get to know the other people in the office better and for them not to just be someone who works in the office that I do not really know because I am not doing anything for them.

The conferences I have gone to deal with different human rights issues. They have all been very interesting and have definitely enhanced my knowledge in these areas. Today I went to a conference about preventing child marriage, called “Vision, Innovation and Action to Address Child Marriage.” Most of the speakers were in agreement that education was a significant way in which their agencies are preventing child marriage in developing countries. By educating girls, they become more empowered, which in the long run will also help the community in which they live. They center on working in developing countries where there are the most at-risk girls. They also agreed on the fact that they want to prevent child marriages but also protect the children who are already married. They really did not have any major disagreements about how the situation should be handled. Later this week I will be attending a hearing on the status of human rights in Sudan, which I am looking forward to.

I am looking forward to the rest of the summer enjoying all of the great opportunities there are to experience in Washington D.C. through the program. This week has been amazing so I am sure the rest of the weeks will be great too!

Image courtesy of AJWS.

Julia Cagin is a rising Senior at Muhlenberg College. She is interning at American Jewish World Service through the Machon Kaplan program.

The post Addressing Child Marriage: My First Week in D.C. appeared first on Fresh Updates from RAC.

Wow! In my first two days interning at the RAC, I have learned so much about some of the issues that the RAC specializes in, including LGBT rights. On Monday, June 17^th, I attended a meeting held by the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health to discuss important issues that affect the LGBT community. The meeting featured four panelists, each of whom came from very different backgrounds.

The four panelists were Paris Hatcher, former Executive Director of SPARK Reproductive Justice Now, Sesali Bowen, Training Director of United States Student Association, Reverend Rob Keithan, Director of Public Policy for the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice and Laura Nixon, a lawyer from the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

After each of the panelists spoke about how they came to eventually pursue a career working for reproductive justice, I asked the panel how families could create a healthier dialogue with their children when it comes to discussing gender identity. Two of the panelists responded to my question. While Sesali Bowen talked about the need to have mutual respect between parents and children, Reverend Rob Keithan talked about the need to improve sexuality education. I was amazed by the fact that each of these answers focused on very different issues; there is no “one size fits all” approach to discussing gender identity. At the end of this meeting, I began to think about the ways I could contribute and help members of the LGBT community talk about their identity. What is my responsibility to help create a safe space for comprehensive sexuality education?

In the Talmud, it states, “Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly now. Love mercy now. Walk humbly now. You are not obligated to complete the work but neither are you free to abandon it.” Even though I do not feel as connected to the LGBT community as the panelists who spoke at the event, I still want to be able to support members of this community. I believe that one way I can support this community is by reaching out to those who may struggle to speak about their identity and create a safe environment for them to express themselves.

The obligation of performing mitzvot is deeply ingrained in our tradition. However, there are many ways to perform mitzvot; one of these ways is to create a safe environment for others so that they can express their true identities. After this meeting, I found myself wondering what my role is in helping to create that type of environment regardless of a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

I also believe that learning to create a safe space can be a way of embracing tikkun olam. Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson once stated, “Tzedakah is not about giving; Tzedakah is about being.” It is not enough to simply perform acts of tikkun olam because it is essential justice. Tikkun olam has to be fully embraced in each and every one of us.  I often take for granted the fact that I was able to have a healthy relationship with my parents. I hope to continue to learn more about the needs of many individuals within the LGBT community in order to help as many individuals as possible create a safe environment in which to live.

From just this one meeting, I learned that there can be more than one way to address some of the needs of the LGBT community, including the need for open and healthy discussions about gender identity to exist in all families. In fact, this conversation has encouraged me to explore different ways of discussing the difficulty of openly talking about sexuality. The more ideas that can be brought to the table, the easier it will be to break the silence that can occur between parents and LGBT children. Now is the time to unite with the LGBT community and help strengthen our nation’s sexuality education.

Here are a few links to help you get started:

• http://rac.org/advocacy/issues/issuegl/
• http://latinainstitute.org/issues/lgbtq
• http://latinainstitute.org/getinvolved

Sam Stone is a rising sophomore at Warren Wilson College in North Carolina. He is a Machon Kaplan participant interning at the Religious Action Center.

The post Let’s Talk About Gender Identity appeared first on Fresh Updates from RAC.

 I’m only on day four of my one-week SNAP Challenge and I already feel like I’ll hurl if I have to eat another peanut butter sandwich. At the beginning of the week, I allotted myself $31.50, the average stipend for an individual benefitting from food stamps, consulted my nutrition advisors (mom and dad), and made one of the most boring grocery lists I have ever seen, with my goals being to eat as healthy as possible and maximize my protein intake. My diet for this week consists of a lot of peanut butter, pasta and eggs. While I am finding the food stamp budget extremely limiting (though still doable) my simulated experience does not come close to the experiences of the over 48 million people benefitting from SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). I constantly find myself worried about eating too much food because I am afraid I will run out. As a result, I have rarely felt full after a meal and am often hungry again well before my next meal and before I go to bed. I believe the biggest difference in my experience this week from those who are actually on the SNAP program is that I catch myself looking forward to what foods I’ll be able to eat next week, when my challenge is over. This experience is not shared by SNAP program beneficiaries because their challenge is never over. For them, every week, every month, and sometimes every year they are on the SNAP challenge.

Leviticus 19: 9-10 tells us, “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap all the way to the corners of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You shall not pick your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger.” As Jews, we are obligated to feed the hungry, to leave the metaphorical corners of our fields (most of us do not actually grow our own food anymore) for those who need it.

The Farm Bill is a five-year bill that governs a vast amount of the agriculture industry and the federal Food and Nutrition Service. On June 10, the Senate passed their version of the Farm Bill, which included $4.1 billion in cuts to the SNAP Program. Today, the House failed to pass their version of the Farm Bill with $20 billion in cuts to the SNAP Program. These cuts would devastate the program, which serves as a safety net from hunger and poverty for almost 50 million Americans. Proposed cuts to the SNAP Program would severely reduce the size of the corners of our “fields” that we allot for the hungry.

It is now very unclear what will happen to this massive bill, with over $900 billion worth of programming in it. Stay tuned to the RACblog for updates.

Lizzie Stein is a rising sophomore at Occidental College. She is originally from Phoenix, AZ, and belongs to Temple Kol Ami.

The post Oh, SNAP! Protect Anti-Hunger Programs in the Farm Bill appeared first on Fresh Updates from RAC.

In the summer of 2005, I interned at the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. That summer was a particularly difficult one for us, as it felt that we in the gun violence prevention community struggled with one defeat after another. At the time, the most difficult loss of all was the dissolution of the D.C. handgun ban, allowing for handgun possession in the district for the first time in 29 years. However, it seems that one piece of legislation from the state of Florida that was also passed that summer has not only grabbed the headlines, but has had a host of unintended and devastating consequences. With the “Stand Your Ground” legislation, Florida became the first of now almost two-dozen states to expand the definition of ‘castle doctrine’ from one’s personal household or property, to one’s person. Put bluntly, according to this legislation, if you feel threatened at any time by any one person, in any location, you are given full agency to use full force without being required to retreat first, and still claim self-defense. In fact, in Florida, a pre-trial hearing can substitute for a full trial if a “stand your ground” defense is heard and accepted by a judge. Since its inception and final passage in October 2005, the “stand your ground” legislation and these cases rarely made national news, but as our nation remembers the murder of Travon Martin as the trial for George Zimmerman begins, the legislation has finally come under significant national scrutiny.

While ostensibly intended as self-defense legislation, these laws have actually precipitated upticks in violence, including homicides, in the states in which they have been enacted, as the case of Jordan Davis – another victim of the “Stand Your Ground” legislation –  so heartbreakingly reveals.  According to Mark Hoekstra, an economist from Texas A&M University, a study calculating rates of murder and violence in states with and without such legislation, found that “that homicides go up by 7 to 9 percent in states that pass the laws, relative to states that didn’t pass the laws over the same time period.” In Florida specifically, according to a study done by the St. Petersburg Times, the “Stand Your Ground” defense has been invoked at least 93 times, with 65 homicides since the law passed in 2005, and according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, in 2009, a homicide was considered warranted on the grounds of “Stand Your Ground” almost twice a week. This legislation has contributed to settling gang violence, increased intimate-partner violence and harmed or killed countless innocent men, women and children. And with Florida’s already lax gun laws, the prospect of innocents being targeted by such disgraceful “defense” is only increased.

The texts dictating our Jewish traditions may seem a bit muddy on the issues both of self-defense and of armament. On the one hand, as laid out in Exodus 24:21, due punishment follows a crime committed, as it states, “If any harm follows…an eye for an eye, a tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.” However, as Rabbi Marc Katz described in an article in Tablet magazine recently, the sages of our tradition were extraordinarily reticent to proclaim violence – especially excessive violence – as justified, and while our sages could not have fathomed the extent of weaponry of our time, their reticence is no less prescient, and no less pertinent. According to Rabbi Katz, the Talmud tells of the six cities in which, according to the Torah, a person who has committed manslaughter can flee for safe haven. As such, those six cities were to severely restrict and limit the amount and kinds of weaponry available so that a ‘blood avenger’ could not utilize any of them against someone seeking refuge. Thus, where “Stand Your Ground” legislation seeks to justify pre-emptive, vigilante-esque violence, this text in the Talmud demonstrates a rabbinic attempt to contain violence by preventing those who seek vengeance, those who may not be thinking straight, and those who actively seek harm from seeking weapons. I can only hope that the Zimmerman trial, along with the countless other examples of the effects of this legislation can help to put an end to gun violence once and for all, giving those on the side of sensible gun violence prevention legislation a much needed victory, and hopefully helping to ease the pain of the families who have suffered the most.

Image courtesy of AP

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Machon Kaplan is an internship program run by the Religious Action Center for undergraduate students interested in the intersection of Judaism and social justice. Every summer, the Machon Kaplan program places students in internships at a wide variety of advocacy organizations in Washington, D.C., ranging from the NAACP to the Center for Middle East Peace, and offers regular workshops and community activities at the RAC. You can follow their experiences this summer at the MKBlog feed.

Welcome to my first day in D.C. When the RAC’s Rabbi Michael Namath called to tell me I’d be interning at the RAC all those weeks ago, amid all my uncertainties and unanswered questions about my internship in Washington, D.C., I knew there was one thing I could expect with certainty: adventure. I knew I would have the opportunity to learn about and advocate for a wide variety of people and issues while working at the RAC. And on my very first day, I proved myself right. I visited an anti-genocide art installation on the National Mall and a panel on queer reproductive justice all in the same afternoon.

After trudging through the rain and humidity, through the Ellipse (I even picked up some D.C. lingo on this adventure) and to the National Mall, we came upon a display of One Million Bones, presented by The Art of Revolution. The dramatic public installation of paper mache, rubber, duct tape and plastic bones were scattered across the National Mall to raise awareness about current genocides – in Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia and Burma. The One Million Bones movement took their message beyond the mall and into the halls of Congress as volunteers participated in the movement’s lobby day on Monday, June 10: “Take a Bone to Congress.”

As is frequently the case at the RAC, our afternoon adventure quickly changed directions, and I found myself on the metro’s red line, headed towards the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice to attend a panel on LGBT reproductive justice.

In a room filled with actively engaged, and slightly damp, progressive thinkers from organizations all over the city, these open and wise powerhouse advocates for reproductive justice highlighted the injustices in reproductive health that exists for the LGBT community – a community often overlooked in conversations around reproductive health. Members of the LGBT community, who need the same vital access to the reproductive health services as their heterosexual counterparts, have been devastatingly limited in obtaining it. Kierra Johnson, executive director of ChoiceUSA reminded us that, “Everybody and every BODY needs to be valued.”

Her message echoes the Jewish value, b’tselem Elohim, all humans are created in the image of god; an individual’s identity or sexual orientation does not change this. Kierra’s message is an important one for us to remember, as every human deserves equal access to reproductive health services.

The panel was powerful and brought to light an issue I knew next to nothing about before coming to Washington. I am thrilled today’s adventure is just the beginning of my summer in D.C., working for an organization that stops at nothing to bring about social justice, not even the rain.

Lizzie Stein is a rising sophomore at Occidental College. She is originally from Phoenix, AZ, and belongs to Temple Kol Ami.

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The very first Pride Parade took place on June 28^th, 1970 in commemoration of the first anniversary of the Stonewall raid in New York City. The parade, almost a year in the making, was an opportunity for gay men and women to step out of the proverbial closet and respond as a community to the horrific attacks at the Stonewall Inn by proclaiming loudly and proudly that the gay community cannot be brought down. The courageousness and sheer strength of will in organizing this first Pride Parade cannot be overstated, as our country’s gay rights record in 1970 was not deserving of too much pride; sodomy laws were on the books and routinely enforced, discrimination was rampant, and gay visibility in the social and cultural landscapes was virtually non-existent, except as seen as a threat or a mockery.

Now 43 years hence, the LGBT community has grown in strength, in numbers and in visibility, and we have so much about which to be proud, as the arc of our country’s history bends more and more toward equality and justice for all. This is why every year I march with pride and with hope: pride in how far we’ve come, and hope that our trajectory will continue this trend.

This year, I can’t help but color my pride with a slight bit of ambivalence as a result of the failure of Senator Patrick Leahy’s amendment to the current Immigration bill, which would have recognized same-sex bi-national couples, affording them the same rights and benefits that opposite-sex couples obtain during the immigration process.

If you’ve been following the issue, you know that the RAC has been at the forefront of the campaign for comprehensive immigration reform, helping to mobilizing rabbis nationwide and educating congregants about the inherent Jewish values of welcoming the stranger. You’ll also know that the bill that just passed the Senate Judiciary Committee, as organized by the bipartisan “Gang of 8,” shows significant promise in the way of solid immigration policy, easing the process toward citizenship for many, allowing for the children of immigrants to attend college, and contribute to the good of society as they also work towards citizenship. Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, the bill seeks to keep bi-national families together as the non-American spouse or family member works toward obtaining their citizenship.

However, with the failure of the Leahy amendment, the definition of family has been disappointingly narrowed. As Senator Leahy himself proclaimed, “Discriminating against people based on who they love is a travesty,” and with the failure of this amendment, the fate of some 24,700 bi-national couples, along with over 267,000 undocumented LGBT immigrants, now hangs in limbo. As Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin wrote the other day “We owe it to [these couples] living in the U.S. today to get the job done.” As such, I am incredibly proud of the eight senators who came together to push this legislation forward, but I am also exceedingly saddened that they did so at the expense of so many LGBT families.

About a month ago, we celebrated the holiday of Shavuot, which commemorates מתן תורה, the giving of the Torah, along with the bounty of the Spring Harvest. As part of our celebration of Shavuot, tradition states we read from the Book of Ruth, which tells the story of Ruth, a Moabite woman who upon her husband’s death seeks to follow her mother-in-law Naomi, by becoming part of the Israelite community. She states, quite poignantly “כִּי אֶל-אֲשֶׁר תֵּלְכִי אֵלֵךְ, וּבַאֲשֶׁר תָּלִינִי אָלִין–עַמֵּךְ עַמִּי, ואלוהיךְ אֱלֹהָי” – “Wherever you go, I will go, wherever you rest, I will rest, your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.” This text teaches us that we have an obligation to those who seek to join in our journey with us, whatever that journey may be. When God reminds us not to forget our status as strangers, as less than, as servants in the land of Egypt, this is what is meant; when God impels us to care for the widow, the orphan, the stranger, this is what is meant. And when God calls to us to be a light unto the nations, this is absolutely what is meant. I am proud that our tradition shows such compassion for those who desire to join us, enriching and enhancing our community. It is our charge as Jews that we make sure that all those who wish to become part of our national fold are given that same compassion and care, and it is my hope that by next year’s Pride parade, our nation’s immigration system reflects exactly that charge.

Photo courtesy of Getequal.

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