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Gun Violence Prevention: Looking Back and Looking Forward
“Don’t stop after beating the swords into ploughshares, don’t stop! Go on beating and make musical instruments out of them. Whoever wants to make war again will have to turn them into ploughshares...
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Season’s Greetings: The Beauty of Interfaith Dialogue
During the holiday season, when we are surrounded by Christmas decorations and celebrations, it can be challenging to remember that one of the great gifts of the winter season is the collaboration and...
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Reform Rabbis in Israel Receive State Salaries for First Time
In response to the Israeli government’s fulfillment of its court-ordered obligation to pay the salaries of four non-Orthodox communal rabbis, Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action...
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Gun Violence Prevention in 2014: Off to a Great Start
Yesterday, five days after the announcement of two executive orders from the desk of President Obama that move his gun violence prevention agenda forward, former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords published...
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The Problem with Offsets: Disability and Unemployment Insurance
The Senate has been working to extend unemployment insurance, but so far has failed to reach an agreement. One suggestion has been to pay for a one-year extension of Emergency Unemployment...
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African Migrants Protest at Embassies in Israel
Last week, thousands of African migrants living in Israel protested Israel’s detention policies outside several embassies, including the United States, France, Italy, Great Britain, Canada and...
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Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper Visits Israel for the First Time
Earlier this week, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper visited Israel for the first time and had the opportunity to address the Israeli Knesset. In his speech to the Knesset, Prime Minister Harper...
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#SOTU: UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
This is the third post in a series on the RAC’s expectations and hopes for President Obama’s State of the Union address on January 28th. As Reform Jews, we are committed to upholding the commandment,...
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Why Foreign Aid Matters
When we think of the word “tzedakah”, we often think of the translation as “charity.” But the root of the word tzedakah are the three Hebrew letters tzadi, dalet, and kuf, which together mean justice...
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Jewish Disability Awareness Month: From Awareness to Inclusion
February is an eventful month! In the last four days, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow and signaled six more weeks of winter and the Seahawks beat the Broncos to win the Super Bowl. In the next few...
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What’s Happening in Medinat Yisrael
There’s a lot happening in Israel – check out this list of news and updates ranging from zoo news to Israeli politics. Reform Jewish Leader Responds to MK David Rotem: Rabbi Rick Jacobs issued a...
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Jewish Disability Advocacy Day: A Big Success!
I spent yesterday on Capitol Hill for Jewish Disability Advocacy Day, which is an opportunity to learn about legislative issues of importance to individuals with disabilities and their families and to...
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Halting Another Polio Crisis
In 2002, there were 1,600 polio cases in India. In 2009, there were 741, nearly half of the world’s cases. On January 13, 2014, India celebrated its third consecutive year of being polio-free. This...
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Israel Update: Chancellor Merkel’s Visit to Israel and the Peace Process
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her cabinet visited Israel for 24 hours on Monday, February 24th. Chancellor Merkel told reporters, “We have come here with almost the whole of our new government,...
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JDAM: Spotlight on Israel
As we near the end of the sixth annual Jewish Disability Awareness Month in the United States, we remember that people with disabilities live all throughout the world—some 650 million people worldwide...
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This Day in History: Brady Background Checks as Law
On November 30, 1994, President Bill Clinton signed the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, which established background checks on all firearm purchases from federally licensed dealers. The name...
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Jewish Disability Awareness Month Round Up
February 2014 marked the sixth annual Jewish Disability Awareness Month. Together we use this month to break down physical, communication, and attitudinal barriers, educate our communities on what...
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Anti-Semitism in Ukraine
In response to several anti-Semitic incidents in Ukraine, the site of ongoing social upheaval, Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, released the following...
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Ensuring the Safety of Our Nation’s Students
A report from the U.S. Department of Education showed 66,000 cases of seclusion and restraint of students during the 2009-10 school year. This is a horrifying statistic, made even more horrifying by...
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International Religious Freedom: Learning from Esther
Hamentaschen, costumes and mishloach manot, oh my! We are just a few days away from celebrating the holiday of Purim, which means gathering in our synagogues for Purim schpiels and carnivals. Purim...
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Israeli-Palestinian Negotiation Deadline Approaches
President Obama has met with both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the White House this month. The April 2014 deadline to develop a...
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21 Facts for the 21st Annual World Water Day
This past Saturday, March 22nd, marked the 21st annual World Water Day. What is World Water Day, you ask? World Water Day has been held annually on March 22nd since 1993, when the United Nations...
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Annual Ruderman Prize in Inclusion Announced
The Ruderman Family Foundation recently announced the launch of the third annual Ruderman Prize in Inclusion global competition. The Prize seeks to recognize organizations that have demonstrated...
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President Obama Speaks at Nuclear Security Summit
President Obama spoke last week at a news conference with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte during the Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague. They addressed the news conference together, highlighting the...
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Rabbi Rick Jacobs Responds to Harsh Critique of Zionism
Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the President of the Union for Reform Judaism, published a piece yesterday in response to “Zionism Unsettled,” a recent publication produced by the Israel/Palestine Mission Network...
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Talking to Teens about Israel
Yesterday evening, I was invited by Temple Sinai of Washington, D.C. to speak to their seventh grade students about my connection and relationship to Israel as a part of their culminating class on...
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Why Talk about Disability Rights on Passover?
Moses is never mentioned in the Passover Haggadah. At first glance, it’s a little strange that Moses’s name or involvement in the Exodus is never discussed in the Passover Haggadah. I was taught...
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The Modern Plague of Malaria
As the ten biblical plagues were recited during my Passover Seder this past week, I was thinking not only of the plagues that afflicted Egypt but also of the modern plagues that affect our world...
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“You Shall Be Holy”–Parshat Kedoshim and Disability Rights
This morning, I had the privilege of the giving the d’var Torah at the quarterly Jewish Disability Network coalition meeting. Below is the d’var I shared with the group of people gathered at the...
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Celebrate World Malaria Day: Send a Net, Save a Life
Today is World Malaria Day– a day to recognize global efforts to eradicate malaria and commit to doing everything we can to lessen the number of people impacted by malaria each year. The Reform...
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National Call-In Day: Support Funding Global Education Today
Fifty seven million primary-aged school children are currently out of school, and worldwide, 250 million children cannot read, write, or count. The Global Partnership for Education is the only...
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Conflict Continues in Syria, No End in Sight
The conflict in Syria continues to rage on, with no end in sight. Over 1,400 people were killed in a chemical weapons attack in the suburbs of Damascus on August 21, 2013. U.N. weapons inspectors...
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Conference of Presidents Vote Keeps Out J Street
Last week, 50 members of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations voted against admitting J Street as a member organization. (The Conference of Presidents actually has a fascinating...
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The Spread of Polio: A Devastating Development
Earlier this week, the World Health Organization released a statement on the meeting of the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee concerning the international spread of wild poliovirus....
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Reform Movement Responds to Kidnapping of Schoolgirls in Nigeria
Rabbi David Saperstein’s statement on the kidnapping of schoolgirls in Nigeria was quoted in the Jerusalem Post. You can read the full article here. Several weeks ago, Boko Haram, a militant Islamist...
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The Intersection of Disability Rights and Mental Health
This blog is part of an on-going series about the intersection of mental health and other crucial Jewish social justice issues during Mental Health Awareness Month. For more posts, click here. The...
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Taking a Stand Against Anti-Muslim Hate Online
Last week, Muslim Advocates, a national legal advocacy and educational organization dedicated to civil rights for Americans of all faiths, released a report called “Click Here to End Hate: Anti-Muslim...
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Celebrate Shavuot with Nothing But Nets
Shavuot is just around the corner! On Shavuot, we commemorate the the covenant between God and the Jewish people and remember when we stood in the presence of God as we received the Torah. The period...
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CRPD: Supporting Global Disability Rights
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), based on the ideals of the Americans with Disabilities Act, is intended to empower persons with disabilities to be independent and...
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Fighting for Religious Freedom Around the Globe
Last Thursday, Rabbi David Saperstein joined a delegation of religious leaders in meeting with Sudan’s Ambassador to the United States, Maowia Khalid. The meeting came shortly after a Sudanese court...
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Peace, Love and Understanding: David Broza Talks about Peace and Music at the...
At the recent Commission on Social Action (CSA) meeting, CSA members and those participating in the Social Action Skills Training Seminar had the opportunity to hear David Broza perform songs from his...
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Interfaith Dialogue with Gabr Fellows
On Friday morning, the Religious Action Center had the privilege of hosting the 2014 Gabr Fellows. The 2014 fellows are part of East-West: The Art of Dialogue Initiative, initiative project of The...
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Prayers for Kidnapped Israeli Teenagers
On Sunday, the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism shared the Union for Reform Judaism’s status update regarding three Israeli teenagers who have been kidnapped: Please join the Reform Jewish...
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Fifth Birthday and Beyond
Growing up, birthdays were an important day in my house. The morning started with a concoction called “Birthday Breakfast,” inspired by a dessert my parents had eaten on a date together (it’s two...
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Summer Camp Season is the Best Time to Talk about Malaria Prevention
A few weeks ago, I dropped my sister off at URJ Camp OSRUI for her fourth year on staff. Like many Jewish children and young adults, summer camp is our home away from home—the two months for which we...
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Reform Jewish Movement Mourns the Deaths of Murdered Israeli Teens
News broke a few hours ago that Israeli officials had discovered the bodies of missing Israeli teens Naftali Frenkel, Gilad Shaar, and Eyal Yifrach. Our hearts are broken by this devastating...
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The Third Mother
When I opened my inbox this morning, I was struck by an email from Anat Hoffman regarding the tragic murder of three Israeli teenagers whose bodies were discovered yesterday. To speak to the...
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Ratifying the Disabilities Treaty: Bringing the Shameful Wall of Exclusion Down
This Saturday, July 26th, will mark the 24th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act being signed in to law by President George H.W. Bush. President Bush ended his remarks that day by...
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Update on Iranian Nuclear Negotiations
This past Sunday, July 20th, marked the original deadline set by the P5+1 countries (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, the United States, Russia, China, United Kingdom, and...
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Religious Freedom Around the World Today
The State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor released the International Religious Freedom Report for 2013 last week, which describes in great detail the state of religious...
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