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Sunday  marked the two-year anniversary of the Sandy Hook shooting, where a gunman murdered twenty children and six educators at Sandy Hook elementary school. Leading up to the two-year anniversary, agencies were working to set up a support system for the next 12 to 15 years for people impacted by the shooting, with mental health officials reporting many people reporting “substance abuse, relationship troubles, disorganization, depression, overthinking or inability to sleep” following the shooting. Thankfully, tragedies like the Sandy Hook shooting don’t happen very often; unfortunately, however, mental illness is experienced by millions every year.

In this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Mikeitz, Joseph is brought out of jail in Egypt to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams. Pharaoh’s had two dreams: one showing seven fat cows and then seven thin cows; and the other depicted seven healthy ears of corn followed by seven thin ears of corn. Deeply troubled by the dreams, he calls all the wise men in the land in an attempt to interpret the dreams, but finds that only Joseph can help (Genesis 41:23).

By Reuben Bank When people ask me why I’m passionate about social justice I always struggle to find the correct answer. There are several generic responses that I could go to such as, “because there are so many unjust things in the world,” or another classic, “because I have a passion for helping people,” but these never seem to work for me. They don’t encompass the real reasons that I am passionate about tikkun olam, about repairing the world. I’m not passionate about social justice by itself, I’m not interested in doing random community service hours every weekend. As a Reform Jewish teenager, I am passionate about being a part of a movement.

As you may have heard, the United States Senate voted to confirm Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center to the post of United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom at the State Department. We are incredibly proud of the legacy Rabbi Saperstein has built at the Religious Action Center over these last 40 years. The RAC is a cornerstone of the identity of the Reform Jewish Movement. Its engagement with and support for and by synagogues, rabbis, lay leaders, and the broader Jewish community, has situated social justice at the heart of expression of Jewish values and Jewish living across North America. Thousands come to the RAC to learn about how our Movement seeks to apply our moral values to shaping the policy decisions of our government; our online resources have impacted countless more.

Today, the Senate voted to confirm Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center to the post of Ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom. Since his nomination in late July, Rabbi Saperstein has continued to represent the Reform Jewish community, and celebrated 40 years of service in September.

Last month, a Department of Health and Human Services panel voted 16-2 to recommend that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reverse its policy banning men who have had sex with men (MSM) from donating blood. Instead, they suggested that MSM should be allowed to give blood if they have not had sex with another man in the past year. However, a separate FDA panel recently expressed concerns over lifting the life-long MSM blood donation ban.

In this season of giving and shopping surrounding Hanukkah, we need to consider where our gifts are coming from and how the workers who help us make these purchases are treated. We need to keep worker’s rights in mind as we pursue this work and ensure that everyone is treated justly. Labor movements remain to be a key and integral part of our work in advocating for just workplaces. Unions are organized groups of workers formed to protect and to ultimately further the workers’ rights as well as their interests. As independent employees, workers may face harassment, unsafe working conditions, and poverty-level wages. Through unions, workers can advocate that they are treated fairly in the work place: they can advocate for sufficient paychecks, adequate benefits, safety in the workplace, equal opportunities, and most importantly for respect. Workers have fundamental rights to have fair, safe, and healthy workplace environments, and unions help enable ensure that this is a reality.

Last month, I talked about the coming deadline for the nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1, which was on November 24. At the time, it was unclear whether the sides would reach an agreement, whether they would extend the talks, or whether they would walk away. We learned on the 24 that the parties could not reach a comprehensive agreement, but decided on a 7-month extension until June, during which remaining difference would be sorted out.