Rabbis Organizing Rabbis: A Victory for Immigrant Justice
By Joy Friedman
Rabbis Organizing Rabbis (ROR) has good news to share! ROR, a project of the Reform Movement’s social justice initiatives: the Justice and Peace Committee of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the Religious Action Center, and Just Congregations, has spent the last year and a half working for justice for immigrants and the rights of American citizenship through immigration reform.
Millions of undocumented workers and families in America are forced to live in the shadows due to outdated and discriminatory immigration laws. If Senate Bill 744 had become law, many of those immigrants would have had a path to citizenship. Without the passage of badly needed reform, thousands of immigrants are torn from their families every day through deportation. At the spring Commission on Social Action meeting, the CSA approved Rabbis Organizing Rabbis’ new Immigration Reform strategy: defending undocumented immigrants from deportation.
Last week, after quick vetting by the CSA, a minyan of rabbinic ROR leaders made their first foray into deportation defense. Working with the National Day Laborers Organizing Network (NDLON), ROR leaders helped to save Yestel Velazquez, a New Orleans community and civil rights leader, from imminent deportation!
The “Right” Action to Take in Aiding the Homeless
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.
Leonard "Leibel" Fein: Judaism's Liberal Lion
We have lost a giant: Leonard "Leibel" Fein, patriarch of American Jewish liberalism, RAC Senior Adviser, and former director of the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism, has died at 80. Our grief can no more be summed up than in the endless tributes to Leibel's gifts and leadership of Jewish causes.
Beyond the Fight for Marriage Equality
“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.
An Open Letter from the 2013-2014 Eisendrath Legislative Assistants
Today is our last day as legislative assistants at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. None of us imagined on August 20, 2013 – our very first day – that this year would have gone by so fast. It is has been an incredible honor to serve and represent our vibrant, passionate Movement in Washington, D.C.; one that we will cherish always.
Reform Jewish Leader Urges Areas of Study on Keystone XL Pipeline
As President Obama deliberates over approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, Jennifer Brodkey Kaufman, Chair of the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism, sent the following letter to the White House, urging several key areas for consideration.
A Response to the Cries of anti-Semitism in France
By Stéphane Beder
In the past few days I have received numerous messages of concern from friends from all over the world. They refer to media coverage of the anti-Semitic attacks that took place in Paris and often make comparisons to World War II, such as the attacks of Kristallnacht.
First, let me be clear: These are very serious and bad events but the situation is far from being the apocalyptic crisis that one could believe when hearing CNN; I can’t help thinking of my Israeli friends who explain that life continues even when siren alerts are heard several times a day.
Let’s Make Background Checks on Guns Universal
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.
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 freedom in many different countries. Identifying “Countries of
When Money Equals Influence, Influence Equals Power
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
