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New Survey Highlights Challenges and Opportunities for Gun Violence Prevention Legislation
Earlier in December, the Pew Research Center came out with a new poll on Americans’ attitudes on guns. The survey, Pew’s first on the issue since January 2013, showed an overall gain in support for “gun rights” over “gun control” over the past two years. Some of the main takeaways are below:
L'Taken Participant Reflects on Losses Due to Gun Violence
At the last L’Taken seminar, Connecticut students spoke to staff from the offices of Senator Chris Murphy, Senator Richard Blumenthal and Representative Jim Himes to share why gun violence prevention is important to them as Jews, as Americans, and as young people. Lee Winters, who came to L’Taken along with his confirmation class at Temple B'nai Chaim in Georgetown, Connecticut, shared a personal story about the rippling effects of gun violence in his community:
Remembering Newtown, Two Years and Too Many More Losses Due to Gun Violence
When I think back to December 14, 2012, I remember that it should have been a celebratory day for me. I had my two last final exams for the semester—logic and operations management—and quickly said goodbye to my friends as I drove from college back home. It had been a busy semester, and an even busier final exam season, but I had found the self-discipline to devote a lot of time to study for these finals. When I turned in my exams, I felt both proud of my work in preparing myself and excited to take a break from studying for a while. Packing my dorm room, I felt ecstatic—I felt that I could finally put a tough semester behind me and spend some much-needed time with my parents.
Reform Movement Horrified by Fort Hood Shooting
Rachel Laser: "The Talmud teaches us, 'He who takes one life it is as though he has destroyed the universe.' The loss of so many lives is not just devastating - it is unacceptable.
Response to shooting in Kansas City: A Modern Plague of Violence
Tonight at our Seder tables teeming with life, we pause with heavy hearts as we grieve with the families of those killed yesterday in the shootings that took place in a Jewish Community Center and a nearby Jewish senior living community in Overland Park, Kansas.
Reform Movement Horrified by Fort Hood Shooting
In response to yesterday's tragic shooting at Fort Hood in Killeen, TX, Rachel Laser, Deputy Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, issued the following statement:
Position of the Reform Movement on Sudan and Darfur
The Reform Jewish Movement has been quite vocal on the issue of universal human rights.
Reform Movement Urges Co-Sponsorship of Safe Schools and Non-Discrimination Legislation
Rabbi David Saperstein: "As Jews, our tradition and history teach us that we should not stand by as others suffer- we envision a government which 'to bigotry gives no sanction, to persecution no assistance' (George Washington, in a letter to Moses Seixas, 1790).
Legislative Update on Criminal Justice
Sentencing Reform As part of a growing tough-on-crime attitude in the 1980s, legislators at the state and federal levels passed a myriad of new laws imposing harsh mandatory minimum sentences for a variety of crimes, most notably for nonviolent drug offenses.
Position of the Reform Movement on Mental Health
Mental health is an important issue for the Reform Movement. In 2001, the URJ passed a resolution titled, "Establishing a Comprehensive System of Care for Persons with Mental Illness.” The resolution urges the URJ to address mental health issues that exist in many arenas of society.