Displaying 1 - 10 of 25
The House Takes a Step towards Banning Guns for Domestic Abusers
Last week, Congress moved closer to passing legislation preventing domestic abusers and stalkers from purchasing or possessing guns, as Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI-12) and Rep. Robert Dold (R-IL-10) introduced the Zero Tolerance for Domestic Abusers Act (H.R. 3130). The bipartisan bill would close a loophole in federal law that allows some perpetrators of domestic violence to access firearms. Crucially, it would expand the definition of “intimate partners” to the definition used in the 2012 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act: someone who has been in a romantic or intimate relationship with the abuser. The bill also adds convicted stalkers to the list of those prohibited from purchasing and possessing guns.
Stop Cuts to Family Planning
The past few weeks have brought mixed news in the realm of sexuality education. At the end of June, we wrote about a House sub-committee vote to eliminate programs proven to reduce teen and unplanned pregnancy, reduce abortion and save tax dollars in Fiscal Year 2016.
Since then, a Senate sub-committee voted to advance similar cuts, proposing a budget that would significantly cut funding for the evidence-based Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP) and for Title X family planning centers, while increasing funding for abstinence-only until marriage programs by 300 percent. By gutting funding to family planning services for low-income individuals and undermining evidence-based programs like TPPP, these appropriations bills would leave millions of Americans without information and services to keep themselves safe and healthy.
Reflections on the 1-year Anniversary of the Atlanta Shootings
Around this time last year, I was preparing for my legislative assistant interview with the RAC when tragedy unfolded in Georgia. A racist and misogynist gunman, entered two Atlanta-area massage businesses and murdered eight people, including six Asian women spa workers.
Shabbat Message: A Galvanizing Visit to Israel That Fills Me With Encouragement
In meetings with the President of Israel, Isaac Herzog, Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Transportation Minister Merav Michaeli, and Foreign Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Yair Lapid, we discussed the crisis in Ukraine, the future of the Kotel, ensuring more funding and rights for non-Orthodox Jews, combatting racism, and stopping extremist violence against Palestinians, in addition to other pressing issues.
Reform Movement Horrified by West Bank Terror Attack
Our hearts are heavy today after learning of a vicious act of terrorism in the West Bank, in which Israelis are suspected of setting the home of a Palestinian family on fire. Tragically, the fire claimed the life of a toddler and badly injured others. Rabbi Jonah Pesner offered thoughts on the tragedy:
Reform Movement Horrified by Violent 'Price Tag' Attack
Contact: Max Rosenblum or Jonathan Edelman
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Working in Solidarity Against Anti-Asian Hate
In the past two years, the simultaneous spike in anti-Asian and anti-Semitic violence has brought my identity as an Asian American Jewish woman into sharp focus. In fact, here in New York City, I have keenly felt the sharp rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans and against Jews.
Love Thy Neighbor: A Look at Interfaith Issues in Israel
On the plane back from my year in Israel as part of my first year of rabbinical school, I had the privilege of sitting next to a man who had participated in a Christian mission trip in Israel.
Reflecting on Interfaith Issues in Israel
By Joey Rosen
On the plane back from my Year-In-Israel as part of my first year of rabbinical school at HUC-JIR, I had the privilege of sitting next to a man who had participated in a Christian mission trip in Israel. It was a pleasure sharing with him my journey that led me to rabbinical school, a conversation he might have never had before. I also got to enjoy a different perspective on seeing Israel for the first time, as I had no previous knowledge of how a Christian mission trip to Israel works. But before he said ‘God Bless’ and dozed off for the nine hour flight, he made a comment to me about how the Christians of America were cheering for us in our war against the Muslims, who are polluting the land with violence and treachery.
Advocacy 101 from the Daughters of Zelophehad
This Shabbat in parashat Pinchas, we read the story of the daughters of Zelophehad (Numbers 27:1–11). After Zelophehad died, leaving no sons, his five daughters, Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah, went before Moses, Eleazer the priest and the Jewish people and advocated for their rights to inherit the land their father left behind. Based on the logic of their argument, and the need for self-subsistence, God instructed Moses to grant the daughters their land, and set the precedence that hence, women ought to inherit their father’s property if there was no other direct kin. Within the patriarchal structures of Biblical-era society, this is an enormous moment for Jewish women’s empowerment, and this story is applicable today.