My Father’s Journey on a Freedom Ride Bus
Jewish activism in the 1960s civil rights movement gained momentum when four Reform rabbis participated in the first Interfaith Freedom Ride on a Greyhound bus traveling from Washington, DC, through South Carolina, to Tallahassee from June 13-16, 1961. Freedom rides tested interstate public transportation hubs for racial segregation. The rabbis, Israel Dresner, Martin Freedman, Allan Levine, and my father Walter H. Plaut, were joined by eight white Protestant ministers, including prominent theologian Robert McAfee Brown, and six AME black ministers and NAACP activists.
MLK Day: It's On Us to Heal the Wounds of Time
Rather than waiting in vain for time to heal all wounds, let us resolve to heal the wounds of time. May we heed what Dr. King called “the urgency of now.” And may we go from celebrating Dr. King’s legacy today to working for it tomorrow.
Resilience of the Soul Breaks Ground in Adolescent Mental Health
SAN DIEGO, CA—To help families and congregations offer teens a safe place to mature into adulthood, the Union’s Department of Jewish Family Concerns has published Resilience of the Soul – Developing Emotional and Spiritual Resilience in Adolescents and Their Families, A Resourc
Deciding the Future of Tribal Sovereignty
What do an American Indian tribe, a multi-billion dollar corporation and the U.S. Supreme Court all have in common? These three bodies are all embroiled in a case that could have wide implications for one of the most complicated aspects of our legal system: tribal sovereignty.
The Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act (S.2123), Explained
Next Tuesday, January 19, Reform Jews will join together to call on the Senate to bring the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act (S. 2123), also known as SRCA, forward for a floor vote.
Butterflies, Birds, and the Poetry of Freedom
To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps, Mark Ludwig, executive director of the Terezin Music Foundation (TMF), has created “an artistic memorial” to the 15-20 million people who died or were imprisoned in the Third Reich’s more than 42,500 camps and ghettos. Terezin served as a Nazi propaganda ploy to showcase how well Jews were treated in the camps, for example, by allowing musical and theater productions.
What Should it Mean to Be "The Chosen People"?
With all my heart, I believe God chooses specific individuals for specific tasks - and if individuals can have destinies, why not peoples as a whole?
Five Ways Jews Can Respond to Anti-Muslim Rhetoric
As Jews, we have an obligation to defend a fellow minority under siege – but some of us don’t speak up because we don’t know what to say. Here is list of statements you are likely to hear and how you might respond.