Suicide Prevention and Awareness Is Our Communal Responsibility
Elul is upon us. The sound of the shofar reminds us that this silent epidemic must be addressed. Its cries echo those left in the depths of sorrow, feeling alone, believing that those who love them most would be better off without them. Our fear of mental illness must be replaced with a resolve to educate ourselves and others.
Meet the 2016-2017 Eisendrath Legislative Assistants
The beginning of the program year is always an exciting time at the RAC, as we begin a new cycle of tikkun olam work.
Resolution on Student on Student Sexual Violence in Schools
While sexual violence occurs in all spaces, schools and campuses at all educational levels create unique challenges.
Jewish Tradition Speaks to Need for This Proposed Law
Together, we can end violence against women and foster peace. Here's one of the ways.
Meet the new Eisendrath Legislative Assistants: Building a world of compassion, justice and wholeness
We are excited to begin this year as the RAC's 2017-18 class of Eisendrath Legislative Assistants. We come to the RAC with a wide range of experiences and interests and look forward to growing together as a community of activists, thinkers, and change-makers.
The Enemy Within: Taking Action Against Sexual Assault
Sexual violence is a denial of the Jewish belief in the fundamental dignity of every individual and an abhorrent violation of the sanctity and wholeness of the body and health of another person.
Removing Symbols of Racism Isn’t Enough, We Need Policy Action
Since the Charlottesville violence, there has been a reckoning and much public reflection about race in America. The result: The sense that business as usual cannot continue.
Reform Jewish Leader Condemns Atrocities Committed Against Rohingya People
The External War and the Internal War
This week's Torah portion is called Ki Teitzei — meaning literally, "When you go out." It is a reference to violence and war. "When you take the field [literally, "When you go out"] against your enemies, and the Eternal your God delivers them into your power and you take some of them captive ... " (Deuteronomy 21:10).
This sentence is but a tiny portion of more than a thousand verses in the Tanach that deal with war. Our Holy Scriptures came into history in a world in which fighting was a normal and often necessary activity. The ancient communities of the Middle East were governed according to tribal custom and law, and each ethnic community was in a combative relationship with its neighbor. There was no United Nations in those days, no European Union designed to administer diverse people according to collective rules and laws. Some tribal federations such as the twelve tribes of Israel pooled their resources, but that was for protection rather than for advancing peaceful relations with the rest of the world. The harsh social-economic and political reality of the ancient world often triggered violent and deadly conflicts between communities and peoples, and it is rare that we read a comment such as is found in Judges 3:11: " ... and the land had peace for forty years."