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Divine Violence and Abolition in Egypt
In Parshat Va-eira, we watch as God's message of freedom unfolds across Egypt and is ignored, scorned by Israelites and Egyptians alike. We watch as moral suasion, peaceful resistance, and God's word fail to bring about liberation and an end to oppression. In the wake of this failure, God visits 10 plagues on Pharaoh and the Egyptians, the first 7 of which appear in this week's portion.
Battered Immigrant Women Robbed of Protections in House VAWA
Although the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act has historically been one of the least polarizing political issues since its introduction in 1994, the House and the Senate have found substantial disagreement over some of the law’s pr
Women, the Driving Force
The author of this post, Barbara Lerman-Golomb, is a member of the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism.
"Unite the Right" Organizers Lose Big in Court
Amy Spitalnick is the executive director of Integrity First for America (IFA), the civil rights nonprofit behind Sines v. Kessler - the successful federal lawsuit against the neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and hate groups responsible for the violent "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017. I sat down with Amy, the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, to get her views on the significance of this lawsuit.
Afterword
New from CCAR Press, The Social Justice Torah Commentary demonstrates that the Torah is a guide to addressing the most urgent challenges of our time. This excerpt is from Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, Director of the Religious Action Center and Senior Vice President, Union for Reform Judaism.
Houla Massacre Puts Syria "Outside the Community of Nations"
This weekend, more than 100 civilians were massacred under the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Reform Leader Condemns Attacks on African Refugees in Israel
Saperstein: Such violence has no place in any civilized society, much less Israel, the nation state of the Jewish people who have throughout history known similar horrors rooted in ethnic and religious differences.
UPDATE: House Passes a VAWA that Does Not Protect All Victims
Yesterday, the House of Representatives voted to pass a version of the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization that prioritizes some victims over others and politicizes the safety and well-being of victims of abuse.
I could not have predicted that a bill called the Violence Against Women Act wou
VAWA Amendment Violates First Amendment
Although the Senate passed a bipartisan version of VAWA last month that would extend protection from intimate partner violence to all victims regardless of sexual orientation, gender ide