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Enough is enough: What you can do to help stop American gun violence
Buffalo, Uvalde, Tulsa, and other recent incidents of gun violence highlight the fact that the U.S. has been locked in a cycle of apathetic “thoughts and prayers,” while little federal action has been taken on this public safety and public health issue. We must end the helpless, apathetic cycle of “thoughts and prayers.” Enough is enough. To stand idly by and do nothing in the face of such senseless slaughter is unconscionable and antithetical to our Jewish values and beliefs. To paraphrase Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, we will pray with our marching feet and voices.
RAC Reads Guide: Crossing Lines by Melanie Weiss
RAC Reads is a program by the Religious Action Center to encourage reading groups that explore contemporary social justice topics in the context of Jewish teachings and values. The discussion guides are designed for families, congregations and communities. As such, not all of the facilitation tips and discussion questions may be applicable in all cases.
Confronting Violence and Injustice Against Women
Because women close to me had never confided their experiences of sexual violence, I was shocked when they began to tell me – first one, then another, and another– that they had been raped, sexually harassed, touched without permission, or abused in other ways. Listening to their stories, trying to absorb their pain while controlling my rage, I felt guilty about my own ignorance and inaction. Why was I shocked at a truth that has been true for so long? Why had I never spoken out before?
Shayna Han
Eisendrath Legislative Assistant
Body
Shayna’s portfolio includes gun violence prevention, environment and climate change, Israel, foreign policy, antisemitism, the Holocaust, international religious freedom, and Native American rights. She is proud to be in the first cohort of the Jews of Color Initiative partnership with the RAC LA program.
How Judaism Inspires My Mental Health Advocacy
But I need your help to ensure that every student can access mental health care, no matter where they live.
Reform Movement Responds to Supreme Court’s Decision in NYSRPA v. Bruen
“In the aftermath of the unceasing spate of recent mass shootings – including the horrific mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde and recent gun violence at a church in Alabama, a Juneteenth concert in Washington, D.C., and in a neighborhood in New York City – it is incomprehensible that the Supreme Court has once again decided to value guns over the safety of our communities, children, and houses of worship."
Finding Hope
Thursday night's passage of a bi-partisan gun bill filled me with hope, even as the Supreme Court ruled against New York, which forces some states to actually loosen their gun regulations.
Four Lessons from the Launch of RAC-Massachusetts
On Sunday, June 12, 2022, congregants and clergy from over twenty Reform synagogues gathered at Temple Shalom of Newton for the launch of RAC-Massachusetts, the Religious Action Center’s ninth and newest statewide project. The room had an energy I haven’t felt since before the pandemic, reminding everyone there what can happen when we are in community.
URJ Resolution on Filibuster Reform
Year Adopted:
In modern times, a healthy democracy requires the constant balancing of majority and minority rights and voices. In the American political tradition, the Senate filibuster, which requires 60 votes to overcome (known as “invoking cloture” to force a vote), has been characterized as a means of ensuring the minority’s voice is heard in the Senate. In theory, it may also promote deliberation, bipartisanship, and compromise.
The Tulsa Massacre in the Yiddish Press
On June 2nd, 1921, when news of the Tulsa massacre reached New York, Yiddish newspapers in the city were unified in their impassioned coverage of the events.