Our Job is to Prevent Gun Violence
The utter horror of the murderous shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut remains in all of our minds and has rightly propelled us into a critical dialogue that we hope will produce real action after so many years. And the problem has been with us for many years. Much of the time, families and communities – especially in our inner cities – have fought on the front lines against gun violence without much attention from the rest of society. Now, with the alarming and increasing regularity of mass shootings – every couple of years it seems – like those in Newtown and Aurora, it should be clear to all of us that gun violence is our collective problem as a nation, and must be addressed in all of its forms.
Reform Movement Responds to President’s Budget
In response to President Obama’s proposed Fiscal Year 2013 budget, Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, issued the following statement yesterday: The annual release of the President’s budget provides an opportunity to consider how our nation’s values
President's Budget Proposal Reflects Tough Choices; Pleases and Disappoints
Saperstein: In crafting his budget, President Obama has made many difficult choices, reflecting the trying times of our day. Not surprisingly, we are pleased by some of the choices and disappointed by others.
From Generation to Generation
NFTY Missouri Valley Social Action Vice President Jackie Heymann reflects on her experiences at the Religious Action Center's Consultation on Conscience.
January Hate Crimes Watch: Real Violence, Real Victims
Discussions of hate crimes often revolve around statistics and numbers, sometimes making it easy to lose sight of the human cost and the horrific nature of many of these attacks.
LGBT Youth Suicides Are No “Rash”
What Are You Looking at But Not Seeing?
It’s June – the month famous for weddings and for gay pride parades all over the world. June was chosen for “pride” events to commemorate the June 1969 riot at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City’s Greenwich Village – a significant milestone in the gay liberation movement.
Galilee Diary: The Neighbors
Whoever saves one life in Israel [i.e., of a Jew] is as if he had saved an entire world.
– Mishnah, Sanhedrin 4:5
Whoever saves one life is as if he had saved an entire world.
Rethinking Immigration: Sh'lach L'cha, A Holistic Approach
The story line is as follows: Chieftains from each tribe are sent to the land of Canaan for forty days to find out what kind of country it is and if the inhabitants are strong or weak. Canaan is full of different people, including the Anakites—giants.
Ki Teitzei: When You Go Out as a Warrior
Parashat Ki Teitzei includes a rich and varied collection of directives that serve as a partial blueprint for behaviors and norms to create the emerging covenantal culture. As Professor Adele Berlin notes, “Issues pertaining to women are prominent in this parashah. . . .