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Headlines from NFTY’s 75th Year
by The NFTY North American Board
As NFTY’s 75th year comes to a close, we find our Movement at a crucial moment in time. While we honor our rich history, we also look toward our vibrant future with much anticipation, joy, and excitement. This year it has been our privilege to serve as the leaders of NFTY, and we want to share and celebrate ten important headlines from NFTY’s 75th year.
Nothing About Them Without Them
I took a course last semester about violence in St. Louis, looking for a thought-provoking discussion about my school-year city. I started following the local crime section of the St.
A Jewish Response to the President's State of the Union Address
As the new director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, I watched President Obama’s State of the Union speech with fresh eyes, looking for areas where we can work with the president and Congress in the coming year to advance our Reform Movement's soc
Greetings from the New RAC Director
Dear Friends,
I write to you today from the Arthur & Sara Jo Kobacker building in Washington D.C., the home of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. I received the honor of a lifetime when Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President of the Union for Reform Judaism, announced my appointment as the new Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. For fifty years, the RAC has been the hub of Jewish social justice and legislative activity in Washington, D.C.
I have the great honor of succeeding my mentor and friend, Rabbi David Saperstein, who, for forty years, has built the RAC into a powerful force grounded in ancient Jewish values of social justice for North America and across the world. The rabbis taught that in every age we see ourselves as if we ourselves were liberated from bondage. Our work for justice is bound up in the thousands year old essence of what it means to be a Jew.
A New Year’s Resolution to Ensure Safety for Survivors of Abuse
During my senior year of college, I worked as a courtroom advocate at the St. Louis County Domestic Violence Court, a division of the court system that deals exclusively with orders of protection in cases of domestic violence. I worked with petitioners – survivors of domestic abuse filing for an order – to assist their navigation of the legal system and to connect them to community resources to ensure they could feel safer in their everyday lives. I say safer, and not safe, because individuals
Welcome, MK Class of 2012
By Manda Graizel, the Machon Kaplan Program Coordinator.
Everything is foreseen, yet freedom of choice is given. The world is judged by grace, yet all is according to the amount of action. —Pirke Avot 3:19
Aux Juifs de France
This is a prayer for the Jews of France after the terror attack on a kosher market in Paris.
Moving Closer to Health Care for All
On Wednesday, Gallup reported that the uninsured rate among adults in the fourth quarter of 2014 averaged 12.9 percent, down from 13.4% in the third quarter of 2014. This past quarter’s uninsured rate is a 4.2 percentage point decrease since the Affordable Care Act‘s requirement that all Americans have health insurance went into effect one year ago. While these numbers illustrate a significant improvement in the percentage of Americans with health insurance, we must not lose sight of the importance of ensuring that all Americans are insured.