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Teens Connect to Judaism Through Justice
Every year, nearly 2,000 high school-aged Reform Jewish students participate in the Religious Action Center's L'Taken Seminar in Washington, D.C. At the beginning of December, Rabbi Greg Litcofsky, took the confirmation class at his congregation, Temple Emanu-El of West Essex, to Washington D.C. to participate in the L’taken Seminar. The program is designed to expose students to a variety of public policy issues, explore the Jewish values surrounding these issues and teach the skills of an effective advocate. Below, Rabbi Litcofsky and one of Temple Emanu-El’s students, Annabelle Hanflig, reflect on their experience.
World Refugee Day 2022
Every year on June 20, we honor the resilience and courage of refugees and celebrate their contributions to our communities and to our entire nation. The best way to honor and celebrate refugees is by taking action to make the U.S. a more welcoming place for those seeking safety.
Lillie Heyman
Eisendrath Legislative Assistant
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Lillie Heyman (she/her) is originally from Florham Park, New Jersey, where she was a member of Congregation Beth Hatikvah. Lillie graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Michigan's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy in 2020 with a BA in Public Policy and minor in Sociology: Law, Justice, and Social Change.
Words Not Spoken . . . Words Not Heard
Words are powerful. In Genesis, chapter one, God creates through words: “God said, ‘Let there be light!’—and there was light. . . . God said, ‘Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters,’. . . . God now said, ‘Let us make human beings in our image,’ ” (Genesis 1:3, 6, 26).
Israel Harris
Eisendrath Legislative Assistant
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Israel is proud to be in the first cohort of the Jews of Color Initiative at the RAC. His legislative portfolio includes racial justice, reparations, voting and civil rights, criminal justice reform, the death penalty, campaign finance reform, civil liberties, and judicial nominations.
The Challenge of Righteousness
The wording of the verse gives rise to this debate. The text states that “Noah was a righteous man,” but immediately follows with the phrase “in his generation, he was above reproach. . . ” All of us, including the ancient Rabbis, are left to wonder if Noah is exceptional or not, if his righteousness would be universally righteous or simply righteous in his time.
Jewish Views on Civil Rights
American Reform Jews have historically supported a variety of civil rights issues, including equality for the LGBT community, hate crimes legislation, the death penalty, criminal justice reforms, disability rights, and legislative protections from religious discrimination in the workplace.