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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.
Shayna Han
Eisendrath Legislative Assistant
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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.
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.
This Tishah B'Av, Act as if There is No God
Tishah B'Av is a day of mourning, commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples. In recent years, it's also a day to mourn other tragedies that have darkened Jewish history - the Romans putting down the Bar Kochba revolt, mass murders of Jewish communities during the Crusades, expulsions from England, France, and Spain in the Middle Ages, and the Holocaust.
Traliant Compliance Training Classes Now Available
As part of our ongoing efforts to create safe, respectful, and equitable workplaces, the URJ requires all staff to regularly participate in sexual harassment prevention training classes, provided by Traliant Compliance Training. Now, through the Reform Movement Marketplace, the URJ is making Traliant Compliance Training classes available to our affiliated congregations at a reduced cost.
What a Trip to Israel Taught Two Faithful Progressives
Last week, we traveled together to Israel and the Palestinian territories with a remarkable group of Black civil rights leaders and Reform Jewish leaders, including those who sit at the intersection of being Black and Jewish. We imagined that there would likely be bumps along the way, and there were. However, our group knew one another from our ongoing social justice and racial equity work in the United States, so there was a reservoir of goodwill and commonality that served us well.
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.