New York, NY; June 19, 2012—American Jewish World Service (AJWS), an international development and human rights organization, has received a $300,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to improve economic security and civic engagement in the Central and Southwest regions of Haiti. The three-year grant, covering June 1, 2012 through May 31, 2015, will provide …
Read More
Originally published on the blog of Pursue: Action for a Just World. On June 20, Pursuers will join AJWS and Global Circle to see the winning entries from the Where Do You Give? National Design Competition and engage with innovative speakers about giving in the 21st century. As a preview to the event, we asked speaker …
Read More
Coalition pushes for anti-hunger and sustainable agricultural policies in the United States and abroad WASHINGTON, D.C.; June 14, 2012—Today, seven national Jewish groups delivered a petition with more than 18,000 signatures to House Leadership and the Obama Administration demanding a focus on food justice in the next Farm Bill. The signatures represent a Jewish communal …
Read More
Intergenerational Tour Will Include Visits with Nobel Peace Prize Winners New York, NY; June 13, 2012—American Jewish World Service (AJWS), an international development and human rights organization, will lead an intergenerational trip to Liberia from June 17-24. The study tour, headed by AJWS president Ruth Messinger, with special guest and distinguished Jewish feminist and author, …
Read More
When God tells Moses in Parshat Shlach, “Send for yourself men to spy out the land of Canaan,” it sounds like the start of an exciting adventure. But what seems exhilarating soon becomes chilling—then downright devastating. Of the 12 men who are sent to scout the land, 10 return with a negative report: The people are …
Read More
Originally posted on the Global Circle blog. We know there just aren’t enough gallery openings in NYC these days, which is why we’re hosting one just for you. Earlier this year AJWS launched the Where Do you Give? National Design Competition, challenging artists to create new vehicles for giving tzedakah that reflect our increasingly interconnected, global …
Read More
On June 2nd, I went to the Mae La refugee camp, the largest refugee camp in Thailand that houses 50,000 refugees, to greet Aung San Suu Kyi (“Mother Suu” or “The Lady”), the democracy icon of Burma. People of multiple Burmese nationalities, wearing hijab, beautiful long Karen traditional dress, Kachin costumes, and other ethnic dresses, …
Read More
Last week, former President Charles Taylor of Liberia was sentenced by an international tribunal to 50 years in prison for his role in instigating murder, mutilation, rape, sexual slavery and the use of child soldiers in Sierra Leone. This ruling against a former head of state is a major win for international justice since the …
Read More
The following remarks were originally posted on the website of the U.S. Department of State and shared on May 30th with the Cream City Foundation in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As a child of a Holocaust survivor, anti-Semitism is something very personal to me. I am the daughter of a man who was literally marked by a …
Read More
Torah—with its rich narratives and poetry, glimpses of the Divine and profound wisdom—is a text we turn to for inspiration, intellectual stimulation and meaning. Yet there are moments in the Bible when culturally located prejudices come to the fore and the reader is left struggling with the tension between timeless writing and context-bound oppression. One …
Read More