In the lead-up to Parshat Beshalach, ten plagues hit the Egyptians, destroying their land and decimating their population. And yet, Pharaoh stubbornly blinds himself to the suffering of his own people: the more their situation worsens, the more he hardens his heart, refusing to liberate the Israelite slaves. His frustrated advisors cannot understand his behavior, which …
Read More
Originally posted on The Jew and the Carrot. It was the pile of onions that made me cry. Not in the way you might think—I wasn’t standing over a cutting board, knife in hand, sobbing my way through an extended dicing activity. The onions that made me cry were whole, bagged and stacked about 5 …
Read More
“It is not upon you to finish the work, but neither are you free to desist from it.” I have used this saying by Rabbi Tarfon from Pirke Avot many times, but until last week, I hadn’t truly comprehended the meaning behind these words. Over the course of three days, I had the honor of …
Read More
New York, NY; January 31, 2012— American Jewish World Service (AJWS), an international development and human rights organization, and The Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA), the public affairs arm of the organized American Jewish community, have spearheaded an effort to organize faith-based leaders to warn of an impending humanitarian disaster in Sudan and urge …
Read More
Originally posted on the blog of Where Do You Give? In today’s world, the opportunity to engage in the work of social change is, literally, at our fingertips. But, does this newfound accessibility make us better donors? Adene Sacks and Dawne Bear Novicoff talk about our role as donors in an age of interconnectedness and …
Read More
Some of you may have seen Burma featured prominently in the news as the U.S. government decided to restore full diplomatic ties with the country. And, yes, it is big news. We’d like to put these developments in context and share our thoughts on what we will be looking for in the coming months. First, …
Read More
This is the first installment of “The Global Giggle,” a series of posts that capture the funny side of global justice… because we can’t be serious all the time. Right? For those of us who work in the field of international development, sometimes the problems can seem so huge and so insurmountable that it’s easy …
Read More
Originally posted on Pursue: Action for a Just World and cross-posted on eJewishPhilanthropy. How do you make giving meaningful? Tzedakah, the Jewish commitment to righteous giving, is something that most people are familiar with. Tzedakah boxes are things of childhood memory for many Jews, except me. I tithed. Growing up with a Baptist mother, a …
Read More
On January 11, 2012, American Jewish World Service was pleased to co-sponsor the I-Witness Awards presented by Jewish World Watch at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. I was among the standing-room only crowd gathered to honor Melanne Verveer, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues for her incredible work to address grave injustices faced by women …
Read More
A few weeks ago, Chea Dara, a 33-year-old mother of two jumped off the Chruoy Changva bridge in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Desperate, Chea took her life after she learned of her family’s pending eviction from their Boeung Kak lake home after years of struggling with the government over the land dispute. Chea’s eviction battle with …
Read More