More than 50 Rabbinic Leaders Gather to Deepen Commitment to Human Rights New York, NY; December 24, 2009 — More than 50 rabbis and rabbinical students, all of whom have traveled to the developing world with AJWS, concluded a three-day leadership training institute yesterday at the Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center in Reisterstown, Maryland. The …

AJWS president Ruth Messinger has been named to the Forward 50 an annual compilation of the 50 most influential public figures in the American Jewish community. This year marks the eighth time Messinger has made the list, including recognition as a “top pick” in 2006.

AJWS today announced that it has, once again, received a four-star rating from Charity Navigator, an independent evaluator of more than 5,300 non-profit organizations. Charity Navigator bases its annual ratings on a complex formula that examines an organization’s efficiency and capacity in seven key areas.

Representatives from faith communities nationwide met with Reverend Joshua DuBois, Director of the White House Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, today, to discuss the ongoing violence in Sudan.

As part of its recently launched campaign, Fighting Hunger from the Ground Up, AJWS has issued an appeal asking supporters to donate the money they would have spent on food, were they not fasting on Yom Kippur, to AJWS-supported communities building local farming capacity in the developing world.