The AJWS community has a lot to say about what's happening in the world. Read our insights about the struggle for justice and human rights around the globe — and meet the activists on the frontlines of the fight to build a better world.
Imagine finding yourself suddenly blind in the prime of your life. Now imagine that you’re not only blind, but displaced from your home by civil war, living in an entirely new place, trying to navigate the world with a daunting new disability. This is the hand that Vellayan Subramaniam was dealt, when, at 24, he …
In last Tuesday’s New York Times, David Brooks neatly balances a healthy cynicism for the “[m]any Americans going to the developing world to serve others” with the “smaller percentage” actually having some impact. Brooks describes three virtues necessary for these “rugged altruists” to be successful in catalyzing change: “courage,” “deference” and “thanklessness.” In spite of …
Over the past few weeks, we’ve been keeping you updated on our response to the famine in East Africa. The situation remains dire, but we’re beginning to see the positive impact of some of our partners. Take, for example, AJWS’s long-time partner Northern Aid (NAID)—an organization that has been implementing relief, rehabilitation and development initiatives …
During the keynote speech of the Hazon Food Conference, which was held in Davis, California last weekend, Judith Belasco, Hazon’s Director of Food Programs, reminded us that four years ago the expression “New Jewish Food Movement” didn’t even exist. Well, if the conference was any indication, the New Jewish Food Movement is thriving, consisting of …
It happens to me on a daily basis: I return home from work, check my mailbox and am almost inevitably confronted by solicitations from organizations representing worthy causes, asking me to donate money to fight hunger, prevent disease, protect against violence or educate children. Even though my family allocates 10 percent of our income to …
