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 …
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In his speech entitled, “The Modern Development Enterprise,” delivered at an event hosted by the Center for Global Development, USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah praised AJWS’s international development work.
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AJWS is accepting applications from Jewish young adults throughout the U.S. for its 18th Volunteer Summer program. The year-long service-learning program brings participants, between the ages of 16 and 24, to developing countries where they live and work alongside grassroots non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for seven weeks to learn about international development principles and the Jewish tradition of tikkun olam.
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New York, NY; December 10, 2010—American Jewish World Service (AJWS), a human rights and international development organization, announced today that it has formally joined Sudan NOW, a campaign led by a group of prominent anti-genocide and human rights advocacy organizations committed to bringing meaningful and lasting peace to Sudan and encouraging strong American leadership and …
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In response to the deadly outbreak of cholera in Haiti, AJWS is providing its grantee Movimiento Social-Cultural de los Trabajadores Haitianos (MOSCTHA), with emergency funding to launch an educational campaign around cholera prevention.
Read MoreThis week’s Dvar Tzedek was originally published in 2009. Parashat Shmini juxtaposes two sacrifices, both offered to God by Israelites in the desert and both summoning Divine fire, but with tragically different consequences. The first series of sacrifices was offered by Aaron and his sons and was rewarded: “the Presence of the Lord appeared to …
Read MoreParashat Vayakhel-Pekudei describes the first major public construction project of the Jewish people—the Mishkan (Tabernacle). The text emphasizes the truly communal nature of the project as the Israelites freely donated the construction materials—gold, silver, yarn, linen, animal skins, acacia wood, etc. In fact, the Israelites contributed so enthusiastically that they amassed a surplus of materials and Moses had to ask them to stop bringing donations.
Read MoreParashat Vayakhel-Pekudei describes the first major public construction project of the Jewish people—the Mishkan (Tabernacle). The text emphasizes the truly communal nature of the project as the Israelites freely donated the construction materials—gold, silver, yarn, linen, animal skins, acacia wood, etc. In fact, the Israelites contributed so enthusiastically that they amassed a surplus of materials and Moses had to ask them to stop bringing donations.
Read MoreThis week’s Dvar Tzedek was originally published in 2009. Parashat Ki Tisa introduces the taboo against quantifying persons, enjoining the Israelites from giving themselves numbers. The sum of the people, it seems, is a dangerous thing—inviting evil, tempting fate, summoning the evil eye. Thus, God here commands that when Israel is to be counted the …
Read MoreThis week’s Dvar Tzedek was originally published in 2010. In Parashat Vayechi, we find a fascinating examination of complex relations amid a family struggling to move beyond the sins of the past. Much has changed since the traumatic incident decades earlier, when Joseph’s brothers plotted to kill him, eventually selling him into slavery. Now, after …
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