Thailand is among the world’s most dangerous countries in which to oppose powerful interests that profit from coal plants, toxic waste dumping, land grabs or illegal logging. Some 60 people who spoke out on these issues have been killed over the past 20 years, although few perpetrators have been prosecuted in a culture in which …
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Imagine that you were evicted from your home because your government decided to dig beneath it. And imagine that, if you spoke up to protest, you would face threats — even death. I don’t have to imagine this scenario because I have witnessed it. Yet while I am alive to write about it, many of my colleagues …
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Leading Human Rights Organization Calls on the United States to Urge Compliance by Mexico with Recommendations of Independent Group of Experts New York, NY – On Sunday, April 24, an international group of experts appointed to review the investigation of the forced disappearance of 43 college students from Iguala, Mexico, in September 2014 concluded that …
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After nearly 20 years as the president of the American Jewish World Service (AJWS), Ruth Messinger is retiring. She joins us to reflect on her career in humanitarian aid and the work of AJWS, which bills itself as “the first and only Jewish organization dedicated solely to ending poverty and promoting human rights in the developing …
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American Jewish World Service mourns the tragic loss of Berta Cáceres, a veteran human rights advocate in Honduras whose work AJWS has supported. Cáceres was killed early this morning in her home. Cáceres was a champion of human and environmental rights in Honduras and fought bravely for the rights of indigenous communities.
Read MoreIn Parashat Matot-Masei, the tribes of Reuven and Gad come to Moses with a strange request. Instead of settling in Canaan with the rest of the Israelites, they wish to settle on the east side of the Jordan River. Their stated rationale is purely pragmatic: the trans-Jordan pastures are perfect for raising livestock, which Reuven …
Read MoreIn Parashat Matot-Masei, the tribes of Reuven and Gad come to Moses with a strange request. Instead of settling in Canaan with the rest of the Israelites, they wish to settle on the east side of the Jordan River. Their stated rationale is purely pragmatic: the trans-Jordan pastures are perfect for raising livestock, which Reuven …
Read MoreParshat Kedoshim—the second half of this week’s double parshah—opens with this powerful and mystifying statement:
Leviticus 19:1-2
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the whole Israelite community and say to them: You shall be holy, for I—Adonai your God—am holy.
Parshat Kedoshim—the second half of this week’s double parshah—opens with this powerful and mystifying statement:
Leviticus 19:1-2
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the whole Israelite community and say to them: You shall be holy, for I—Adonai your God—am holy.
In third grade, my Hebrew School teacher took our class into the sanctuary to point out its most important fixtures. After the Ark and the Torah scroll, he directed our eyes up to the very top of the ceiling, from which hung a sphere-shaped lamp. With our necks craned to gaze up at the orb’s …
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