Messinger of Hope Gala Goes Live!
We are honoring Ruth Messinger, leader of AJWS for 18 years, with an evening of inspiring speakers, global cuisine, and music from Sweet Honey in the Rock.
Read MoreFor Eddie: I Am Keeping My Promise
Posts
In the Wake of Tragedy in Orlando, LGBT Communities Around the World Condemn Hatred and Violence
American Jewish World Service and Its Partners Around the World Call for Justice for Those Murdered in Orlando, and for LGBT Communities Worldwide NEW YORK – American Jewish World Service (AJWS) and the human rights organizations it funds around the world mourn the loss of life in the attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando. …
Read More
Murdered After Defending Thailand’s Environment
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 …
Read More
In Defense of Human Rights Defenders
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 …
Read More
Mexican Government Must Be Held Accountable for Thwarting Justice for the 43 Missing Mexican Students
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 …
Read MoreDvar Tzedek
Matot-Masei
In 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 MoreMatot-Masei
In 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 MoreAcharei Mot-Kedoshim
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.
- What does the injunction ‘you shall be holy’ mean to you?
- What do you believe makes a community holy?
Acharei Mot-Kedoshim
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.
- What does the injunction ‘you shall be holy’ mean to you?
- What do you believe makes a community holy?
Tetzaveh
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 …
Read More