Originally published in The Washington Post. Five years ago this month, a terrible earthquake struck my country. I was in the capital city, Port-au-Prince, when suddenly the earth shook and buildings around me and across the city collapsed—taking with them hundreds of thousands of lives and the hopes of my nation. The world stood with …
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This Human Rights Day, I gathered with activists from around the world at “#Quorum: Global LGBT Voices.” By the end of the day—through the power of social media—we reached more than 25 million people with their stories. These inspiring speakers reminded me why AJWS and our partners are making this issue a priority: because all …
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NEW YORK, NY — “As we work as Jewish global citizens every day to combat human rights abuses around the world, we cannot be blind to the moral and structural failings of our own society.
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Washington D.C. – American Jewish World Service (AJWS) and a coalition of advocacy and human rights organizations met with White House officials today to ask President Obama to appoint a Special Envoy for the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) peoples within the U.S. Department of State.
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Jewish leaders, rabbis and educators reflect on their AJWS journey with Leibel One full day after receiving the news of Leonard “Leibel” Fein’s death, I am reflecting on the loss of this dear friend: a truly brilliant and moral man, and a profound Jewish voice for social justice in the 20th and 21st centuries. Many of us …
Read MoreParshat Ki Tetze opens with a chilling portrait of the inevitability of man’s brutality. When—not if—you go to war against your enemies and take as captives those whom you do not slay: Then, you will see among the conquered “a woman of beautiful form” whom you will desire and take for your “wife.”[1] That is …
Read MoreOn the surface, capital punishment looks like a perfect embodiment of justice. What could be a more fair and logical consequence for people who take others’ lives? The Torah seems to unequivocally support the death penalty. Deuteronomy teaches, “Life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”[1] Moreover, numerous …
Read MoreThe term tzedakah, commonly understood as “charity,” serves as a catch-all for many biblical commandments designed to help the poor, including leaving harvest gleanings and the edges of fields for the poor, providing interest-free loans, forgiving loans and tithing.[1] The word “tzedek,” which has the same root as tzedakah, appears carrying its now-common meaning of …
Read MoreAfter decades of the Israelites’ wanderings, God’s decree upon the willful generation of the Exodus—”In this very wilderness shall your carcasses drop”—is nearly fulfilled.[1] To take stock of the new generation born in the desert, a census is ordered. Lineages are recorded; tribes’ sums inscribed; fresh tallies of the war-ready men collected. And from among …
Read MoreThe strange story of Bilam, his talking donkey and the blessings he bestowed on Israel is recounted in Parshat Balak.[1] After the Israelites successfully defended themselves against the attacking Amorites, the Moabite king, Balak, asked Bilam to curse the Israelites in order to weaken them. Following several rounds of negotiations with Balak’s representatives and with …
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