We can predict that President Trump’s State of the Union address will be rife with hyperbolic references to walls and refugees. But what about America’s obligation to uphold basic human rights around the world? To challenge strongmen, help democracies and uphold the human rights of every person on this planet?
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From Temple Emanu-El’s magnificent bima, Robert spoke about our shared obligation to live our Jewish values — to repair our broken world in difficult times.
Read MoreIn response to the introduction of the Greater Leadership Overseas for the Benefit of Equality Act of 2018 (GLOBE Act), AJWS Director of Government Affairs Rori Kramer released this statement: “This bill sets the gold standard for America’s return to global leadership on human rights, including the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) community.”
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An entrepreneur is a person with an idea, whether that idea launches a tech startup or a social change movement. But if you’re a venture capitalist or a philanthropic funder, how do you know which fledgling enterprises to back? From our perspectives from years in the California tech world (Terry and Jocelyn) and in social change philanthropy (Robert), we see four basic principles that guide successful investing in both situations.
Read More“We applaud the record numbers of Americans who exercised their rights and went to the polls, and we are gratified that they voted to end one-party rule by President Trump, whose corrosive blend of nationalism and xenophobia has undermined U.S. leadership around the world. Under the banner of ‘America First,’ Trump has inflamed hate and bigotry at home and abroad, abdicated American leadership on human rights worldwide and undermined key international institutions necessary to bolster democracy and achieve justice.
Read MoreOn December 16, 2012, 23-year old Jyoti Singh was raped by six men while riding on a bus in New Delhi, India. The attack reportedly lasted over two and a half hours, and Singh died two weeks later in Singapore from her injuries. Four of her attackers were found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging.
Read MoreWasteland, jungle, impoverished, malnourished, unhygienic, militant and crowded. Those were some of the words I had associated with Africa before I visited for the first time. The images were etched in my mind from the media, from documentaries and from the atrocities that we all read about daily in the newspaper.
Read MoreA shocking and inspiring episode in Parashat Pinchas occurs when the five daughters of Zelophechad stand up to Moses, Aaron and Elazar and demand to inherit their father’s property, in the absence of any sons. This courageous act, which challenges the assumption that tribal land can be passed on only from fathers to sons, seems to leave Moses speechless and moved, and he takes their claim to God.
Read MoreYou likely know that our ancestors wandered the wilderness for 40 years until they entered the Promised Land. You may find it surprising, though, that the ancient Israelites actually arrived at the border of the Land of Israel only two years after the Exodus. The other 38 years of wandering weren’t a long journey to the land; they were the consequence of ill-fated events that took place during Parashat Shlach.
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