This spring, I have been reminded of just how courageous our AJWS partners can be, and just how dangerous so much of their work actually is. In March, two Honduran human rights defenders, Berta Cáceras and Nelson García, were murdered, presumably in an attempt to silence them and end their work.

In the coming year we hope to launch “A Taste of AJWS”—a program that pairs delicious food from around the world with an appetite for social justice! During a private cooking class led by an accomplished LA chef, we’ll explore a country’s cuisine and gain insight into AJWS’s work in the region. With options from …

I am delighted to share my first newsletter of 2016 and to take note of the many accomplishments of AJWS in the past year—which I know make you as proud as they make me!

While the Jewish holiday of Chanukah, which begins at sundown on December 6th, is largely associated with exchanging gifts and lighting candles, at its root it is a celebration of rededication. On Chanukah we remember the past and renew our confidence in the present and the future.

What a gift it would be if we were able to engage in the powerful self-work of reflection and repentance of the Days of Awe without distraction. However, most of us feel so consumed by our busy lives that scant time remains for attending to the content of our souls. And then there is the condition of our world, which kindles in us a disturbing sense of futility.