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Ugandan Activists Challenge Constitutionality of Anti-homosexuality Law

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February 26, 2016 by AJWS Staff

The Time is Now: Reflections from the Global Justice Fellowship trip to the Dominican Republic

Last month, 10 rabbis from across the U.S. spent a week in the Dominican Republic as part of a Global Justice Fellowship trip with AJWS. Focusing heavily on the Dominican government’s policies related to the citizenship status of Dominicans of Haitian descent, the delegation met with grantees working to address some of the most pressing human rights issues in the region. Rabbi Elyse Winick, the Jewish chaplain at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, wrote this reflection at the end of the trip.

June 30, 2015 by AJWS Staff

A Historic LGBT Pride Month

What a month! LGBT Pride Month has come and gone, but it will go down in American history as one of the momentous times for LGBT rights.

April 1, 2015 by AJWS Staff

Essy of Kenya on #Quorum: Global LGBT Voices

Originally published by Quorum, a project of The Daily Beast. On Human Rights Day in December 2014, activists from around the world gathered at The Daily Beast’s “#Quorum: Global LGBT Voices” to share their struggles and achievements in working for LGBT rights worldwide. Essy, a Kenyan activist who works for AJWS grantee Persons Marginalized and …

March 18, 2015

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Offers Feminist Reading for Passover

New York, NY – Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, one of three women currently sitting on the United States Supreme Court, has co-authored a feminist reading for the Jewish holiday of Passover, which begins at sundown on Friday, April 3, 2015.

February 23, 2015

AJWS Applauds Historic State Department Appointment of Randy Berry as America’s First Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBT Persons

Washington, D.C. – American Jewish World Service (AJWS), the leading Jewish international development and human rights organization, applauds U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry for making history by appointing veteran diplomat Randy Berry as the first Special Envoy for the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) persons.

Dvar Tzedek

October 28, 2013 | 5774

Toldot

As an activist, learning about the work of previous generations can be inspiring—and terrifying. I begin to wonder if I will ever be able to accomplish what the leaders of eras past did, or be willing to take the same risks. For example, when I was in elementary and middle school, the fight to end South African apartheid was often in the news and many of the young activists were not much older than I was. I remember thinking: “What would I be able to do to show such strong moral leadership and live up to their example?”

October 21, 2013 | 5774

Chayei Sarah

When read with modern sensibilities, Bereshit 24 is a traditional tale about a man who travels to a far-off land to find a woman to marry his master’s son. Imagine that you are that woman, going about your daily chores when a strange man approaches you. He gazes at you for a bit, and finding you to be a beautiful virgin, inquires as to your family lineage. Then he meets with your father and brother, who, seeing the many gifts that the servant has bestowed upon you and them, say without hesitation, “Take her and go, and let her be a wife to your master’s son.”

September 23, 2013 | 5774

Bereshit

Parashat Bereshit, the first parashah in the cycle of weekly Torah readings, contains two monumental “firsts”: the creation of the first humans and the first act of violence. I’m always struck that these two events take place in the same parashah. And each year, I reflect on how their power and centrality shape our ethics in the modern world.

July 29, 2013 | 5773

Re’eh

“Ball, ball,” came the voice from the stroller as we walked down Broadway toward the synagogue one Shabbat morning. I looked around for the ball that evoked my daughter’s first word; no ball in sight. “A ball,” I questioned? “Ball.” My eyes combed the sidewalk, the street, and the shop windows. If there was a …

July 15, 2013 | 5773

Va’etchanan

This Dvar Tzedek was adapted from Ruth Messinger’s talk for JDOV, a program that invites interesting and creative thinkers to give “the Jewish talk of their life.” Watch the full video of Ruth’s talk here. Parashat Va’etchanan includes the words of the Sh’ma[1]—a prayer so important, that many Jews recite it twice a day. Our …