In the verdant, mountainous Omkoi district of Thailand, the Indigenous Karen community is gripped in a battle over the land they have lived on for generations. The 4,258 people living in the village of Kaboe Din trace their lineage far before the existence of modern land deeds—and even the Thai nation itself. The villagers are …
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On International Women’s Day and everyday, we give thanks for the incredible women in our families, our communities and around the world who are fighting for social justice.
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Around the world, rural and Indigenous communities are working to repair the world — with food. The challenges they face are immense: industrial development, commercial farming and accelerating climate change are all damaging the land that these communities have farmed for generations. But AJWS is supporting activist organizations to fight back. These activists are working with their communities to build “food sovereignty,” or …
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As dusk turned to night in Chiang Mai some weeks ago, I felt adrenaline coursing through my body as thousands of people poured onto the streets of this city in northern Thailand for the country’s biggest LGBTQI pride march in a decade. At the same time, my mind was flooded with memories of Pride …
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“You may have heard that Thailand is a paradise for transgender people. We have the beauty queens. The cabaret shows. But you don’t see the negative side of how we’re treated. And I want to make sure my sisters don’t experience what I went through.” It’s a Saturday in central Bangkok, and Jetsada Taesombat, better …
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Ebbing the flood of suffering after the Southeast Asian tsunami
Read MoreThis 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 …
Read MoreAfter describing a series of laws dealing with property, damages, injury and other torts, our parsha concludes the section with a final warning: “Do not oppress the stranger; you know the feelings of a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.[1] Explaining the seemingly odd placement of this verse, Rabbi Shimshon Refael …
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