My world is abuzz. I know yours is, too. Like millions of other Americans, I have been in a non-stop conversation since November 8 about what the new U.S. administration and Congress will mean for the America we yearn for — one that is inclusive at home and stands tall for justice and human rights …
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Maria Magdalena Xalcut is in her 60s, but she has more energy than most women half her age. She is a member of Comité Campesino del Altiplano – Committee of Peasants of the Highlands (CCDA), a grassroots organization of small-scale farmers supported by AJWS. The group works in 11 regions throughout Guatemala to confront land rights challenges and meet the needs of rural, predominantly Mayan communities.
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I recently met with Maria Auxiliadora Gualim López, the founder and general coordinator of AJWS grantee Nuevo Horizonte (New Horizons) in Chisec in the Guatemalan department of Alta Vera Paz.
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On May 25, 2014, hundreds of Cambodian factory workers hosted an event that gave new meaning to the term “fashion forward.” The occasion? A one-of-a-kind fashion show in which garment workers from Cambodia’s booming textile industry modeled the very clothing they toil in airless factories for $2 a day to produce.
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As the President of American Jewish World Service (AJWS) – the Jewish voice for the rights of women worldwide – I am inspired by the Chinese proverb that says, “Women hold up half the sky.” Yet, while we women certainly hold up more than half the sky in 2015, both justice and dignity elude our grasp everywhere. That is why as we women of faith pursue justice – as our ancient prophets commanded – we must extend our hands to women worldwide.
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Cecelia Danuweli has been to hell and back. As a girl during Liberia’s brutal civil war, she witnessed her stepfather murdered before her eyes and faced the constant threat of rape and other violence as warring factions attacked her village. In 1990, she fled for her life and spent years living in the bush, hiding …
Read MoreAs 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?”
Read MoreWhen 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.”
Read MoreParashat 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.
Read More“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 …
Read MoreParashat Tazria opens with a passage that makes many contemporary readers bristle at its seemingly obvious gender discrimination. Describing a woman who has just given birth, the text relates that not only is she impure, but the length of her impurity doubles for a daughter in contrast to a son. While the gender-based distinctions in the text may arouse anger or confusion, they provide an opportunity to reflect on the topic of gender and they may also offer insights into how gender plays a role in our own lives and in the lives of people around the world.
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