The AJWS community has a lot to say about what's happening in the world. Read our insights about the struggle for justice and human rights around the globe — and meet the activists on the frontlines of the fight to build a better world.
When I say “Weekend In Vegas,” what do you think of? Jews? Really? Me, too! (And social justice, of course.) I was on the scene this weekend with fellow AJWS employees and full-time Jewish young adults, Dahlia Rockowitz and Matt Balaban, at TribeFest. The Jewish Federations of North America’s annual convention of Jewish young adults hosted over 1400 participants …
On Sunday, the Senegalese people were the pride of West Africa. They went to the polls in a run-off election and peacefully elected opposition leader Macky Sall over the incumbent president, Abdoulaye Wade. Wade was running for a controversial third term in office even though youth unemployment, high commodity prices and a broken promise of …
Originally posted on The Sisterhood Blog of The Forward. This is the seventh installment in the series “What Jewish Feminism Means to Me.” As a child in the 1940s and ’50s, I unknowingly experienced Jewish feminism before it really existed. Beginning in 1938 my mother, Marjorie Wyler, worked full-time as the Jewish Theological Seminary’s director …
Originally posted on The Jew and the Carrot. This is the story of a fishpond. Not just any old fishpond, but a fishpond in Muchucuxcah (Pronounce the x like a sh), Mexico, four hours west of Cancun. I was in Muchucuxcah for ten days in January with American Jewish World Service’s Rabbinical Students Delegation. We were there …
On March 19th, 1,500 rural and indigenous community members in Guatemala began marching for nine consecutive days to defend their natural resource rights. Tragically, state-sanctioned practices are destroying forests and mountains, contaminating rivers and water sources, and preventing rural Guatemalan communities from sustainably producing their own food. Nearly one year ago, hundreds of rural Maya …
