AJWS Blog

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.

National Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS

  In addition to being the first full week of Women’s History Month and with Purim coinciding with International Women’s Day on March 8th, this week is also National Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS. AJWS President Ruth Messinger issued a statement as a National Interfaith Supporter of the week’s events: “The National Week …

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Chag v'Chesed: Purim 5772

We often look at Purim as a day of inversion and celebration: we wear masks and don costumes, make noise at Haman’s name, and eat a festive meal with family and friends. But Purim’s meaning goes far deeper than the surface and it is hardly about just masquerading and reveling; everything from the narrative of …

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Advocating for a Just Farm Bill on Capitol Hill

Originally posted on The Jew and the Carrot. “This just makes common sense, and—I think—it makes Jewish sense.” That is how Timi Gerson of the American Jewish World Service (AJWS), closed the House of Representatives policy briefing organized by the Jewish Working Group for a Just Farm Bill.

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"Politics is Indeed a Holy Vocation": Former Kol Tzedek Fellow Addresses Maine's State Legislature

We love when members of the AJWS family are called upon to share their wisdom in unexpected places. Earlier today, Rabbi Rachel Isaacs, 2009-2010 Kol Tzedek Fellow and rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel in Waterville, Maine, delivered the benediction for Maine’s State Legislature. She was kind enough to post about her experience on AJWS’s Facebook …

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