AJWS Expands On1Foot Partnerships and Resources to Better Serve Jewish Educators and Activists

Unique Web Portal is Hub for Educational Resources from Jewish Social Justice Community

New York, NY; June 1, 2011 – American Jewish World Service (AJWS), an international development and human rights organization, has relaunched On1Foot, its innovative web portal for Jewish social justice texts and resources. With over 17 new co-sponsorships from Jewish organizations across the world and a major expansion of available Jewish texts related to social justice themes as well as hundreds of divrei Torah and prepared text studies, On1Foot has become the central location for Jewish clergy, educators, activists and lay people searching for tools to broaden and deepen conversations about the intersection of Judaism and social justice.

Launched in 2009, On1Foot was created to make the full catalogue of Jewish texts on social justice available and accessible to users; enhance and popularize Jewish social justice education and serve as a central forum for discussion within the Jewish social justice movement. Its thousands of unique monthly visitors have found the web portal valuable for developing sermons, divrei Torah, lesson plans, volunteer enrichment activities, family education initiatives and Bar and Bat Mitzvah materials.

This latest and most accessible version of On1Foot allows users to:

• Search and browse more than 1,000 biblical, rabbinic and contemporary Jewish texts related to social justice themes, all of which are fully translated and paired with provocative discussion questions
• Access hundreds of divrei Torah and prepared text studies, each tagged by age level and social justice topic
• Create custom source sheets using texts from the site
• Contribute new texts and comment on existing texts
• Share ideas and best practices by messaging other (currently 900) registered users

Thanks to help from an impressive roster of co-sponsors who will be sharing their best Jewish justice materials, the site’s resources will continue to expand significantly in the coming months.

“On1Foot’s relaunch fittingly precedes Shavuot, a holiday that commemorates the giving of Torah to the Jewish people— thematically appropriate for this project that democratizes Jewish texts and inspires people to engage in Torah study with renewed energy,” said Aaron Dorfman, AJWS’s Vice President of Programs. “On1Foot allows rabbis, Jewish educators and Jewish social justice activists an amazing and critical opportunity to use Torah to inspire Jews to challenge the forces that perpetuate poverty, hunger and disease.”

On1Foot has brought the expertise of a wide array of Jewish social justice organizations together to facilitate collaborative conversation about issues of justice, equality and social activism. On1Foot is a project of American Jewish World Service, in partnership with Areyvut, Avodah, Big Green Jewish, Hazon, Hillel, Jewcology, Jewish Aid Australia, Jewish Women’s Archive, Jews United for Justice, Keshet, Mechon Hadar, NECHAMA, Religious Action Center, Repair the World, Tzedek, Uri l’Tzedek and Yahel Israel.