Author: Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism

Six Catholics, two Jews, and one Protestant serve on the United States Supreme Court. Justice John Paul Stevens, the lone Protestant, who turns 90-years-old on April 20th, is expected to retire in the coming months. Earlier this week, with these facts in mind, the Washington Post boldly posed the interesting question: “Does President Obama’s next Supreme Court nominee need to be a Protestant?”

It’s certainly a question that will be at the forefront of people’s minds when/if President Obama has the opportunity to nominate a second Supreme Court Justice. For years, advocates have been encouraging Presidents to increase the diversity not only on the Supreme Court but on the entire federal bench, urging them to actively consider race, national origin, professional background, and gender when selecting nominees. But, religion is often left out of this list.

Why is that? Is it an oversight or by design? Is it because of concern that a person’s religious background could bias their opinions about the law in a way that is substantively different that the other characteristics listed above? Is it because the courts are considered to be religiously diverse already?

Of course, asking for a diverse Court is different from asking for someone of a specific faith to be appointed. President Obama has had to address religion-based issues before in the context of controversial comments from his former pastor and even rumors about his own religious faith. In light of his past encounters with this sensitive issue, it will be interesting to see how President Obama responds to any pressure he gets from those who have strong feelings about the role a potential nominee’s religion should play.

President Obama recognized Monday in his speech in Philadelphia the doubters and critics who argue that now is not the moment for health insurance reform. He responded to their concerns by drawing from the words of Hillel, stating “My question to them is: When is the right time? If not now, when? If not us, who?”

Rabbi Hillel once said, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? If not now, when?” With all the hubbub in Washington around health insurance reform, it’s easy to lose sight of where we came from, and where we are going. Our health system is failing; 46 million Americans are uninsured and millions more are underinsured. We cannot wait, we cannot put this reform aside and we cannot give up. The cost of doing nothing to improve the status quo is too high.

As Jews, we are commanded to engage in tikkun olam – repair of the world. Few acts embody this principle more clearly than repair of our broken health insurance system. Health insurance in the United States suffers from a prolonged crisis: costs have skyrocketed to the point where we now spend $2 trillion on health care annually. We are also the only Western nation that does not ensure all its citizens have regular access to health care. This is a tragic spurning of Maimonides’ teachings: a renowned Jewish scholar, he taught that health care was the most important service a community can provide to its residents. And despite the clear problems we face, some would prefer we continue on the dangerous path we’ve pursued far too long. We are closer than we have ever been to passing comprehensive reform of the American health insurance system and we must sprint to the finish: the costs of health care threaten the financial well-being of millions of individuals and families and the long-term financial stability of our nation. Now is the time to enact meaningful change.

There are undoubtedly myriad details of a final bill to be considered, but the first step is for members of the House of Representatives to pass the Senate bill in order for a final bill to come about through reconciliation or other means. Our Members of Congress must join and fight the battle for reform now. Their votes are critical – and we need to remind them of their responsibility to us, the health care consumers they represent. You can contact your Members by email by filling out our action alert, or reach the Capitol Switchboard at 1-888-210-3678. The financial and moral cost of delay is unthinkable, and we must make clear to our Members of Congress that the moment to act is now.

Today, March 11, 2010, President Obama will meet with Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to discuss comprehensive immigration reform. A top priority of the Obama campaign and a divisive domestic issue, immigration reform is crucial both to upholding our humanitarian values and helping ensure our country’s security and economic prosperity.

Our broken immigration system tears families apart, creates extensive backlogs for prospective immigrants, encourages unscrupulous employers, and relegates 12 million undocumented individuals to the shadows of society. It is about time that President Obama and Congress take on this issue and the meeting today demonstrates responsiveness to the current wave of activity in the immigration advocacy community.

Today, March 11, 2010, President Obama will meet with Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to discuss comprehensive immigration reform. A top priority of the Obama campaign and a divisive domestic issue, immigration reform is crucial both to upholding our humanitarian values and helping ensure our country’s security and economic prosperity.

Our broken immigration system tears families apart, creates extensive backlogs for prospective immigrants, encourages unscrupulous employers, and relegates 12 million undocumented individuals to the shadows of society. It is about time that President Obama and Congress take on this issue and the meeting today demonstrates responsiveness to the current wave of activity in the immigration advocacy community.

This just in from President Obama:

Today I met with Senators Schumer and Graham and was pleased to learn of their progress in forging a proposal to fix our broken immigration system. I look forward to reviewing their promising framework, and every American should applaud their efforts to reach across party lines and find commonsense answers to one of our most vexing problems. I also heard from a diverse group of grassroots leaders from around the country about the growing coalition that is working to build momentum for this critical issue. I am optimistic that their efforts will contribute to a favorable climate for moving forward. I told both the Senators and the community leaders that my commitment to comprehensive immigration reform is unwavering, and that I will continue to be their partner in this important effort.

Take a look at this interesting piece from the Sunday Washington Post on an “amusement park with a unique mission: to create a play space for individuals with special needs.” Morgan’s Wonderland, named for founder Gordon Hartman’s daughter, is in San Antonio, Texas, already a travel destination for its other attractions.

Hartman’s goal in financing and building Morgan’s Wonderland was to provide children with disabilities with an “opportunity to do things they’ve never done before, like ride in a swing or a carousel or sit with their family in a train.” When it opens, the park will have accessible rides and have special resources for children with both physical and intellectual disabilities and their parents, many of whom haven’t ever had the chance to enjoy family trips to fun parks because of a lack of accessibility.

I just can’t imagine a better way to help kids who frequently feel alienated or different to have a wonderful, quintessentially childhood experience than to let them ride swings and rides at an amusement park. Check out the article and contact me at 202.387.2800 or at [email protected] to find out more about what the Reform Movement and others do to establish equality of opportunity for all Americans, regardless of disability.

Believe it or not, the impetus for the creation of the National School Lunch Program in 1946 was that malnourishment was rendering large numbers of young men ineligible to join the military. When President Truman signed the 1946 National School Lunch Act, the preface said that the creation of the program was a “measure of national security, to safeguard the health and well-being of the Nation’s children.” (Can you imagine anyone saying that today?). Today, Child Nutrition Programs are a crucial financial safety net for over 31 million students who receive breakfast, lunch, and an afterschool snack during the school year, as well as during the summer. These programs all fall under the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Bill, which is coming before Congress this year to be reviewed and refunded.

The depth and breadth of hunger in the United States can be easily conveyed by statistics: 17.6 million food insecure households, making up 49.1 million people. A record of nearly 38 million people relied on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, formerly known as food stamps, at last count. These numbers are even starker for children: the food insecurity rate for households with children is nearly double the overall average. Feeding America, which operates more than 200 food banks and soup kitchens across the country, found that 38% of those they served were children under age 18, and four out of five food insecure families served have children under 18.

Child nutrition programs ease the burden on these families by assuring children at least one healthy meal a day. But these are more than nutrition programs: Studies show that school meals have a positive effect not only on hunger but also on classroom behavior, test scores and school attendance. School meals also support better nutrition, and address the problem of childhood obesity and related health problems. They are a multi-front anti-poverty tool, and must be robustly re-funded when Congress reauthorizes them this year. Urge your Members of Congress to support increased funding for child nutrition programs by sending an e-mail through the RAC’s Chai impact action center, or host a Child Nutrition Seder to raise awareness about childhood hunger in America. As we say each year in the Seder, “Let all who are hungry come and eat!”

Today, the URJ released a statement calling on the Knesset to reject a piece of legislation that would alter the Law of Return such that converts to Judaism would not be eligible for Israeli citizenship. This would be the first time that the state of Israel makes an official distinction between one who is born a Jew and a righteous convert.

Further, the legislation would place legal authority over conversion in Israel in the hands of the Chief Rabbinate, making it more challenging for progressive rabbis to perform conversions.

Finally, there have been recent negotiations between the sponsor of this legislation, MK David Rotem, and the ultra-Orthodox parties which could result in provisions blocking Reform and Conservative conversions in Israel.

As this situation unfolds, we will provide further news updates and ways to get involved in the issue. The full statement is available below.

Reform Jewish Movement Calls on Knesset to Reject Conversion Legislation

For 2,000 years, Judaism has treated Jews-by-choice the same as Jews-by-birth. We are taught “as soon as a convert emerges from the mikvah (ritual bath) she or he is Jewish for all purposes.” (Talmud, Yevamot 47b)

For 62 years, since its founding, the State of Israel, through the Law of Return, has welcomed Jews from around the world as citizens in the world’s only Jewish state.

Today, legislation before the Knesset – a bill sponsored by MK David Rotem of Yisrael Beitenu that addresses both the authority of the Chief Rabbinate and matters of conversion – threatens both of those sacred principles.

This legislation will certainly reopen one of the most divisive battles in the Jewish community. The proposed legislation will lead to a situation in which Jews-by-choice would be treated differently and denied recognition as Jews under the Law of Return, in direct contradiction of Israeli Supreme Court rulings. Additionally, it may lead to the delegitimization of all non-orthodox conversions performed outside of the State of Israel.

Our concern is neither partisan nor denominational, but emanates from true love of Medinat Yisrael and Klal Yisrael (the State and people of Israel). With the unity of the Jewish people foremost in our thoughts and prayers, we urge the government and the Knesset to affirm core principles of that unity when enacting any legislation. We call upon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman to withstand the pressures of a small segment of the political spectrum and to do what is best for all Jewish people everywhere.

The Reform Movement calls upon the State of Israel to treat all religious streams of Judaism fairly and equally, a cause that is far from realization. We call upon the Knesset to reject this partisan attack on the majority of American Jews. Finally, we call upon the Israeli people to join with us in an effort to help Israel live up to its promise as a Jewish and democratic State.

People began lining up in front of the United States Supreme Court building 36 hours in advance of Tuesday’s oral arguments in McDonald v. Chicago, a case challenging Chicago’s longstanding ban on handguns within city limits. Handguns have been outlawed in Chicago for nearly 30 years.

After the Court’s decision in District of Columbia v. Heller in 2008 that reversed a ban on handguns in DC, gun-rights advocates were compelled to challenge a ban in Chicago.

So why is this case different than the Heller case? Because the District of Columbia is considered a federal enclave, in Heller, the Court was not forced to decide definitively whether the Second Amendment applies to the states. So, that piece is the major question that the Justices are now considering: should the right to keep and bear arms be incorporated to the states? And if so, what does that mean for local gun control laws?

The Court ruled in the 19th century that the Bill of Rights does not apply to state or local laws, meaning that the Second Amendment (part of the Bill of Rights) which establishes Americans’ right to keep and bear arms does not apply to state and local laws. It is somewhat surprising that our Bill of Rights, so fundamental to our nation as a democracy, did not automatically apply to the states. Since then, many of the Amendments in the Bill of Rights have been “selectively incorporated” to apply to the states, but not yet this Second Amendment right.

After the eagerly awaited oral arguments this Tuesday, the Supreme Court seemed likely to extend Second Amendment rights to the states, but not without limitations. Dennis Henigan, leader of the Brady Campaign (which advocates for federal and state gun control legislation) commented on Fox News that the law should reaffirm legislatures’ authority at the local and state level to enact reasonable restrictions on Americans’ rights to bear arms, in order to protect all people from gun fire.

Where do we go from here? Now that the Justices have heard the oral arguments, they will meet to discuss where they stand on the case. They will meet behind closed doors in the coming weeks, but it will likely be late June before they issue a written ruling.

This morning, Dawn Johnsen was voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee along party lines–for the second time. President Obama nominated Professor Johnsen to serve as the Head of the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel in January 2009, but she has yet to receive a vote on the Senate floor. Today’s vote will hopefully provide the necessary momentum to finally consider Professor Johnsen’s nomination. Rabbi Saperstein issued a statement welcoming the vote and encouraging the Senate to quickly confirm Professor Johnsen to this critical post.

The stagnation of Professor Johnsen’s nomination is only one example of the extreme obstruction of President Obama’s Executive Branch nominees. In the 8 years of the Bush Presidency, the Senate forced cloture votes on only 7 Executive Branch nominees. In the first 13 months of President Obama’s tenure, however, the Senate has already forced 9 cloture votes on such nominees. And, 69 nominees remain pending on the Senate’s calendar, many of whom, including Professor Johnsen, are expected to be filibustered. (All data from a study conducted by People for the American Way).

This unprecedented level of obstructionism politicizes the confirmation process and leaves critical offices in the Executive Branch unnecessarily empty. When capable and qualified nominees such as Professor Johnsen are willing to serve, the Senate should consider their nominations fairly and expediently. Hopefully today’s vote will jump-start that process.

Last night, Senator Lieberman filed an amendment to a job creation bill in the Senate that has little if nothing to do with jobs, but instead would extend the DC school voucher program that has not served students well, and threatens the separation of church and state. The vote is expected to occur sometime today.

Rather than extending the voucher program, government money should be spent on programs that serve all students in Washington, DC.

Please take a minute this morning to call your Senators’ offices to urge them to vote NO on the Lieberman amendment. The Capitol Switchboard can be reached at 202.224.3121.

The points to make are:

• The DC Voucher program has been proven to have no positive impact on student achievement.
• This is a divisive amendment that could derail a bill designed to save and create jobs that Americans so desperately need.

• Vouchers take money away from public schools that serve all students; we should focus on improving public education for all.

Leave us a comment if you call your Senators’ offices, and feel free to email me with any questions. Thanks for your support!

There was a rare flash of good news about Sudan recently. The government of Sudan and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), one of the two main rebel groups who have been fighting against the government of Sudan and has been backed by the government of Chad, signed a preliminary cease-fire at a meeting in Doha, Qatar. As the BBC reports, the deal “includes a framework for further talks, during which issues such as the sharing of power and wealth, and the return of internally displaced people and refugees will be discussed.”

As a Save Darfur blog on the “peace deal” notes, “Any time the Government and the rebels agree to stop fighting, the innocent civilians of Darfur and Chad benefit,” and this is no doubt true this time. However, there is a reason that advocates are not celebrating this as an end to conflict. Firstly, it is by no means a comprehensive deal: the government of Sudan has no such cease-fire deal in place with the other main rebel group, the Abdul Wahid al-Nur faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement. This group has recently blocked humanitarian groups trying to get to internally displaced persons (IDP) camps and is not known to be overly anxious to sign a peace deal. Secondly, ceasefires like this one have not been properly adhered to in the past. (The BBC has an excellent analysis on the new “peace deal” here.)

Most importantly, however, is that leaders of the IDP camps are still not being represented in these talks. The innocent civilians of Darfur have undoubtedly the most to lose no matter which way the situation turns; their voices should be the first heard, during the peace talks in Doha as well as in the upcoming parliamentary elections. This morning, Rabbi David Saperstein spoke at a Prayer Breakfast on Capitol Hill and urged lawmakers to pay “all attention to Sudan, whose suffering citizens the international community has too often willfully ignored, and work towards peace as national elections approach.” As John Prendergast points out in this op-ed in the Christian Science Monitor, now is the time to make “a plea to spotlight what is happening now to cover up the human rights crimes that have been and are being committed” before we lose “the evidence to the vast sands of the Sahara Desert.” Tell President Obama to ensure that the upcoming Sudanese elections are free and fair, and by only legitimizing an election that is not won through intimidation and violence.

The trajectory of my life has become clearer and clearer as I’ve gotten older; now at the ripe old age of twenty-three I look at the combination of good fortune and good decisions which have led me to become a Legislative Assistant at the Religious Action Center. Ok, maybe I’m being dramatic, but I love the job I have, I enjoy the challenge and the work of striving for social justice from a Jewish perspective, and D.C. is an incredible place to work and to live.

One of these fortunate decisions was to apply during my freshman year at the University of Rochester to the Religious Action Center’s Machon Kaplan Summer Internship program. Where luck is involved is that I’d simply seen a mailing, a postcard with some basic facts about the program, but it started the wheels turning.

I’d been a counselor at an unaffiliated Jewish day camp in Maine for years, I was in the midst of my third year teaching in religious school programs, I attended Hillel services with some regularity, and I have always identified strongly as a progressive Jew, but otherwise was only minimally involved in Reform Judaism as a movement. Simultaneously, I was passionate about issues of social justice, American values and freedoms, and fundamental equality for all. But I had never really connected my Judaism to my enthusiasm for social justice; I just had never really seen opportunities to do so.

And then there was Machon Kaplan. The program provides students with the opportunity to intern with some of the RAC’s coalition partners, engaging in social action in Washington. Students take classes in which students earn college credit learning of the rich history of Jewish social action, of our involvement in various causes both historically and right now. Students get to learn and interact with some of the leaders in social action and advocacy here in the capital, and live and study in a Jewish environment and community unlike any I’d ever experienced.

I applied and was accepted, and in mid-June joined my class of about two dozen other college-aged Jews from all over the nation in a pretty incredible summer. Living together in George Washington University dorms, we attended classes at the RAC, where, taught by RAC staff and other activists and advocates, we learned about our religious charges to actively pursue equality, freedom, peace and justice. Moreover, we learned how the RAC was engaging in this effort on issues such as economic justice and poverty, climate change and bioethics, reproductive rights and civil rights. I interned at Family Pride (now the Family Equality Council), which works on family issues for the GLBT community, and got a chance to see how advocacy happens at the ground level.

The Machon Kaplan program helped me to see that two enormous parts of my life were connected, and gave me tools to understand this connection and continue becoming more involved in Jewish social action. Moreover, it was an inspiring, exciting summer spent in D.C. with other young, like-minded Jews, and most of all, it was the impetus that led me to begin my adult, post-graduate life in D.C. working at the Religious Action Center.

If you have any questions about the program or how to apply, please visit us at our Machon Kaplan page or contact us at 202.387.2800.

The Congressional calendar for the rest of the year is quickly filling up, but we have one more chance to move toward a clean energy future this year. Environmental, labor, business, and faith groups are joining together this week for the “72 Hours for Clean American Power” call-in campaign. Yesterday we began bombarding Senate offices with hundreds of calls for a clean energy future – and today we hope you will join the effort!

With energy legislation stuck in the Senate, why bother to make a call? As Robert Redford said in his recent op-ed in support of the campaign, “We still possess a powerful ability to influence our lawmakers. When we raise our voices loudly and fully enough, we can hit the core sensitivity of politicians: the desire for votes. They are still our representatives, after all, and they have to respond to public outcry.”

And what are we calling for? As Gillian Caldwell of the 1Sky Campaign explains, “The demands are simple: keep the Clean Air Act strong and pass a comprehensive clean energy bill providing us with the opportunity to truly reform our energy and economic needs for a better future.”

So take a minute today to make the call, spread the word through Facebook and Twitter, and be part of the push for a clean energy future. If you don’t have time to call, you can send an email supporting the Clean Air Act or calling for comprehensive climate legislation this year. Together we can make the phones ring off the hook, and hold our representatives accountable to our desire for a clean energy future that protects our planet and all its inhabitants.

I just read a thoughtful piece about religious pluralism and civic equality in the Huffington Post by Joshua Stanton, a rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College and co-Editor of the Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue. Stanton speaks about the current situation regarding the Women of the Wall prayer group, the Israel Religious Action Center‘s campaign against segregated buses, and Rabbi Eric Yoffie’s recent comments about Israel in the latest edition of Reform Judaism Magazine.

Stanton begins: “A religious revolution is in progress in Israel. It will either upend or extend the reach of the Ultraorthodox religious establishment, which presides over the institutions of marriage, divorce, and conversion in Israel, siphons off public funding for yeshivas, and worst of all has prevented the state from enacting a constitution that could provide significant protections for religious minorities.”

I recommend reading the full post, available here. For more information about our work in support of religious pluralism in Israel, feel free to email me!

In October, the RACblog’s “Focus on the Court” series highlighted the Supreme Court’s grant of the cert petition in Kiyemba v. Obama. As you will remember, this case involved 13 men from the Muslim-Chinese Uighur community being held at Guantanamo Bay. While these men had been cleared of any charges, they were not able to leave Guantanamo because they had no place to go. They feared returning to China because of religious persecution and only a few of them had been offered asylum in other countries. The question before the Justices was whether the Administration or judges had the authority to decide whether these men could be released in the United States. This case was slated to be the first time that the Obama Administration would argue before the Court in a case related to the war on terror.

However, yesterday, the Supreme Court issued an unsigned order dismissing the case (only three weeks before the scheduled oral arguments), due to changed facts that the lower courts had not considered. They stated:

“[E]ach of the detainees at issue in this case has received at least one offer of resettlement in another country. Most of the detainees have accepted an offer of resettlement; five detainees, however, have rejected two such offers and are still being held at Guantanamo Bay. This change in the underlying facts may affect the legal issues presented. No court has yet ruled in this case in light of the new facts, and we decline to be the first to do so.”

While the dismissal of this case will certainly make headlines, the biggest news about the Supreme Court this week will be today’s oral arguments in McDonald v. Chicago, which questions whether the Second Amendment right to bear arms should be applied to the states. Check the RACblog on Friday for a “Focus on the Court” post about this monumental case!

Food: everyone is talking about it, from Katie Couric covering the livestock and fast food industries on CBS news to Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiative to fight childhood obesity. And since Rabbi Yoffie announced the new Shulchan Yarok, Shulchan Tzedek (Green Table, Just Table) Biennial Initiative last fall, Reform Jews across North America are talking about food too.

It’s not easy to keep up with food news, so we are going to do our best to help – and we want you to be part of the conversation! That’s why, as part of our Movement-wide focus on sustainable, healthy, ethical eating, we are launching the new URJ Food Talk interactive listserv. It’s easy to join: just enter your name and email address here for regular updates on food news, resources from congregations across our Movement, and to add your own ideas. The listserv is open to all who want to join the conversation on how to build a healthier, more sustainable food production and delivery system.

But we are not just talking about how to make our food system more sustainable; we are taking action from the individual to the Movement level. Responding to Rabbi Yoffie’s call for young people to lead the way, our NFTYites are examining their food consumption choices and calling on all youth groups to learn more about the environmental effects of our food system. (And just like Rabbi Yoffie urged NFTYites to consider exploring alternatives to read meat, school children in New York will eat less meat but learn more about their food if plans under consideration to implement a meat-free Monday in public schools take effect.)

Synagogues from Massachusetts to San Francisco are planting and tending community gardens, embracing sustainable and healthy eating choices through Community Supported Agriculture, and deciding what kinds of foods we should serve and eat in our holy spaces. And our URJ Camps are winning awards for the best food service in town! If you want to get involved but need an idea, get inspired with our new Green Table, Just Table program bank – and send us your ideas to add to the growing list of amazing food programs. Whether it is reducing red meat consumption, working at your synagogue garden, or simply taking more time to enjoy food with friends and family, we can all take steps to change our food system to be better for our bodies, our communities, and our planet.

Don’t forget, our adult education curriculum, youth program, guide to synagogue food policy, and much more are still available (to download for free!) on our Initiative page. So take a moment to visit the Food Initiative homepage today, join the listserv, download a resource, and let us know what you think. B’tei avon!

For the next few days, I will still write February when I date anything. I’m always a few days behind when it comes to writing the date. Getting 2010 down took over a month because of changing the digit in the tens position, and February is so short that I don’t know if I ever put it in ink! Thank God for my trusty computer, which informed me this morning that it is indeed March. And you know what that means, don’t you? It’s Census Awareness Month!

If you’ve watched television, listened to the radio, or browsed the Internet this year, you have likely come across advertisements for the 2010 Census. This year’s census questionnaire is the shortest in history at only 10 questions and it’s vital that you fill it out!

The US census counts every resident in the country and is required by the Constitution to take place every ten years. The 2010 Census will help determine the allocation of more than $400 billion in federal funds during each year of the next decade for hospitals, job training centers, schools, senior centers, public works projects, and emergency services. That’s more than $4 trillion over a ten-year period! In addition, census information affects the number of seats your state occupies in the US House of Representatives – helping to ensure your voice is heard in the Capitol.

As the country reels from the economic recession, we’ve all become more conscious of how our tax dollars are spent. By filling out the census, you help to save millions of dollars in follow up visits that are conducted with non-responding households. In fact, the US Census Bureau saves $85 million for every percentage point increase in the 2010 Census mail-back response rate!

The census is not a choice; it is an obligation – a secular mitzvah one might say. As citizens, we are required to identify ourselves and our families to the government to ensure the success of a democratic system founded on “consent of the governed.” In responding to the census, we also indicate the resources our communities need.

The census doesn’t cost you a penny. In mid-March, postal workers will deliver the initial mailing and all you need to do is fill it out and mail it back in the pre-addressed, postage-paid envelope! National Census Day is Thursday, April 1st. Use this date as a marker for sending back your completed forms. From April-July, census workers will visit all the households who did not return their forms and collect their responses by hand. As mentioned above, this is a huge expense, so get your form in on time!

February is over, even if, like me, your brain disagrees with you for the next few days. You have all been given fair warning – March is here and soon your census will be too! Fill it out, send it back, and spread the word!

On Monday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Lewis v. Chicago, a case considering the statute of limitations to sue an employer for using a hiring test with a disparate impact. This case began in Chicago, where 26,000 individuals interested in becoming firefighters took a written test as part of their application process. Those scoring above 65 were deemed “qualified” and those scoring above 89 were deemed “highly qualified.”

While a score of 89 did not have any particular significance that would set those who scored above it apart from those who scored above 65, the Chicago fire department decided to select its new employees from the “highly qualified” category before selecting anyone who was simply deemed “qualified.” This arbitrary decision had a disparate impact, negatively affecting African-American candidates who represented only 11.5% of those in the “highly qualified” category, but 37% of the applicants overall.

The city of Chicago used the results of this test to hire 10 separate classes of new firefighters. Before they began the hiring, they announced that those on the “highly qualified” list would be more likely to receive jobs than those on the “qualified” list. The question at hand is whether the firefighters who were victims of the disparate impact were required to sue within 300 days of when the hiring practice was announced or 300 days from each separate implementation of the practice.

Nearly every news source reporting on Monday’s oral arguments succumbed to the temptation to portray this case as a hybrid between last year’s Ricci v. Destefano and the OTO7 Ledbetter v. Goodyear. Ricci v. Destefano questioned whether the city of New Haven could throw out the results of a hiring test that they believed had an unintended disparate impact and Ledbetter v. Goodyear considered the statute of limitations to sue for pay discrimination. You can’t really blame the reporters–the similarities are glaring.

The Union for Reform Judaism signed onto an amicus brief for Lewis v. Chicago, coordinated by the National Partnership for Women and Families and the National Women’s Law Center and in favor of the petitioners (the firefighters) in the case. The brief argues that the only appropriate rule – consistent with both the text and purpose of Title VII’s disparate impact provision – is one that would permit an individual to challenge an employment selection or promotion policy or device that has a disparate impact whenever the policy is applied to that individual. In other words, the 300 day statute of limitations should not only apply a practice with a disparate impact is announced, but each time that the practice is applied.

Most reports on the oral arguments indicated that the Justices seem to be sympathetic to the firefighters’ position. However, as always, we cannot predict how (or when) the Supreme Court will decide the case. Keep an eye on the RAC blog–we’ll be sure to report back when the Justices opinions are released!

A bipartisan summit on health insurance reform is taking place right now in Washington. You can watch live coverage of the meeting here.

In attendance are Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Charles Schumer (D-NY), Patty Murray (D-WA), Max Baucus (D-MT), Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Tom Harkin (D-IA), John Rockefeller (D-WV), Kent Conrad (D-ND), Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Charles Grassley (R-IA), Michael Enzi (R-WY), John McCain (R-AZ), Tom Coburn (R-OK) and John Barrasso (R-WY), Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and Representatives Steny Hoyer (D-MD), James Clyburn (D-SC), Charles Rangel (D-NY), Henry Waxman (D-CA), George Miller (D-CA), John Dingell (D-MI), Robert Andrews (D-NJ), Xavier Becerra (D-CA), Jim Cooper (D-TN), Louise Slaughter (D-NY), John Boehner (R-OH) and Eric Cantor (R-VA).

You can check out the New York Times’ coverage of the faith organizations’ letter sent yesterday to Congress and President Obama outlining priorities in advance of this important meeting, and also the Reform Movement’s specific letter and petition to our legislators.

Now is the time, tell your Senators and Representative that we must move reform forward and we must do it now!

Clean, safe drinking water is something that many of us take for granted, but for far too many people around the world and even here in North America, it’s a frighteningly scarce resource. Over one billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and thousands of children in the developing world die each day from water and sanitation-related diseases including diarrhea, cholera and typhoid. That’s why governments, NGOs, and people of faith here in North America and around the globe are stepping up and taking action to ensure that all people have access to clean water.

Our friends at the National Council of Churches are working to raise awareness and promote clean water technologies worldwide through their “WASH for Lent” campaign. As the Lenten season encourages Christians to examine their own lives and give up unnecessary expenses and consumption habits, the NCC is calling on their members to think about what others lack, and how we all can help. The WASH (WAter, Sanitation, Hygiene) campaign has resources and information about the global clean water crisis to enable prayer, study, and action. And our own young people in NFTY will pick up on this conversation through their recently-adopted 2010-2011 Action Theme, focused on consumption choices. The resources we use at home affect what is available for our brothers and sisters around the world, even when it comes to something as seemingly abundant as water. 

Our government is working to clean up the water supply at home too: the Environmental Protection Agency is making clean water a priority issue this year, starting with its five-step plan to clean up the Great Lakes, which hold an astonishing 20 percent of the world’s fresh water supply. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson announced last week that her agency would get to work on a five-year project to clean up pollution and protect critical wildlife habitat in and around the Lakes. Since almost one in ten Americans rely on the Great Lakes for drinking water, and thousands of jobs in fishing and tourism depend on Lakes, investing just over $2B in cleaning up the Lakes seems well worth it.

While we may hope for a day when all of us have access to clean, safe water, many of us in the U.S. and Canada still cannot trust the water that comes out of our taps. However, we also know that bottled water has big costs for our pocketbooks and our environment. To help us all make better water choices, the Environmental Working Group has come up with four simple steps to safe drinking water. Follow their guide to see how safe your water is, and find alternatives to disposable plastic bottles.

Sharing the world’s water supplies with a constantly growing global population is no easy task, but we can certainly do better than allowing millions to wonder every day where their next drink of water will come from. Whether we choose to skip bottled water, donate to organizations that fund global clean water development projects, or advocate clean water legislation at home, we can all take steps to ensure that clean water is a resource that we can all enjoy.

Leaders of the Reform Jewish Movement today sent a letter to Congress and the Administration in advance of President Obama’s bipartisan summit on health insurance reform.

The letter urged the adoption of a strong, comprehensive health insurance reform bill and comes at a critical time in consideration of reform. It was signed by leaders of the Union for Reform Judaism, the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, the Commission on Social Action, Women of Reform Judaism, Men of Reform Judaism, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the American Conference of Cantors, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and the North American Federation of Temple Youth.

The Reform Jewish Movement has long advocated for the vulnerable and the voiceless. We have continually emphasized that health insurance reform must expand coverage to millions of Americans, protect low-income and at-risk populations, promise quality affordable care and rest on a financially sustainable foundation. To that end, we believe a final bill must include provisions which not only expand insurance coverage broadly and guarantee affordability of care, but also protect the rights of people with disabilities, ensure access to reproductive health services and increase coverage for America’s children.

The letter was accompanied by a petition found on jewsforhealthcarereform.org and signed by more than 900 activists across the country who believe deeply in the importance of addressing the growing numbers of uninsured Americans and spiraling costs that make our current health system unsustainable and immoral. The petition text and a list of signatories can be viewed at www.rac.org/healthcarepetition.

The Reform Movement also joined faith leaders, national, state and regional organizations on a letter urging health insurance reform forward that was published as an advertisement in The Hill newspaper today.

We are communities of faith who have supported comprehensive health care reform for decades. We have also offered vocal support – and occasional constructive criticism – of the health care reform effort over the last year. We write to you at this critical juncture to urge you to complete the task at hand on behalf of the millions who are left out and left behind in our current health care system.

The full letter and signatories in advertisement form can be seen here. Be sure to check out the print edition!