Author: Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism

Follow our specially tagged blog posts throughout the week for more on how the proposed budget affects many of the priority issues for our Movement.

The Obama Administration published its Fiscal Year 2011 budget request on Monday (hard to believe it’s already time for the 2011 budget process to begin, I know!), and everyone is asking if the President is putting his money where his mouth is on key issues like health care, national security, and economic justice. When it comes to energy and the environment, the budget sends a clear, moral message: we must remain dedicated to developing a clean energy economy at home and honoring our commitment to lead the global fight against climate change.

The Administration’s “whole of government” approach to addressing climate and energy – with efforts at agencies from the Department of Energy to US AID – echoes a belief that we in the Reform Movement share: the budget is fundamentally a moral document that outlines our priorities and our aspirations as a nation.

While many in the environmental community are aghast over increased funding for developing nuclear power and so-called clean coal technology, when read as a whole the budget reflects a commitment to protecting human and environmental health, and to the economic and security benefits of clean energy. However, this week’s proposed budget represents goals, not fiscal reality. The true test of commitment will be the Administration’s engagement in following the budget through the appropriations process, and continuing to prioritize climate and energy legislation as a necessary compliment to adequate funding for our energy and environmental agencies.

The proposed 2011 budget continues vital investments in a clean, healthy energy and environmental future, with a necessary focus on communities most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. It’s encouraging to see increased funding (to the tune of nearly $6 million) for key programs at the EPA and Department of Energy to monitor and limit greenhouse gas emissions, develop clean energy technologies, and protect our precious clean water supplies. The budget also marks a huge step forward in phasing out subsidies for the fossil fuel industry, and using this money to accelerate the development of both efficiency and renewable energy technologies instead.

Efforts to jump start the green economy are complimented by essential funding for international agencies including the State Department to initiate and continue climate change adaptation efforts focused on the most vulnerable communities around the world. The $1B dedicated to these international sustainable development efforts is a great start, but it is not nearly enough to meet the needs of communities attempting to adapt to climate change effects such as drought, changing seasonal patterns, and the threat of sea level rise. We hope the international climate commitments are just the beginning of efforts raise $100B in global capital to fight climate change, a goal announced by Secretary Clinton last year.

Now it’s time for Congress to move ahead not just with appropriations for the next fiscal year, but with legislation to generate revenue over the next several decades to meet the essential goals of creating green jobs, accelerating economic recovery, and protecting those most vulnerable to climate change effects. Let’s hope the Obama Administration will lead in this arena and live up to the goals outlined in this week’s proposed budget.

Recently, the New Israel Fund, an organization that supports civil rights, religious pluralism, and social justice in Israel, has come under attack in the Israeli media. In response, Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, issued the following statement:

We express our alarm at the recent attacks in the Israeli media against the New Israel Fund (NIF). Together with so many in the U.S. and Israel, I know the New Israel Fund as a respected organization with a long, accomplished history of defending human rights, civil liberties, religious pluralism, and social justice. Its efforts have helped make Israel a more equal, more just, more fair and more compassionate society.

In their twisted attribution of blame for the Goldstone Report to the NIF, these attackers are trying to delegitimize the New Israel Fund in much the same way that the Goldstone Report is being used to delegitimize Israel in the eyes of the world. It is ironic, to say the least, that those pointing to the danger of the Goldstone Report are using the same tactics of half-truths, hyperbole and sweeping generalizations they criticize in it to delegitimize the New Israel Fund.

NIF’s support and training for those in Israel who fight for women’s rights, civil rights, religious rights, consumer rights, environmental protection and civil liberties should be a source of pride for all those committed to Israel’s social well-being. This effort to tarnish this respected organization with guilt by association ill-serves the interests and values of Israel and the Jewish People.

Feel free to contact me with questions or for more information on social justice and religious pluralism in Israel.

Just in time for Jewish Disability Awareness Month, a great article in last week’s New York Times described a new initiative intended to encourage employers to hire people with disabilities. It’s not, as the article points out, “your father’s hire the handicapped campaign;” it takes a “light-hearted tack rather than a sober or earnest tone.”

I like the approach; it’s a little irreverent – “disruptive” yet “tasteful” is how Barbara Otto, executive director at Health and Disability Advocates in Chicago, describes it – but it catches the eye and reminds us that for many people, a disability is one, small aspect of who they are. That aspect can either be emphasized or exaggerated by society and employers or it can be embraced for what it is: one unique piece in the persona of a potential employee.

The page for the “Think Beyond the Label Campaign” is here and I’d also recommend checking out their video ad here.

Image courtesy of www.thinkbeyondthelabel.com

A week after the Food Research and Action Center, a Washington anti-hunger group, released a report detailing the breadth of food insecurity in the United States, on Monday President Obama requested $10 billion over 10 years to improve Child Nutrition Programs in his budget proposal.

The report, which is the most detailed and far-reaching of its kind, concluded that the food hardship rate, for American families in 2009 “hover[ed] between 17.9 and 18.8 percent.” Food hardship is defined by FRAC as “not hav[ing] enough money to buy food that [an individual] or [their] family needed.” While these numbers are down slightly from the 2008 levels, they still show that food insecurity is “a national problem in the sense that rates are high in virtually every state, Metropolitan Statistical Area, and Congressional District,” according to FRAC President Jim Weill. FRAC has attributed the slight decline to “falling food prices, rising enrollment for food stamps and an increase in the amount of the food stamp benefit.”

The President’s budget also included a request for an increase of $7.6 billion for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. Indeed, a record number of people – one in eight – now receive SNAP benefits, and over 31 million children utilize the National School Lunch Program every day. Without these safety nets, the number of food insecure households would skyrocket even higher.

While the President’s budget requests funding increases for Child Nutrition programs, other financial safety net programs that may be subject to President Obama’s proposed spending freeze on discretionary domestic programs (Rabbi David Saperstein, released a statement last week expressing concern with proposal). With Child Nutrition Reauthorization coming up before Congress this spring, “Now is absolutely NOT the time to cut support for the next generation’s health,” as Debra Eschmeyer writes. She aptly points out that “we have a rare opportunity to actually improve how food for our youngest citizens is funded, sourced, defined, and prioritized.” One of the best ways for President Obama to work toward his intention to end childhood hunger by 2015, would be to heed the special opportunity (Child Nutrition Programs are reauthorized every five years) and push Congress to increase funding, access and participation in the National School Meal programs when this year. You can urge your representatives in Washington to increase access to healthy food here.

In January, Sudanese President and accused war criminal (and, as of this week, perpetrator of genocide) Omar al-Bashir was re-nominated for President ahead of Sudan’s first elections in over 20 years in April. On the campaign trail, al-Bashir has said that these elections “would teach the world lessons in dedication and sacrifice.” In reality, what Save Darfur and many other observers believe these elections will teach the world is that “a dictatorial and even genocidal regime can forgo its commitments to peace and democratic transformation without suffering any consequences.” Indeed, the run-up to these elections has been marred by violent suppression of opposition supporters, the beating of journalists, and voter intimidation efforts meant to deter Darfuris from registering to vote.

It is clear that al-Bashir will go to extremes to make the elections appear legitimate. But all his actions, and those of his ruling party, portend elections that are anything but free and fair. The Sudanese government must take steps to ensure free and fair elections, as Rabbi David Saperstein said in a statement marking the fifth anniversary of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the North and South of Sudan. The international community must do its part, however, by refusing to recognize the elections until the conditions surrounding them meet international standards.

To help rally the community, Save Darfur has initiated a postcard campaign that will urge President Obama to stand with the Sudanese people and not legitimize a government that must intimidate and disenfranchise its citizens to be elected.

Contact Save Darfur to receive your free postcards (see image at the top of this post) in the mail and let your and your community’s voice for peace and justice be heard! You can also send an e-mail to the President on the topic here.

The blogosphere was set ablaze in the wake of the State of the Union address on Wednesday evening in which President Obama rebuked the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. The President couched his remarks with deference to the separation of powers and then proceeded to call the Court’s 5-4 decision in favor of Citizens United, “a major victory for big oil, Wall Street banks, health insurance companies and the other powerful interests that marshal their power every day in Washington to drown out the voices of everyday Americans.” In doing so, President Obama took an “unprecedented” step of assailing the judiciary in the forum more traditionally reserved for the hardnosed evaluation of the legislative and executive branches.

The President did indeed strike a disciplinary tone in his address, but one sprinkled with measured sympathy. Like a frustrated father rounding his rambunctious progeny to the kitchen table, Obama chastised sternly while assuring the prodigal Congress of his unyielding faith in its potential to rise above partisanship and serve the American people. “Just saying no to everything may be good short-term politics, but it’s not leadership” Obama noted, censuring the GOP’s apparent resolve to block the progress of legislation in 2009. And then with a quick note of optimism he concluded the thought, “We were sent here to serve our citizens, not our ambitions. So let’s show the American people that we can do it together.” Were it a wayward teen, the words would read, “You’re grounded because I love you.”

But what about the nine Supremes? Where do they fit into this family tree? Are they children to be chastised? Or are they elders to be esteemed? Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) would choose the former, having commented, “They [the Justices] got a real world reminder tonight, if you make a boneheaded decision, someone’s going to call you out on it.” He is joined by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) who are trying to legislate around the Court’s decision.

On the other side, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) called the President’s rebuke “inappropriate” no doubt agreeing with Prof. Randy Barnett who wrote in the Wall Street Journal, that criticism of the highest Court has its time and place, “but not when the justices are in attendance as a courtesy to him [President Obama], seated as a captive audience on national television.”

The most surprising reaction has come from Prof. Lucas Powe of the University of Texas-Austin Law School, a noted Supreme Court historian, who said he wouldn’t be surprised if no Supreme Court justices attend the State of the Union next year after the president’s “unusual” criticism.

What do you think? Did President Obama spurn the Supremes? Or should they be subject to the same review as their legislative and executive counterparts? Are they children or elders? Let me know where you place the Supremes in your picture of the federal family tree.

Rabbi Micah Streiffer is the Associate Rabbi at Temple Beth El in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he lives with his wife and 3 sons. He was ordained at the Cincinnati campus of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 2007. This post originally appeared at Chutz Mizeh and is reprinted with permission. Read more on food and the environment with the URJ’s Shulchan Yarok, Shulchan Tzedek (Green Table, Just Table) Biennial Initiative.

I consider myself an environmentalist. I write about the earth, think about the earth, care about the earth. I wrote my rabbinical thesis partly on Judaism and the environment, and I helped found en environmental advocacy committee in my synagogue. I believe that rethinking our relationship to the earth is THE great challenge and THE most important task of our generation.

So I was sorely disappointed in myself recently when I realized that I’m not actually doing much for the environment. Sure, my favorite pastime is walking around the house turning off lights that the kids have left on, but that’s mostly a money-saving activity. I drive a gas car (albeit a pretty small one); I use the A/C and heat a little more than I probably should; I don’t compost; I’m usually too lazy to unplug appliances at night; and I am a terrible gardener.

I don’t want to be an environmentalist only in name. So this summer, we are doing something about it. We are joining a CSA – a Community Supported Agriculture program. It’s a small step, but it’s something. I am proud to say that Temple Beth El will be sponsoring this program for the first time this year, and that it will allow local Charlotteans to eat local Charlottean produce for 16 weeks of the summer. The pickup is at Shalom Park, so it’s convenient. (Charlotteans, let me know if you’re interested and I’ll get you details. It’s filling up quickly!)

I’m excited about this for two reasons. First, because it’s a tangible effort to do something green. Second, because it will – I hope – increase the variety of produce that our family eats, and force us to be creative with our cooking in a way that is in concert with the earth’s natural cycles. I like the idea of eating local, seasonal vegetables – not only because of the carbon footprint issue, but because I like the idea of being a little more aware of where my food comes from, and of my relationship to the earth.

This Shabbat is Tu Bishevat, the Jewish “New Year of the Trees.” Although it is often celebrated as a Kabbalistic festival, it is also a powerful reminder that Judaism is – at its core- an agricultural way of life. Our ancestors were farmers, and all of our holidays are agricultural in their origins. (Before Pesach celebrated the Exodus from Egypt, it was the beginning of the Spring harvest season.) In our ancient agrarian society, Tu Bishevat was the day in which you began to count the new year for purposes of tithing of fruits; that’s why the trees need a New Year.

Nowadays most of us don’t grow anything, and we don’t really even know where our food comes from. That’s a tragedy. I’m as guilty as the next guy, and this CSA isn’t really going to change that very much. But maybe it will push me in the right direction.

Now I just have to get myself to turn off those darned appliances …

What are you doing for the earth?

More than two weeks after Haiti was devastated by a catastrophic 7.0 magnitude earthquake, the shattered country is pleading for better aid for victims amid reports of chaotic and ineffective food distribution. Worse yet for the troubled country – as well as the organizations trying to get relief supplies in – is that aftershocks have damaged the south pier of Port-au-Prince’s port, “reducing the number of containers that can be unloaded there,” according to Air Force Gen. Douglas Fraser. Aftershocks have been a major obstacle to the relief effort, disrupting road infrastructure and leading another military official to predict that “restoring electricity to Haiti’s pre-earthquake capacity is still a couple of weeks away.” You can read more about the situation on the ground in Haiti from Dr. Adam Koons, a member of a URJ congregation and the Director of Relief & Humanitarian Assistance of International Relief & Development, who yesterday wrote about his experiences on the RAC’s blog.

Though monetary donations are still the preferred way of helping Haiti (the Union for Reform Judaism’s Haiti relief fund, to which you can donate here, has already raised more than $600,000), some advocates are calling for a different kind of relief: debt relief. A good primer on Haiti’s history of odious debt can be found here, but in reality, even if Haiti’s history was not so pockmarked by exploitation, debt relief would still be “a no-brainer.” As Jubilee USA points out, “Haiti is projected to pay at least $100 million in debt payments to [the IMF and World Bank] over the next five years unless [its] debts are cancelled.” Needless to say, the earthquake has severely damaged Haiti’s ability to pay back those debts. JubileeUSA has put it succinctly: “all of Haiti’s limited resources should be directed at recovery, not repayment.”

The IMF and World Bank’s responses, unfortunately, have not been as generous. The IMF did expand Haiti’s existing loan program by $100 million, but it was in the form of loans – which need to be paid back – and not grants. The Union of Reform Judaism, along with 80 other religious denominations, human rights groups, and development agencies, signed a letter spearheaded by JubileeUSA, asking Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner to “ensure that Haiti’s existing debt be cancelled definitively and that any new money comes in the form of grants, not loans.” (You can send a letter to Secretary Geithner urging him to cancel Haiti’s debt at JubileeUSA’s website).

Haiti is not the only country that could benefit from debt relief. The Jubilee Act (H.R.4405) “cancels impoverished country debt, prohibits harmful economic and policy conditions on debt cancellation, [and] mandates transparency and responsibility in lending from government” to 65 countries. To learn more about the Jubilee Act, visit JubileeUSA’s website, or you can send an e-mail to your Representatives asking them to co-sponsor the bill.

This season’s issue of Torah at the Center, a publication of the Union for Reform Judaism, is dedicated to issues of outreach within our community, including and particularly outreach to Jews with disabilities. As February is Jewish Disability Awareness Month, now is the time to broaden our understanding of accessibility and inclusion in our communities; to do otherwise would be to violate every principle of community to which we cling.

So many believe that an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant (ADA-compliant) ramp is enough to provide a welcoming environment for all Jews. Rabbi Lynne Landsberg, Senior Advisor on Disability Issues here at the RAC, notes in her article in the issue:

“The number of Americans with disabilities is ten times that of the American Jewish community. If so, then where are the Jews who need more than a ramp? If so, then where are the Jews who are deaf? If so, then where are the Jews who are blind? If so, then where are the Jews with intellectual disabilities (new terminology for mental retardation)? If so, then where are the Jews with cognitive or psychological disabilities? They are not in our synagogues because they perceive that they are not wanted there.”

So let this Jewish Disability Awareness Month be a call to action. Let us open our eyes to the different ways we can open our communities, strengthening them in the same moment by including all Jews, regardless of disability.

For more information, programming ideas, and disability rights resources, visit our Jewish Disability Awareness Month page or contact Legislative Assistant Samuel Lehman.

Last week’s Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission declared that corporations are guaranteed the right to free speech endowed to individuals by the First Amendment. The court identified money as a form of speech, therefore corporations can use as much of their general funds as they wish to advocate for the election or defeat of a candidate. These groups are still prohibited from contributing directly to a campaign, but the ruling invalidates the corporate spending limits established by the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2002.

The influence of money on our political system offers a sad glimpse into the health of our country’s democracy. Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center, detailed the influence that this decision could have on advocacy organizations, including Jewish groups. Read his remarks on the decision here.

For more information, be sure to check out talking points and last week’s blog post on this decision.

“I am involved with the work that I do because I’m a Muslim and because I’m an American.”

These words stuck in my mind as I watched the excellent short video (after the jump) produced by Young Muslim American Voices, a project of the Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative at the Center for American Progress. I was certainly not surprised or incredulous of the sentiments expressed by the articulate and passionate young men and women in this film. Quite the opposite: I heard myself and my values in their words. On any given day, I might very well describe my day-to-day experience as a Legislative Assistant at the RAC in just this manner:

“I am involved with the work that I do because I’m a Jew and because I’m an American.”

The imperative to repair the world and work for social justice is strong in both Judaism and Islam. In Children of Abraham: Jews and Muslims in Conversation, the synagogue-mosque dialogue curriculum produced by the Union for Reform Judaism and our partners, the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), we learn about the parallels between Zakat and Tzedakah:

Zakat: Derived from the Arabic root word Z-K-W, the word zakat literally means purification, increase and growth…The meaning reflects the Islamic philosophy that one puries and increases his or her wealth by donating a portion of it to the needy through zakat…
 
Tzedakah: The Hebrew word tzedakah contains the same root letters as tzedek, “righteousness,” and is most accurately translated as “righteous giving…” Tzedakah is a social obligation incumbent upon everyone.

The commitment to these values in both of our communities is most recently evident in our powerful responses to the crisis in Haiti. According to Rabbi Marla Feldman, Director of Development for the URJ, Reform Movement has raised more than $750,000 in just one week for Haiti disaster relief efforts following the January 12, 2010 earthquake. At our L’taken seminar in Washington, D.C. this past week, I was inspired when the 250 high school students in attendance donated over $500 toward Haiti relief.

Last week, ISNA President Dr. Ingrid Mattson wrote a powerful message with a similar call to action for Haiti:
“…we must help those who are suffering. The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, reported in a Sacred Hadith that if we want to be close to God, we should visit the sick and feed the needy… Helping the Haitians in this time of need is certainly a sign of religious sincerity.”

The lesson on tzedakah and zakat in Children of Abraham concludes: “As a community of Muslims and Jews, we have the religious obligation to provide for those in need…Whether this be through financial means or through community service, we can come together through our joint mission to create a better world.”

We can and should come together to create a better world. As people of faith, we move our traditions into the modern world by seeking righteous, ethical solutions to poverty, environmental degradation, and civil and social inequality. We can do more to join our efforts as active faith communities, and much of this can be done by working together in our communities on the local synagogue-mosque level.

Further, as Imam Mohammad Shamsi Ali and Rabbi Marc Schneier wrote recently in the Washington Post‘s On Faith blog, “American Jews and Muslims can defeat a common enemy by working together. That common enemy is prejudice…[as] a Gallup poll found that 43 percent of Americans admit to at least “a little” prejudice against Muslims, and that such self-reported feelings are strongly linked to the respondent’s views on Jews.”

While the entire Young Muslim American Voices video resonated with my own sense of faith-based social activism, I look toward a day when Jews and Muslims will speak these final words of the film in unison:

“I’m involved in the work that I do because of the shared values to which all faiths adhere.”

Yesterday evening, 56 national and state faith organizations, including the Union for Reform Judaism, sent a letter to Congress, urging members to move forward with comprehensive health insurance reform.

Faith communities have long supported health insurance reform, and while individual organizations promote a wide variety of different policy priorities, we are unified in our belief that reform must be completed “on behalf of the millions who are left out and left behind in our current health care system.” You can take action today using the RAC Action Alert and send emails to your Members of Congress. You can also write a letter, send a fax, or reach the Capitol switchboard at 1-888-210-3678 to make a call.

Read the letter and see its signatories below.

Dear Member of Congress:

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.

Opportunities to comprehensively address our broken health care system are rare. Decades of failed attempts at reform testify to the difficulty of this task, and we know that the current effort has not been easy. However, we now stand closer than ever before to historic health care reform. Turning back now could mean justice delayed for another generation and an unprecedented opportunity lost.

We know that no comprehensive health care reform bill will be perfect. (Indeed, if any piece of legislation ever fulfills our full vision, our vision is far too small.) However, we also know – as providers and consumers of services and care – that inaction at this critical moment is no way forward:

• Without reform, tens of thousands will continue to die needlessly each year for lack of access to care.

• Without reform, tens of millions will remain uninsured and without adequate access to a full range of services.

• Without reform, health costs will continue to grow much faster than wages.

• Without reform, many millions of hard-working people and their children will join the ranks of the uninsured and underinsured.

• Without reform, businesses, staggered by increasing employee health costs, will either drop coverage or will be unable to make needed investments.

• Without reform, the nation’s economy – and its ability to create jobs – will suffer.

As people of faith, we envision a society where every person is afforded health, wholeness and human dignity. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose birthday we just commemorated, famously wrote in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” that “justice too long delayed is justice denied.” Less well known is his admonition that “of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.”

Let us not delay health care justice any longer. This is your moment for political courage, vision, leadership and faith. We urge you to take heart and move meaningful health care reform forward.

Sincerely,

National Organizations:

African Methodist Episcopal Church

American Association of Pastoral Counselors

American Baptist Churches, USA

American Friends Service Committee

American Muslim Health Professionals

Buddhist Peace Fellowship

Church Women United

Community of Christ Ecumenical Ministries

Daughters of Mary and Joseph

Disciples Justice Action Network

The Episcopal Church

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Faithful America

Faithful Reform in Health Care

Islamic Medical Association of North America

Jewish Women International

Mennonite Central Committee U.S. Washington Office

National Council of Churches of Christ USA

National Episcopal Health Ministries

National Ministries, American Baptist Churches, USA

NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Washington Office

Progressive National Baptist Convention

RESULTS Faith in Action Project

Sojourners

The National Advocacy Center, Sisters of the Good Shepherd

United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries

United Methodist Church, General Board of Church in Society

State/Regional Organizations:

Arizona Ecumenical Council

Arkansas Interfaith Alliance

California Council of Churches

Colorado Council of Churches

Delaware Ecumenical Council on Children and Families

Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon

Florida-Bahamas Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Florida Council of Churches

Illinois Campaign for Better Health Care Faith Caucus

Interfaith Fellowship for Universal Health Care of Connecticut

Justice & Witness Commission of the Kansas/Oklahoma Conference of the United
Church of Christ

Kentucky Council of Churches

Lutheran Advocacy Ministry – Colorado

Lutheran Advocacy – Illinois

Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in Pennsylvania

Lutheran Advocacy Ministry of Oregon

Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin

Lutheran Office of Governmental Ministry in New Jersey

Lutheran Office of Public Policy – California

Lutheran Public Policy Office of Washington State

Michigan Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Network

Missouri Health Care for All

Missouri Jobs with Justice

New Mexico Conference of Churches

North Carolina Council of Churches

Parish Nurse Ministries of New York, Inc.

Pennsylvania Council of Churches

Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy

Washington Association of Churches

Wisconsin Council of Churches

Tu B’Shevat began as a minor celebration for our natural world, evolved with the addition of a Passover-like seder in the 16th century, and is now marked by many in the mainstream Jewish community as the “Jewish Earth Day.” The holiday has taken on many meanings to many people, and is now a centerpiece of the Jewish calendar for those in the Jewish environmental world. But Tu B’Shevat should be more than just a holiday for “green” Jews. This year, we can all engage by taking action – through individual actions and public advocacy – to protect the environment that we all depend on.

Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the RAC, and Rabbi Steve Gutow, President of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and Board member of the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, wrote about our Tu B’Shevat responsibilities in a JTA op-ed. In it, they remind us:

At many of our celebrations, we will read from Ecclesiastes 1:4: “One generation goes, another comes, but the earth remains the same forever.” Yet our generation is learning that this promise may not be ensured. The earth is changing before us, and the resources we enjoy today – abundant food, a stable climate, and clean, breathable air – may not be here forever.

We know that there is so much we can all do to mitigate the devastation of climate change, from planting trees, increasing efforts to reduce, reuse, and recycle, and rethinking how the foods we eat impact our air, water, and climate. However, we must also begin stepping beyond individual action to engage in the great public policy debate over our climate and energy future.

As Rabbis Saperstein and Gutow explain,

As citizens of the nation that sets the tone for the world’s environmental standards, American Jews have a special duty. It is a Jewish imperative to raise our voices for what we believe is right and just: legislation that will effectively address the environmental crises of our generation … This is the only way to limit both the current global temperature rise and future environmental degradation.

As you celebrate Tu B’Shevat this year, enjoy the festive meal, the songs and prayers of the Tu B’Shevat Seder, and the feeling of connection to the earth that comes with planting a tree. But also consider how you can do more – by calling on your Senators to support comprehensive climate legislation at the national level, and fighting attempts to block the EPA from protecting our environment and our health under the Clean Air Act.

The op-ed concludes with a reminder that our challenge is simple but profound:

Some argue that Congress needs more time to consider environmental legislation, insisting that we cannot rush such an important task. Yet time is the one thing that we, and the planet, do not have. We must call on our elected representatives and the administration to pass comprehensive energy and climate legislation for a healthier environment – and for the cause of human survival.

This Tu B’Shevat, let’s get to work!

Read the full op-ed, “Our Tu b’Shevat responsibility,” here. Celebrate Tu B’Shevat the social justice way with resources including model Tu B’shevat Seders, environmental action alerts, common conservation actions, and more from the RAC and COEJL.

Yesterday, in one of the most far-reaching and activist Supreme Court decisions in years, five Justices unraveled campaign finance law, giving corporations and unions more power to influence elections. The antagonistically divisive 5-4 decision in Citizens United v. FEC struck down a part of the landmark McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform legislation, which (among other provisions) regulated corporate spending in elections.

Under McCain-Feingold, corporations were not able to spend any funds to influence electoral politics, unless they created an independent Political Action Committee for which they solicited separate funds. However, deciding that corporations in this context were tantamount to people, the Supreme Court ruled that this provision was a violation of the First Amendment because it limits a corporation’s free speech.

In effect, the Court declared, in a decision authored by Justice Anthony Kennedy, that the government cannot limit the amount of funds that corporations and unions spend to advocate for or against a candidate. Therefore, while these organizations are still prohibited from donating directly to a candidate, they can use as much of their money as they wish to create materials and advertisements that directly attack or support a specific candidate. This ruling is expected to drastically change the conduct of electioneering, giving well-funded corporations unprecedented influence.

The decision, which came after an unusual re-hearing of a case initially heard last term, was announced at a special sitting of the Court. Writing for the minority, Justice John Paul Stevens argued passionately, in a decision he read aloud from the bench, that corporations are distinct from individuals and therefore should not enjoy the same rights, including the right to free speech.

This decision elucidates, yet again, the significance of changes in personnel on the Supreme Court. Just a few years ago in 2003, the Justices upheld, in another 5-4 decision, the same provision that was struck down this week. Justice Alito’s replacement of Justice O’Connor provided the fifth vote necessary to overturn the 2003 precedent and gut existing law.

The Reform Movement has been active in efforts to reduce the influence of wealthy donors, which comes at the expense of our democratic process. The Movement played a significant role in the faith community’s support for the McCain-Feingold legislation as well as the 2003 Supreme Court decision upholding the legislation.

A legislative “fix” on this issue has already been floated and while no one yet knows exactly what it will look like (some are calling for a Constitutional amendment), we know it must happen quickly–ideally before the 2010 election cycle. We at the RAC will continue to closely follow the issue and make clear our position that a democracy of the people should be built upon the strength and passion of a person’s voice, not the size of their wallet.

Today marks the 37th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Roe v. Wade. As Friday at the RACBlog is our “Focus on the Courts” day, it is only appropriate that we use this time to do a quick review of the Roe decision and of some subsequent Supreme Court decisions on abortion and reproductive rights.

Roe v. Wade (1973)

The case originated in 1970 when Norma L. McCorvey (alias “Jane Roe”) became pregnant and with her attorneys Linda Coffee and Sarah Weddington filed a federal district court challenge to Texas law which prohibited abortion. Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade represented the state of Texas. The district court ruled for McCorvey.

On appeal, the Supreme Court heard oral argument on December 13, 1971 and (in a rather rare move) again on October 11, 1972. The Court issued its 7-2 judgment in McCorvey’s favor on January 22, 1973.

This excerpt from an article on NARAL’s website describes the salient points of the decision:

“Although Roe invalidated restrictive abortion laws that disregarded women’s right to privacy, the Court recognized a state’s valid interest in potential life. That is, the Court rejected arguments that the right to choose is absolute and always outweighs the state’s interest in imposing limitations. Instead the Court issued a carefully crafted decision that brought the state’s interest and the women’s right to choose into the balance.

“The Court held that a woman has the right to choose abortion care until fetal viability [about the end of the second trimester], but that the state’s interest generally outweighs the woman’s right after that point. Accordingly, after viability – the time at which a fetus can survive outside the woman’s body – the state may ban any abortion not necessary to preserve a woman’s life or health. Indeed 40 states have laws that address post-viability abortion.”

Besides Roe, nearly 30 other Supreme Court decisions have further defined or restricted reproductive rights. Here are several of the key judgments and basic summaries from our friends at NARAL Pro-Choice America:

Webster v. Reproductive Health Services (1989)

“By a vote of 5-4, the Court upheld anti-choice provisions of a Missouri statute. Webster was a significant case because for the first time in the 16 years since Roe v. Wade was decided, only a minority of the justices on the Court voted to reaffirm the tenets of Roe.”

Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey (1992)

“By a vote of 5-4, the Court reaffirmed the “essential holding” of Roe v. Wade and struck down a provision of Pennsylvania’s Abortion Control Act that required women to notify their husbands of their decision to seek abortion care. However, by a vote of 7-2, the Court upheld other provisions of the Act, including a requirement that women seeking abortions be subject to biased counseling and a mandatory delay of at least 24 hours. The Court allowed these provisions to stand under the “undue burden” standard, which overturned Roe’s requirement that abortion restrictions be subject to strict scrutiny and opened the floodgates to hundreds of new restrictions on choice in the ensuing years.

Stenberg v. Carhart (2000)

“By a vote of 5-4, the Court narrowly struck down a Nebraska law that could have banned abortion as early as the 12th week in pregnancy. The Court held the law unconstitutional because it had no exception to protect a woman’s health, and because it was overly broad. The 5-4 vote in Stenberg was particularly significant because Justice Kennedy, who had voted to reaffirm Roe in Casey, sided with anti-choice Justices in eviscerating a core principle of Roe – that any attempt to restrict abortion care must include an exception to protect a woman’s health.”

Gonzales v. Carhart and Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood (2007)

“The decisions in these cases marked the first time since Roe v. Wade that the Supreme Court has upheld a ban on an abortion method without an exception for the life and health of the woman. This decision represents a monumental departure from prior cases, and with it the Court effectively eliminated one of Roe v. Wade’s core protections: that a woman’s health must always be paramount.”

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The 37 years since Roe v. Wade have seen so many decisions which undermine a woman’s right to choose. They serve as a constant reminder of the great power federal judges hold over our reproductive rights. We must remember that each future vacancy in the Supreme Court is both an opportunity to strengthen our reproductive rights and a potential to lose them.

For more information, please contact Legislative Assistant Samuel Lehman 

It has been so exciting to be in touch with many Reform Jews, through email, phone, or our recent webinars concerning the Women of the Wall, a monthly progressive prayer group that has recently met challenges to their desire to pray openly at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. This is a moment and a time when speaking out for religious pluralism and civic equality can truly make a difference.

Our message is clear: The Kotel belongs not just to one individual, group, or denomination but to all Jews.

How can you support the Women of the Wall? First, be sure to check out www.urj.org/israel/wow. This webpage is our clearinghouse for all resources, press, and educational materials related to the Women of the Wall.

We hope that our recent webinars provided insight and inspiration. If you missed them, or want to encourage others to listen, a recording will be available tomorrow at www.urj.org/israel/wow. The expert advice and information shared by Rabbi Bob Orkand, President of the Association of Reform Zionists of America, Anat Hoffman, Director of the Israel Religious Action Center and Chairwoman of Women of the Wall; Rabbi Gilad Kariv, Executive Director of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism; and Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the RAC, are invaluable to understanding and supporting this campaign.

What can you do next? Here are action steps that you can take to support the Women of the Wall.

1. Opportunities to send letters and sign petitions are available at www.urj.org/israel/wow. Please check back frequently for updates!

2. Ask the Israeli government to ensure that authorities apply the law in an equal and just manner – especially at the Wall, where, all too often, acts of harassment or aggression toward non-Orthodox worshippers are overlooked. Additionally, urge Israeli authorities to allow gatherings for civic and religious purposes in the plaza area of the Wall by all responsible Jewish groups. The Reform Movement believes deeply that the Kotel should be a place that unifies our people, where all Jews are welcome and all are respected.

3. The current series of events surrounding the Women of the Wall presents us with an opportunity to examine the historical and modern context for the role of women as essential leaders in the fight for religious freedom and civil rights. We have produced an educational guide that can be targeted at teens or adults in your community.

For more information, please contact me at [email protected] or at 202.387.2800.