Site Search
Search
On Tuesday, Senator Durbin (D-IL), as Chair of the Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights, held a hearing on racial profiling. This was the first...
It’s only Week 2 of the RAC’s Machon Kaplan Summer Social Action Internship Program, and already our participants have been blogging up a storm! You’ve seen their RACblog contributions on the...
In this month's Reform Judaism magazine, Rabbi Susan Talve of Central Reform Congregation in St. Louis writes about her congregation's efforts to include, embrace, and celebrate Jews of all colors....
Born in 1958, I came of age in the 1960s and ‘70s in the north end of Flint, MI. Today, that neighborhood is an urban war zone. Within its few square miles, my old neighborhood is responsible for...
Until recently, the Jewish athlete had to clear an extra hurdle in the battle to the big time. Not only did the athlete have to be good enough to get to the big leagues, he had to prove a Jewish...
I had a friend in college named Ray. He was a good guy. He had a lot of the qualities I thought I lacked when I was in college. Ray was good looking, athletic and charismatic. He was a running back...
[Editor's Note: Rabbi Jacobs gave the following address on Saturday, August 24, 2013, at the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.]
...
Ruth Messinger reflects on the Jewish community's involvement in the March on Washington and Civil Rights Movement.
Each year at this time we honor the life and work of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – and more broadly, the civil rights movement. As Jews working toward a more just society, we know that the...
On the Shabbat of February 8th, I had the incredible privilege of participating in the seventh annual Moral March on Raleigh, organized by the North Carolina NAACP. In the past when I've been asked...
Almost as soon as the Central Conference of American Rabbis' conference began in June of 1964, the presiding rabbi stepped forward with an urgent telegram from Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr. King...
A version of this post was published on the RACblog on February 12, 2014, in advance of the celebrations this summer around the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This landmark...
When reflecting on his experience marching in Selma, Alabama with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel stated that he was “praying with my feet.” This act of transforming words...
On the coat-tails of the recent civil unrest in Ferguson, MO, we see racial tension that was perhaps lurking just below the surface stirred up into a national battle-cry for accountability and...
When the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. addressed the American Jewish Congress in May 1958, he explained that “our unity is born of our common struggle for centuries, not only to rid ourselves of...
In case you missed it, this week’s Academy Awards featured a number of acceptance speeches in which many of the winners called attention to important issues of social justice. The stage of the...
"So, you’re Jewish? Like, full-on Jewish? Like, Drake-Jewish? Funny, you don’t look Jewish.”
...
I lay in bed one night late last summer, scrolling, as I often do, through my Facebook newsfeed on my phone. As a congregational rabbi and a mother of two young children - a now almost 5-year old...
When I discovered that this week’s parashah (Torah portion) would be Acharei Mot/K'doshim, which includes the Holiness Code, the irony was not lost on me. Here I was, the one openly gay male staff...
Amidst the clashes
...
The wisdom of Torah is applicable in all times and places. Especially during these tense days in the life of Baltimore, the city where I live and serve as a rabbi, the lessons of Torah help us...
Ethiopian Israelis staged another protest Wednesday night in the heart of Tel Aviv, blocking the heavily-trafficked Begin Road. Some protestors had been promising violence, and some minor scuffles...
According to The Guardian’s investigation, the deaths of Isiah Hampton, 19, in New York City, and Quandavier Hicks, 22, in Cincinnati on Wednesday, brought the number of people killed by...
Last weekend marked one year since Michael Brown was shot and killed in the street by Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, MO. As we take this moment to reflect on the past year, I am reminded of the...
Our Jewish tradition is full of journeys, from the very beginning of our sacred texts. Adam and Eve’s exile from the Garden of Eden; Noah’s Ark and his aquatic sojourn – while these are not...
U.S. Reform congregations will soon commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., with the annual celebration of Shabbat Tzedek, taking the opportunity to reflect on the progress that has been made in...
Here are some recommendations from the staff of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism for social justice-centric podcasts that came out in 2015. What are your recommendations?
Why can’t we remember what it feels like to wear a yellow star? A number? Oh, America, you're breaking my heart.
A few weeks ago, 32 of us from my synagogue, Am Shalom in Glencoe, traveled to Atlanta, Selma, Birmingham, and Montgomery on a transformational journey led perfectly by our rabbi and cantor....
Thirty summers ago, I visited Universal Studios on a family vacation. My favorite part of the back-lot tour was the 1970s van sitting in an empty parking lot. Although it appeared to be a standard...
In his autobiographical book Lovesong: Becoming a Jew, scholar and author Julius Lester wrote about his spiritual journey to Judaism. It began while on a retreat, when a Trappist monk told him, ...
In a disturbing new report finds that the number of murders committed by white supremacists in the United States more than doubled in 2017 compared to 2016.
The end is near. When we wake up on November 9th, it will be over. And what happens then? We get up and go to work.
The president of the congregation met me at the airport. It was late summer, 2000, my first visit to Hebrew Union Congregation, my new biweekly student pulpit in Greenville, MS. No sooner had we...
On Wednesday, July 2nd, we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the landmark legislation that outlawed discrimination based on race, color,...
My first active involvement in the civil rights movement was on March 25, 1965: the final day of the five-day march from Selma to Montgomery, led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
...
"Knock, knock."
...
I sat down last week to write about what happened in Ferguson. As I began to write, there was no doubt in my mind that there would be a “next time” as soon as we hit the next news cycle, if not...
I remember little of my elementary school years in Cleveland, except for one incident in the second grade. We were doing an art project in class, and I couldn’t find my scissors. When I noticed...
Every year, on the third Monday of January, our country celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. Day by reflecting on his legacy and enjoying a day off from work. We take this time to reflect on the life...
About a month ago, I walked along a street in Memphis with 11 teens from my congregation, a chaperone and our educator, Brad Cohen. The day before, we had volunteered at the Dorothy Day House,...
The unspeakable murder of nine accomplished, beloved, and respected African-American Charlestonians of faith in their own church on Wednesday has hit our city like an earthquake.
...
Two weeks ago, Charlotte’s Briar Creek Church was a victim of arson. It is less than three and half miles from my home. Their children’s choir sang at our synagogue's Martin Luther King Day service...
I know we have a long way to go, but for this congregation, situated in the city just a few miles from the Old Court House where the slave Dred Scott lost his case for freedom, I have hope that we...
If certain politicians think that March Madness has left us ripe for transformation into April Fools, they are woefully mistaken.
In their new book JewAsian: Race, Religion, and Identity for America’s Newest Jews, scholarly husband/wife team Helen Kiyong Kim and Noah Samuel Leavitt examine the intersection of race, religion,...
