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Moments of Shared Celebration
Today is Rosh Chodesh Adar (chodesh tov!) and Chinese New Year (xin nian kuai le!). We should never lose sight of our responsibilities to and our place in the global community, but when these celebratory days coincide, we are reminded even more of how important it is to find opportunities for dialogue and connection. Two RAC staffers reflect on Chinese-Jewish relations, and how meaningful this relationship is.
Momentum Builds Toward National Policies for Worker Justice
Walmart, the largest employer in America, announced yesterday that they would raise company wide wages to a minimum of $10 an hour in 2016 for 500,000 workers. This boost can be attributed to many factors: a tightening job market, lower unemployment, higher turnover. However, Walmart’s CEO has been very outspoken about his desire to improve the company’s labor practices. Our Movement has long advocated for equal and fair wages for workers, most recently helping to pass a minimum wage bill in Nebraska in November. To see such a large organization setting the precedent for increasing the minimum wage is encouraging, as it will put pressure on other large employers, such as McDonald’s and Target, to do the same.
At its current rate of $7.25 an hour, the federal minimum wage is worth about 23% less than it was worth in the late 1960s. Minimum wage workers, on average, make a mere $15,080 a year; not enough to live on or to be considered as a living wage. Since workers are not paid enough, workers have to turn to federal safety net programs since they’re paid too little at work to make ends meet on their own.
L’Taken Students: Our Support for Israel as Americans, Reform Jews and as Teens
At our L’Taken Social Justice Seminars, teens take what they’ve learned from the program to Capitol Hill. Over the January 6-9 program, students Allie Gurwitz and Caroline Kaden from Congregation Beth-El in San Antonio, TX spoke about their support for Israel and the peace process to the offices of Senator Ted Cruz, Member of Congress Lamar Smith and Member of Congress Lloyd Doggett:
Social Justice at the Oscars
In case you missed it, last night at the Academy Awards, many of the winners discussed important issues of social justice in their acceptance speeches. The stage of the Dolby Theater is a unique platform to call attention to these critical issues, and it can be validating to see celebrities discuss topics that we have long been working on in our mandate to repair the world.
Purim as a Call to Action to End Economic Inequality
I have always loved Purim. I remember eating hamentaschen in my religious school classes (deciding amongst the apricot, poppyseed, chocolate or strawberry flavors), playing bean bag toss at the Purim carnival, and waiving the groger enthusiastically as my rabbis, dressed up in costumes to accompany the theme of that year’s Purim spiel, recited the name of Haman, the wicked villain who tried to kill the Jews.
I remember feeling so honored when I got to wear my own costume as part of the Purim spiel and read the megillah the year after I became a Bat Mitzvah. We are taught that Purim is a time for “feasting and merrymaking” (Megillat Esther 9:22). However, there are also a number of traditional obligations we have as Jews in addition to feasting and merrymaking, which remind us of the struggles for justice that continue year round.
Selma, 50 Years Later: What Can You Do to Mark this Occasion?
Next weekend marks the 50th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday.
On March 7, 1965, civil rights leaders led 600 peaceful marchers from Selma towards Montgomery, AL in pursuit of voting rights, but were stopped after just six blocks. The marchers were brutally attacked by police as they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Images of the confrontation were televised across the country and the world, horrifying citizens and rousing much-needed, broad public support for voting rights. The day became known as “Bloody Sunday” and helped lead to the passage of the landmark Voting Rights Act later that year.
Despite Some Bumps in the Road, Open Enrollment Numbers show that Health Care Reform is Working
Just days after it was announced that 11.4 million Americans signed up for private health insurance through the marketplaces established under the Affordable Care Act, news broke that approximately 800,000 Americans who enrolled in insurance policies through the federally-facilitated Marketplace received the wrong tax information. Despite this significant short-term problem, the long-term goal of the Affordable Care Act is being met: more Americans than ever before are acquiring health insurance.
Coming Soon to the U.S. Congress: Israeli PM Speech
On March 3, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be addressing a joint session of Congress to talk about the nuclear negotiations between Iran and the P5+1. Prime Minister Netanyahu has long been vehemently opposed to these negotiations. The speech would have been a hallmark example of the cooperation between the United States and Israel, except for two facts:
For Trans and Gender Non-Conforming Individuals, Gender Expression isn’t a Purim Costume
Jews across the world are getting ready to celebrate Purim. Already, there are many Jews, from young children to grown adults, planning their Purim outfits. Some will be characters from the Purim story. Some will be famous actors. Some will be fictional heroes and villains. And no doubt, many people will cross-dress and dress up as someone of a different gender. Most people will not think twice about whether their costume will be accepted on Purim, as it is almost expected that people will dress up for the holiday.
On Purim, Exploring the Intersections of Reproductive Justice and Criminal Justice
On Purim, we celebrate a time of transition for the Jews, from “grief to joy and from mourning to a festive day—to make them days of feasting and joy, and sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor” (Megillat Esther 9).