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Taking Torah into the voting booth also means that pikuach nefesh, saving human life, is Judaism’s highest mitzvah, so consider your voting options carefully.

On Wednesday, the Religious Action Center announced the eleven congregations and Reform Movement affiliates across the U.S. and Canada who won "Travel Justly" grants, which they will use to put into action a wide variety of sustainability and environmental initiatives. The projects include congregational gardening, donating eco-friendly light bulbs to a Mitzvah Corps volunteer site in Costa Rica and an initiative to create a ride-sharing program for synagogue events.

Election Day is fast approaching, but our work is not done yet. There’s still time to make a difference and ensure every voice is heard and every vote is counted this election.

By Shira and friend of the RAC, Ronit Zemel, incoming Assistant Director of Harlam Day Camp In the front hallway of our home growing up was a picture of our great grandfather, Rabbi Solomon Goldman, standing next to Chaim Weizmann at one of the gatherings of the World Zionist Congress in the late 1930s. This picture is a hallmark of our upbringing as liberal Zionist Jews. We heard lore of our grandmother’s grade school education at the Riali school in Haifa. Our dad told us stories of his first time in Israel as a thirteen year old, peering out into the still forbidden Old City from a lookout tower in Jerusalem. Then we had the opportunity to see Israel for ourselves; to see the vibrant Jewish life in cafes and the shuk, on buses and in kibbutz fields. Israel is a part of the fabric of our family.

At the Consultation on Conscience on April 26-28, 2015, you will have the opportunity to learn about and take action on paid sick days by asking your members of Congress to support the Healthy Families Act (S. 497/H.R. 932). Over 40 million Americans do not currently have access to paid sick days, and we need to pass the Healthy Families Act to ensure that more people do not have to make the difficult choice between going to work and caring for a sick loved one, or for themselves. This legislation would allow workers in businesses with at least 15 employees to earn up to seven days of job-protected paid sick leave each year. Workers would earn one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked. People working in a business with fewer than 15 employees would be able to earn up to seven job-protected days of unpaid sick leave annually.

As our society navigates unprecedented challenges, we are eager to join in the pursuit of justice that is integral to the Reform Movement.