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Sukkot: Festival of Voting Booths
It is a tradition that we observe as Americans as well, as we enter into booths each fall (and occasionally at other moments during the year) in order to make our voices heard and exercise our right to vote.
Family and Medical Leave Denied to Same-Sex Couples in Non-Marriage Equality States
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was signed into law 22 years ago to allow workers to take a maximum 12 weeks unpaid time off of work to care for a new child (including adopted and foster children); care for a sick child; act as a caregiver for a parent; address personal serious health concerns; and care for wounded service members. After the decision in United States v. Windsor, in which the part of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) defining marriage as between a man and a woman for federal purposes was struck down, the Department of Labor announced that FMLA would apply to eligible employees in same-sex marriages if the employee resided in a state that recognized their marriage. Rachel Laser, Deputy Director of the Religious Action Center, submitted comments last August to the Department of Labor in support of this change when it was proposed.
A Prayer for Migrants in Detention
During this Sukkot and as we act to secure a more just immigration system, let us say the Mi Shebeirach, a prayer for healing.
Double Booked Through the Lens of JDAM: The High Price of Autism
This post originally appeared on June 3, 2014 as part of the RAC's blog series, Double Booked: A Conversation on Working Families in the 21st Century.
By Rabbi Rebecca Einstein Schorr
In November 2010, after more than a decade as a congregational rabbi, I sent my congregation the following letter:
A story is told that before a child is born, his soul peers down from the Heavenly Abode and selects the parents who will be right for him. Having voiced his choice to the Holy One, Blessed be God, the soul is then dispatched to his eagerly awaiting parents.
It is a great responsibility, then, to live up to the expectations and needs of our children who, as this legend teaches, have chosen us because of the belief that we will be the best parents for them.
Reform Movement Urges Gov. Cuomo to Intervene in East Ramapo School District
Contact: Sean Thibault or Howie Levine
202.387.2800 | news@rac.org
Mazal Tov to the Recipients of our Travel Justly grants!
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.
Education, Action, and Advocacy at NFTY Convention 2015!
Last week I joined the Religious Action Center’s programming team at NFTY Convention 2015 in Atlanta, GA to help lead a social justice track.
Rabbis Organizing Rabbis - Deportation Defense Success Stories
Luis Lopez Acabal (AZ) Watch a video call between Luis Lopez Acabal, Rabbi Peter Berg, and Reverend Eric Ledermann Read about the Rabbis Organizing Rabbis campaign to save Luis from deportation Update from Rabbi Esther Lederman: Luis goes home for the holidays Catalino Guerrero (NJ) After Catalino
Reform Movement Mourns Death of UNC Students, Calls for Full and Swift Investigation
Contact: Max Rosenblum or Barbara Weinstein
(202) 387-2800 | mrosenblum@rac.org
A Vote for ARZA is a Vote for Progressive Zionism: Why We're on the ARZA Slate
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.