by Justin Goldstein · Sunday, September 7th, 2008
I received an email from a friend, which they didn’t write but were just distributing it on behalf of “Strike4Jerusalem.”
A quick Google search brings up 5 results, all to the same call to action. According to the email, the purpose of the walk-out is issue this demand “The Jewish establishment must set into motion a serious plan to protest the expulsion by Tuesday, September 16th 12:00pm. The protest plan of the Jewish Establishment will have to be submitted for review.”
An abbreviated reconstruction of the email and personal thoughts after the jump
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by Shalom Rav · Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
Just returned from DC and an invigorating few days with Brit Tzedek v’Shalom’s Advocacy Days on Capitol Hill. Anyone who supports a Pro-Israel, Pro-Peace policy should take heart in knowing that more than 150 activists from all over the country devoted themselves to in-depth briefings and advocacy training before fanning across the Hill to visit the offices of House reps and senators, encouraging our leaders to redouble their efforts toward a two-state solution.
It currently is a time of tentative hope in the region. A fragile cease-fire has been brokered between Israel and Hamas, talks are continuing between Syria and Israel, and there are also encouraging signs of hope coming out of Lebanon. Sadly, the US is nowhere is be seen in these efforts. (The negotiations with Hamas, Syria and Lebanon were brokered by Egypt, Turkey and Qatar, respectively). On this issue, Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak was quoted recently in Ha’aretz regarding negotiations with Syria:
I don’t think we will have negotiations before the end of this year without the contribution of the Americans, who, alone, can help bridge the gaps.
The plain truth is that no lasting negotiation between Israel and its neighbors has ever happened without an active mediating effort by the US. Sadly, the Annapolis talks are barely limping along - and despite Bush’s rosy prognostications, no one in his/her right mind could claim that anything resembling a negotiated settlement will emerge before time runs out on the current administration.
Our message to our national leaders was simple: Congress needs to urge our new administration to make peace between Israel and Palestine a real priority from day one. Time is running out - and we simply cannot afford another President who waits until the waning days of his presidency to become actively engaged in the peace process.
Our Congressional visits were encouraging - but the true test is yet to come. The latest polls tell us that 87% of American Jewry support a negotiated two-state solution. If this is true, then American Jews need to be unflagging in our efforts to encourage our leaders to take the specific and painful steps to make this a reality.
Indeed, there’s nothing novel about advocating for a two-state solution per se. What is needed now for leaders to be explicit on the steps needed to make this happen. A preliminary laundry list: the appointment of a special envoy for this exclusive purpose, an unequivocal demand for an end to Israeli settlements on the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and stronger Palestinian efforts to maintain security in the territories.
In the current political climate it will take real bravery for American politicians to take these kinds of public positions. But the strong majority of American Jews who are committed to a real and lasting peace must do what we can to give our leaders the cover to provide this kind of leadership. I’m enormously proud that Brit Tzedek is leading the charge in this effort.
by Shalom Rav · Friday, June 13th, 2008
So happy to be joining the J-School gang. I’ll be bloggin’ from the wide open spaces of the great Midwest, doing my part to help report on Jewish doings beyond the Upper West Side.
Speaking of which, I spent my afternoon yesterday with 1,000 other demonstrators in front of the Congress Park Hotel on Chicago’s Michigan Ave. - the site of the longest ongoing labor strike in the country. Marking the fifth anniversary of the strike, it was certainly the largest labor demonstration this city has seen in some time.
Some shameful stats: Congress housekeepers currently make $8.83 per hour and are not scheduled to get a raise until 2010. If a housekeeper was “lucky” enough to to work full-time at that wage, he or she would make less than the federal poverty level for a family of three. (By contrast, the standard union wage for a Chicago housekeeper is $13.90 an hour.) Workers also have no access to affordable health insurance benefits and there have been repeated complaints about unsafe and unsanitary working conditions.
It is with no small shame that I add that the Congress is Jewish-owned and operated. (It’s owner, Albert Nasser Shayo is a businessman who lives in Argentina; Shayo’s representative/manager is Shlomo Nahmias, who resides in the hotel with his family.) The Jewish-owned nature of the Congress is palpable and obvious as there are mezuzzot on every room inside the hotel.
I am proud to report, however, that the Jewish presence at the demonstration yesterday was also palpable and obvious. The Jewish Council on Urban Affairs joined the over 1,000 demonstrators who marched in a circle around the hotel over the course of the day. During the program, the crowd heard from a number of labor representatives, local politicians and hotel workers. A bunch of us rabbis (above) also took the stage to pledge the Jewish community’s support of the strike, during which we repeatedly led the crowd in a chant of “What a Shande!” (This and “Si, Se Puerde!” were the two prominent foreign-language chants of the afternoon).
Though Congress workers have been walking the line at the hotel literally every day for the last five years there is, sadly, no end in sight. But as yesterday’s demonstration proved, this effort is mobilizing an increasingly diverse Chicago labor community.
And so the struggle continues. Check out yesterday’s Chicago Trib piece for more on the 5th anniversary doings…
by Kol Ra'ash Gadol · Friday, May 23rd, 2008
My bad, the Conservative movement has come out with a new statement that, um, well, I’m not sure exactly what it suggests: I think it says that I might perhaps maybe consider taking into account the halachot on obligations to workers, treatment of other human beings, dina d’malchuta dina and the like and consider maybe perhaps possibly not buying Rubashkin’s. If I want to.
Seriously:
In a joint statement released Thursday evening, the movement’s Rabbinical Association and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism declared themselves “shocked and appalled†at working conditions at AgriProcessors, which is under federal investigation for employing illegal aliens. The groups asked their members “to evaluate whether it is appropriate to consume Rubashkin products until this situation is addressed.â€
Well, I am being a little harsh.
I had such high hopes for Hekhsher Tzedek, and even though we haven’t really seen much on that happen in the last year and a half I still do. I just really want to see the Conservative movement stand up and do something to show their seriousness. Of course, specific rabbis are absolutely taking stands on this, including advising their congregants not to buy Rubashkin’s brands and not allowing it in their synagogues. And this is true for both Conservative and Orthodox rabbis.
So maybe the truth is that the boycott will have to be, for the institutions, puk chazei; go out and see - that the movement will have to be grassroots, led by local leaders who really deserve the name by showing their communities what it means to take a serious moral stand on something. It may simply be that institutions aren’t really set up to make moral stands.
So perhaps it’s time for the leaders of movements simply to follow. So I’m going to echo Josh Frankel’s excellent suggestions (Please read for yourself) and repeat this part myself: don’t buy from Rubashkin brands until they straighten up their act. I want to see them put standards in place to protect their workers: find a way to make legal all those people whom they’ve brought in illegally, since they deliberately sought out illegal workers so that they could be treated with less care and paid less; unionize their entire operation - no arguments; fire the abusers and replace them with people who receive training in the ethical halachot and to understand that if it isn’t all followed the meat is no good - and this should absolutely include the mashgichim.
When they’ve done tshuvah (repented) by apologizing to both their consumers and their employees, made reparation to their employees, and fixed the problems that led to the abuse in the first place, then we should forgive them and go back to buying from them. But not until then.
Here is the full text of the Conservative movement’s statement: More »
by Josh Frankel · Thursday, May 22nd, 2008
Since our call for donations, St. Bridget’s has received approximately forty thousand dollars. That’s real money. That’s real money that is making sure people have food, that their rent is paid, that they are getting legal representation, and that is reuniting families. Also, Rubashkin’s has responded to our lead. They have given meat (what else?) to the workers’ families, and are negotiating a way to pay the families at least part of their lost wages.
Bottom line - Yasher Koach. Thank you for donating and thank you for spreading the message. Our little campaign has made a difference. Now it’s time to move on, to figure out what the next steps are. Here are some ideas.
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by Kol Ra'ash Gadol · Thursday, May 8th, 2008
Week Three, day five,
Hod of Tiferet
JTA reports on Rabbis for Human Rights, North America’s new initiative, the In Pursuit of Justice campaign, launched today, Israel’s 60th birthday, in Central Park.
The campaign includes the replanting of olive trees in the West Bank and poor Jewish neighborhoods; a human rights trip to Israel and the West Bank planned for November; and a human rights curriculum based on a Talmud-style commentary on Israel’s Declaration of Independence.
A number of initiatives are included in the campaign. More information as to how you can get involved is available at the website. Also, those who loved the fabulous Human Rights Conference of two years ago, keep your eyes peeled.
by Kol Ra'ash Gadol · Sunday, April 27th, 2008
Day 6 Yesod of Chesed
JTA reports on a “new” “trend” (goodness, how many scare quotes do I need for this post?). Once again, the Jewish press gets on the bandwagon a little late., since Moishe house has been doing this for a while now. But what is new and interesting bout these new kvutzot is that they are affiliated with the Zionist youth movements, Habonim-Dror and Hashomer Hatzair (there appear to be three of these altogether currently, one with Habonim Dror and two with Hashomer Hatzair, two in NY and one in Toronto).
Setting up these collectives in North America represents an overhaul of the Zionist youth movement ideal. Whereas in the past these movements functioned more or less like farm teams, preparing young American Jews to settle in Israel, aliyah is no longer the goal.
“Judaism has always been a global reality,†says Jane Manwelyan, 25, of Kvutzat Orev. “Zionism is the collective potential of the Jewish people. Israel is just one of the physical representations of that, certainly not the only one.â€
Rather than a physical destination, Israel “is central to our idea of Jewish peoplehood,†says Gil Browdy, 25, of the Habonim kvutza.
He notes that the Israeli kibbutz movement still isn’t sure what to make of the North American upstarts.
“It’s a tension,†Beran acknowledges.
But these young urban pioneers wanted to stay at home, to help revitalize Jewish life in the Diaspora, become involved in community-based activism and build good lives for themselves based on the values with which they grew up, even after they age out of their youth movements.
Since I’ve been scolded lately for drinking the hateorade, I’ll just say that I like it. I think that it’s a fine idea, I’m glad that Moishe house isn’t the only ones doing it, and I hope the idea spreads, not only to sinlge 20somethings, but I can’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be a good idea for a way to revitalize Jewish communities of all ages, mixed ages, and with or without kids. Oh wait, someone’s done that too (I know the article doesn’t say so, but although being Jewish is by no means required, there are quite a few Jews living there).
Week one, Day 7
Malchut of Chesed
Rabbi Jill Jacobs, over on Jspot, opines that the seder table seems to have gotten rather cluttered. She notes the dozens of emails calling her attention to the various political agendas that yell “me, me” at pesach and offer an assortment of candles, glasses, fruit, and so on to add to those items part of our regular ritual/
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by Kung Fu Jew · Tuesday, April 15th, 2008
On New Israel Fund’s Yom Haatzmaut season line up: instigator Bernard Avishai, satirist Sayed Kashua, NIF’s first International Town Hall web cast, and a benefit dinner celebrating out going NIF chairman Peter Edelman, featuring Seymour Hersch Calvin Trillin of The New Yorker and friends.
I highly have to recommend Sayed Kashua — writer and producer for the Israeli sitcom Arab Labor, Haaretz columnist, and author of two books of great Israeli fiction – at the JCC in Manhattan on May 16. A full Shabbat dinner, a little irreverent humor about being brown and Israeli, and the folks of New Israel Fund’s New Generations plus the JCC’s Other Israel Festival. RSVP here, $36 $28. A sample of Sayed’s satire posted here.
by chillul Who? · Thursday, February 21st, 2008
In what may be the most effective awareness-raising campaign and the best embodiment of the Jewish value of “kol Yisrael arevim zeh bazeh”* to ever come across my G-mail ticker, Appalachian Voices and Michael Gross have set up http://www.ilovemountains.org/ , the End Mountaintop Removal Action and Resource Center.
It’s a good site to check out in order to see for yourself the devastating human and environmental impacts of strip mining for coal in Appalachia. You can view Google Earth imagery in the National Memorial for the Mountains and read up on current news from the mountain towns of West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, and from the regulatory agencies in Washington, DC.
Its most impressive feature, however, which reminded me of the Hebrew proverb I quoted above, is the “My Connection” page. You enter your zipcode. You pick your energy supplier. They tell you if your power company uses Appalachian coal from mountaintop removal mines. Then, with another click, you can send an email to your power company telling them to stop supporting mountaintop removal.
That’s what we call using our power of interconnectedness for good.
* “All Israelites are responsible for one another” - I think it’s obvious that the reasons this is true, when dealing with Jewish community issues, are equally applicable to all human beings, when dealing with global issues.
by Kung Fu Jew · Thursday, February 14th, 2008
by Kung Fu Jew · Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008
(By Leah Koenig, X-posted from The Jew & The Carrot)
Many people complain that it’s difficult to find a synagogue to join in New York City. There are just so many options, that none of them feel exactly right - you might call it The Shul-Goers Dilemma. These days, however, I’m feeling pretty good at Temple Bet Pollan.
Michael Pollan gets his fair share of love on this blog, and his new book In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto
has already joined its predecessor, The Omnivore’s Dilemma
as a New York Times Best Seller. Pollan is in the middle of his second whirlwind book tour in two years (I guess he sleeps on the plane) – and I hear the same account every where he goes. Huge venue, sold out show, knockout performance.
Like any effective leader - Martin Luther King included - he’s charismatic and big on the big ideas that change the way we think - or in this case how we eat. But as I devoured (pun intented) Pollan’s new book on my subway commute, I wondered what, if anything, does his worldview offer to the Jewish community? And, perhaps more interestingly, what wisdom does the tribe have to offer back to him?
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by aaronf · Wednesday, January 9th, 2008
A delegation of Columbia University professors is planning a trip to Tehran to apologize to Ahmadinejad. The Israel Lobby authors say we need “candid but civil” dialogue about the ME. This could be a fine example of that.
by Kol Ra'ash Gadol · Tuesday, January 1st, 2008
Since we’ve now completed another year, it’s time for our annual, highly idiosyncratic, completely unscientific, best–of round up. Happy (secular) new year from all of us here at Jewschool! More »
by Danya · Sunday, December 16th, 2007
Here’s the official scoop on a new program called Tevel b’Tzedek that, it seems, is capitalizing on the Israeli fascination with the East to get people involved in social service. They’re currently taking applications for its next couple of cohorts, so check the information below if you’re interested.
Tevel b’Tzedek’s project is a 14 week residential program in Katmandu, Nepal combining learning and service to introduce Israeli and Diaspora young adults to the challenges and dilemmas of the developing world.
Tevel b’Tzedek believes there is great importance in creating opportunities for young Israelis and Diaspora Jews to experience their Jewish and Israeli identity (or identification with Israel) as a profound path into deeper connectedness with humanity and a platform for effective action in healing the world.
The first program will end on July 22nd, and the second one will begin on October 15th.
Program
The program will begin with a 2 week orientation and will be followed by a 9 week internship in which participants work on a project together with local NGO’s. A two week trip to the more rural areas of Nepal will be held in the middle of the internship period.
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by feygele · Thursday, December 13th, 2007
Back in September, I wrote about the rampant homophobic graffiti in Jerusalem, and posted some photographic evidence.
I’ve decided that it’s time for an update. This is best done, again, by sharing photographs snapped around town. Actually, these are all taken in a four block stretch of a major street that runs from my neighbourhood towards the city centre. Many of these have gone back and forth a few rounds (the original homophobic slur, a correction, reiterating the homophobia, a further correction…). In order to demonstrate that, I added notes to the photos on flickr, so I highly recommend you check them out individually there.
I like the alterations to the homophobia, and the different styles people are using to change the message. (Though, I admit that I don’t quite understand the squaring of the “h”.)
I’d like to thank the others who are helping with this project. I have my sharpie in hand every day, and there’s still more to do…
by Kung Fu Jew · Wednesday, November 21st, 2007
The rabbi’s letter garnered 517 rabbinical signers — compared to 200 and 300 the past two letters — and the Ackerman-Boustany dear colleague letter received 135 Congressional co-sponsors, also an incredible job. Thank your local Representative for signing it here. So what’s next?
Rally for peace in Annapolis! Ameinu, Americans for Peace Now, Meretz USA, Union of Progressive Zionists, Kesher Arza, Habonim Dror, Hashomer Hatzair, and Brit Tzedek v’Shalom (with an endorsement by the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation) are working to organize a Rally for Palestinian-Israeli Peace at Annapolis on Monday Nov. 26 Tuesday, Nov. 27, from 1 pm – 3 pm. Â
We are organizing at least one bus from New York City to Annapolis, and invite participation from anyone who would like to drive or would like a ride to attend the rally from the Maryland/DC area.Â
The rally provides an opportunity for American Jews to express their support for a Palestinian-Israeli peace agreement and strong US involvement for helping Israelis and Palestinians continue the negotiations until they succeed, bringing peace and security to both peoples.  Your voice and your presence is needed. As American Jews, we must show that our love for Israel does not only manifest itself during times of war.  We must show our solidarity with the citizens of Israel and Palestine as they work for peace. Â
“Why demonstrate?” you ask? Because the right-wingers, along with Christians United for Israel, will be staging a rally at a different time and place in Annapolis. Now is the time to speak out and show the American public and the entire American Jewish community that American Jews support peace.Â
Â
If you’d like to participate in the rally or are considering joining in, please let us know that you are interested in attending.  Send an email with your name to annapolisrally {at} gmail(.)com. When the City of Annapolis approves our permit request, we will announce additional details. Parking information and exact rally location will be announced no later than Sunday, 11/25.Â
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by Kung Fu Jew · Monday, November 12th, 2007
It’s time to start thinking about what to give for the holidays. While most folks I’m sure aren’t aching for the full volume collection of Milgrom’s Leviticus (hint, hint), there’s an avalanche of cool things to get for folks which say, “I appreciate you, and I appreciate not scorching our earth too.” Leah Koenig has put together a Sustainable Hanukah Gift Guide with neat suggestions for Mom, Dad, sis and bro, grandparents, parters, and even your yoga (or kung fu??) instructor.
The coolest suggestions include a recycled floppy disk address book, The Flexitarian Cookbook for those of us who eat somewhere between a pork roast and a vegan latke but cook Shabbat dinner for friends on both sides, the amazing love story by a Jewish couple seeking the perfect goat cheese The Year of the Goat, and cool kosher-fair trade Kumi’s organic teas, Equal Exchange coffees and Dagobah chocolates. Click here for the full list.
But in all practicality, I suggest the Seventh Generation gift bag of earth-friendly cleaning detergents and dish soaps. After all, it’s something folks do need and will use. And maybe, just maybe it’ll make cleaning the apartment feel like a mitzvah in itself. Then again, there’s always the fair trade rolling pin. Also doubles as Shabs dinner enthusiasm-enforcing cudgel.
by shamirpower · Sunday, October 28th, 2007
Mazal tov to the ever-fabulous Becca Oshins for organizing this important program. It is so exciting to see active, passionate students using the resources of the established Jewish institutions to make an impact. (Well…okay in this case, through no impact…)
Footprint Forward, NYU No-Impact Week 2007
Presented by the Bronfman Center Selma Ruben Distinguished Lecture Serie
NYU Footprint Forward Week (November 4-12) is about making an active environmental difference in a livable way. Through presentations, workshops, a guidebook, and an online community, we hope to inspire over 500 students and community members at NYU and in the surrounding neighborhood to live as close to a zero net impact lifestyle as possible for the duration of the week!
While low-impact living necessitates some changes in lifestyle, Footprint Forward is ultimately about doing more, not less. It means making choices that are within the boundaries of our professional, academic and personal needs that help sustain our school, our city, and our world – as well as ourselves.
Footprint Forward begins on November 4th at 2:00PM at NYU’s Bronfman Center with a private workshop with “No Impact Man” Colin Beavan, www.noimpactman.com, and culminates with a community-wide lecture in the Great Hall at Cooper Union on November 12th at 7:15PM. Throughout the week there will be positive impact events, lectures, volunteer opportunities, social opportunities and more. All are welcome to participate to whatever degree they are comfortable.
Rebecca Oshins and Adam Brock, student co-chairs of Footprint Forward, are dedicated to making a real impact. As Rebecca says, “Footprint Forward is a chance for each of us to make a significant positive impact in our community and in our lives. We are so excited to see the high level of participation and commitment from across the university.â€
For more information on Footprint Forward, a complete calendar of events and to register please visit this link.
The event is co-sponsored by the Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life Selma Ruben Distinguished Lecture Series, and the NYU Green Arch, with participation from clubs and organizations across campus.
Contact information:
Jill Goldstein
Footprint Forward Committee, NYU Senior
jill.goldstein -at - nyu - dot - edu
954.614.9783
