Paranoia as Policy?

by: Rabbi Aryeh Cohen

Thu Jan 26, 2012 at 17:40:02 PM EST

This month, when a group of New York City police officers showed up for their required counter-terrorism training, they got to watch a movie. … The film is called The Third Jihad. It is 72 minutes of gruesome footage of bombing carnage, frenzied crowds, burning American flags, flaming churches, and seething mullahs. All of this is sandwiched between a collection of somber talking heads informing us that, while we were sleeping, the international Islamist Jihad that wrought these horrors has set up shop here and is quietly going about its deadly business. This is the final drive in a 1,400-year-old bid for Muslim world domination, we’re informed. And while we may think there are some perfectly reasonable Muslim leaders and organizations here in the U.S., that is just more sucker bait sent our way. (Tom Robbins, Village Voice, January 19, 2011)

The New York City police commissioner, Raymond W. Kelly, through a top aide, acknowledged for the first time on Tuesday that he personally cooperated with the filmmakers of “The Third Jihad” — a decision the commissioner now describes as a mistake. (Michael Powell, New York Times, January 24, 2012)

The book of Exodus famously starts with a new Pharaoh, “who did not know Joseph,” falling into a paranoid fantasy that the Israelites would constitute a fifth column, collude with the Egyptians’ enemies and, finally, leave the land, and leave Egypt in a shambles. Most of this comes true, you might say, so why call it a paranoid fantasy? The Israelites did leave the land of Egypt, and when they left, the country that formerly ruled the world was a destroyed shell of a nation—its people killed, its army drowned, its agriculture and livestock wiped out, and its personal wealth stolen. Was Pharaoh paranoid or prescient?

What's so Jewish About the Occupy Movement?

by: admin

Tue Jan 17, 2012 at 16:17:32 PM EST

For those who missed a fantastic discussion in Los Angeles on January 11, 2012, you can see the video of “What’s so Jewish About the Occupy Movement?” right here.

The panel featured Eric Greene, LA Regional Director; Rabbi Jill Jacobs, Executive Director of Rabbis for Human Rights and former Rabbi in Residence at PJA & JFSJ; David Levitus, alumnus of the Jeremiah Fellowship; Professor Peter Dreier, Director of the Urban & Environmental Policy Program at Occidental College; and more!

Click here for the direct video link. 

Why you should donate to PJA & JFSJ

by: admin

Fri Dec 23, 2011 at 15:59:30 PM EST

• We’ve been in the business of creating a more just and compassionate America for over 25 years. We know how to make a difference in our communities, we’re training leaders to expand our reach. We know how to make sure donations reach the people and programs that are making real change where it’s most needed.
• We’ve engaged over 25,000 people in our mission, building houses, supporting domestic workers, and sending young people on service learning trips. Your contribution allows us to cross lines of race and faith to build strong communities across the country.
• We’re known for spending wisely and are nationally recognized for innovation. We have the highest rating (four stars) from Charity Navigator, the premier nonprofit rating agency, and in 2011 Slingshot named us a Standard Bearer for our excellence in promoting Jewish social justice.

What makes PJA & JFSJ unique? People like you who support our vision and the work we do to make a difference in the lives of Americans.

Help us light the way forward in challenging times, by giving to PJA & JFSJ before December 31.

Need more reasons? Check out our #20Reasons2Donate on Twitter.

Thank you!

Might Does Not Make Right

by: admin

Thu Dec 22, 2011 at 16:25:00 PM EST

Hanukkah commemorates one of the many, many times that people resisted oppression by the powerful. Two thousand years ago, in the face of Greek imperial power, a determined group of Jews fought back against the demand that we give up our texts, our holidays, our identity, our culture.  Against all odds, persevering for four years, the Maccabees won.

We are proud to partner in these times, as Jews, with the leaders of today who refuse to give in to the powerful forces that:

• cause people to work long hours just to survive
• allow immigrants to be exploited, suffering abuse and wage theft
• cause housekeepers to endure backbreaking workloads
• allow our schools and public institutions to be dismantled
• allow concentrations of wealth to increase so that CEOs of the largest American companies earn on average 531 times as much as the average worker (in 2011)
• have resulted in only 7% of the private workforce being unionized, down from 22% just 30 years ago

Our faith traditions remind us: Might does not make right.  

The light of the human spirit shines through when we assert that

• Mercado workers deserve safe and fair working conditions, regardless of their immigration status
• Housekeepers deserve the right to organize, have our respect and to be free from injury
• We need sane tax, budget and labor policies that address the outrage that 1 in 4 California children are poor, while concentrations of wealth increase to historic levels

Might does not make right. Tonight we light up the night to resist the forces that deprive people of dignity. We affirm our power as human beings created in the image of God to create a just society.

--Susan Lubeck, regional director of PJA & JFSJ Bay Area
Adapted from remarks Susan made at the Interfaith Celebration of Light at Union Square, a December 19 event sponsored in partnership by PJA & JFSJ and Clergy & Laity United for Economic Justice to celebrate hope and light, and be present with those in our communities who struggle in darkness. 

A brief candlelight procession traveled from Union Square to the Grand Hyatt to deliver a message of support for workers who have been struggling for a fair contract for the past two years.

Responsible Banking in LA

by: admin

Thu Dec 15, 2011 at 14:17:33 PM EST

COR Resident Umar Hakim has been organizing around a proposed responsible banking law in LA.  This is his take on the issue:

A Los Angeles Council Member recently asked this question during the public finance committee meeting on December 5th, "What is the rush for passing the Responsible Banking Ordinance out of Committee?" Let's rewind this blog-ver-ver-sa-tion for a more just understanding of events, its players and purpose.

November 2010 LA VOICE a federation of PICO National organized 800 Los Angeles community members for action on the Responsible Banking Ordinance (RBO), introduced by Los Angeles Councilmember Alarcon.

This event displayed LA Voice's outreach into Los Angeles diverse community congregations. This event also featured the presence of the Los Angeles African Muslim community, organized by a Muslim resident through PJA & JFSJ's Community Organizing Residency (COR) program. Community members gave testimony about losing their homes and business owners narrated about being consistently denied for small business loans. Local banks expressed how they are more accountable in servicing the community, and their practices are more ethical than major banks. Clergy members delivered their leadership and demonstrated solidarity in Action. This interfaith public action was the initial event alerting Los Angeles residents about unfair banking practices; sparking awareness, some news, and other actions early in 2011.

June 2011 LA Voice's community leaders went before the Los Angeles Finance Committee, chaired by L.A. Councilmember Bernard Parks for RBO. Here delivering more facts about L.A's banking practices and how it's affecting homeowners and small businesses...

Read more on Umar's blog: www.createavoice.org.

Living your values through corporate responsibility

by: Laura Wintroub

Wed Dec 07, 2011 at 13:23:13 PM EST

Thanksgiving Reflections: The Blessing -- and Obligations -- of a Full Belly

by: admin

Wed Nov 23, 2011 at 09:48:19 AM EST

By Rabbi Jason Kimelman-Block

There’s something about Thanksgiving that feels Jewish. Like Passover, it’s a holiday focused around a family meal with traditional, symbolic foods and the teaching of values. In a culture where gratitude does not occupy a prominent place in public discourse, it is a wonderful chance to simply appreciate – to give thanks for -- the opportunity and abundance this country has to offer.  At the same time, it’s a moment to recognize the moral obligation those of us who have benefited from this opportunity have to preserving it for future generations.

When I think of my own experience of Thanksgiving, I think of the end-of-meal feeling of having a full stomach. The Hebrew word for that feeling is soveyah, which means “satisfaction” or “fullness.” That feeling in my belly is in some ways symbolic of my own family’s experience in America. My grandparents immigrated here from Eastern Europe in the early 20th Century, struggling as sweatshop workers and peddlers to feed their own families. Yet within just one generation, their children experienced relative prosperity -- satisfaction and blessing. Like so many other Jewish Americans, I feel blessed that my family has been able to enjoy the abundance of America. Like so many other Jewish Americans, my gratitude translates into a commitment to ensuring that every American child knows the satisfaction of a full belly.

The word soveyah is most commonly known from the form it takes in the grace after meals, birkat hamazon, which says "v'achalta, v'savata u'verachta (when you eat and you are full, you shall bless).” In fact, the Rabbis understand that passage (originally from the eighth chapter of Deuteronomy) as the basis for the command to say birkat hamazon after eating. But if we look closer at how this word is used in other places, there seems to be ambivalence about the satisfaction of the full stomach.  The phrase v'achalta, v'savata is usually followed by a stern warning of the risk of forgetting God. Deuteronomy 6:10-12 warns: “When the Lord your God brings you into the land … flourishing cities that you did not build, houses full of all good things that you did not fill, hewn cisterns that you did not hew, vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant — and you eat your fill (v'achalta, v'savata), take heed that you do not forget the Lord who freed you from the land of Egypt, the house of bondage.”  Other passages in Deuteronomy (8:12 and 11:16) contain the same warning: the satisfaction of a full belly holds the risk of forgetfulness.

That risk is real. And it’s not only forgetting the source of all food and life. When our bellies are full, we often forget our friends and neighbors who are having different experiences this year, who aren’t as lucky. When we’re satisfied, we can forget that 46 million Americans are living below the poverty line – the highest number since the Census Bureau began counting. We can forget that suburban poverty increased 53% in the past decade – twice the rate of cities. When our bellies are full, we often forget that many of the people who produce our food and bring it to us do not have adequate wages or even basic job security or safety protections. When we’re satisfied, it’s easy to forget that food processing may be having a devastating impact on the planet and the communities where that food is grown.

While we might forget these realities in our individual homes, when we come together and experience ourselves as part of a larger community, we don’t forget. Civic groups on the local, national, and international levels are working to address each of these challenges. Jewish Americans are playing prominent roles in those efforts – often working as Jews for the common good. Uri L'Tzedek works to support kosher establishments that treat their workers fairly. Rabbis for Human Rights-North America is drawing attention to the plight of tomato pickers who work in near-servitude. Hazon works with Jewish organizations to support healthy and sustainable food practices. The Progressive Jewish Alliance & Jewish Funds for Justice is working in California to address the problem of food deserts – low-income neighborhoods without access to grocery stores that can provide more than soda, chips and overpriced rotting vegetables – and to support low-wage workers in small grocery stores. Far too many of these workers earn poverty wages, endure abuse, work in dangerous environments and lack proper meal and rest breaks.

While the Torah warns of the spiritual and ethical risks of the fully belly, it also provides guidance for how a full belly can lead to positive consequences. One place where the word savata isn’t associated with forgetfulness and spiritual disaster is Deuteronomy 14:28, where the phrase is in the plural v'ochlu v'saveyu – when the satisfaction is communal, rather than individual – in can be a blessing. In fact, this phrase refers specifically to the stranger, orphan, and widow.

When the most vulnerable in our society eat until they are full every day then we can truly be blessed.
 
Rabbi Jason Kimelman-Block is PJA & JFSJ’s Senior Director of Leadership Initiatives and Rabbi-in-Residence. On November 17th, Rabbi JKB participated in a food justice panel at Grinnell College’s Center for Religion, Spirituality, and Social Justice, alongside Farm Forward founder Aaron Gross, KOL Foods CEO Devora Kimelman-Block, and Uri L’Tzedek’s Ari Hart.

Thanks Occupy Wall Street

by: Mae Singerman

Fri Nov 18, 2011 at 13:47:47 PM EST

One day after I marched with 30,000 people in Lower Manhattan on the 2 month birthday of Occupy Wall Street, I came to the party without any gifts for the Movement. Instead, I have thanks to offer the Occupy Movement for the gifts it has given to me.

Thanks #OWS for the following:

• The opportunity to hear people I love work through years of pent up cynicism, relenting to the idea that people can make a difference.
• A new method to express silent support and appreciation for what someone is saying—up twinkles.
• A new community of people who I feel a deep connection to through our shared participation in working groups.
• Inspiration and pride when hearing about  the concrete victories as big as billions of dollars being moved into credit unions and small banks to the small act of occupying a Harlem boiler room to get tenants heat and hot water.
• Closer relationships with the people I already know who are also active in the Occupy Movement. I see them more regularly and we have better, more thoughtful conversations than I’ve had with them in years.
• By convincing my mom to attend a General Assembly in Miami, I helped her experience something she never thought was possible in Miami- a large, age-diverse gathering that was about progressive politics (believe me, this basically never happens in Miami).
• The gift of a commons that I haven’t had since being a college student, where I got to discuss and debate tactics, racism in movements, what the non-profit world has to offer (or not), global relationships, and the importance of (a lack of) demands.

So much appreciation to the Occupy Movement on it’s two months alive. It’s just the beginning of the beginning. 

Invest in the Dream

by: Simon Greer

Tue Nov 15, 2011 at 13:44:06 PM EST

From the Convent to the Board Room: Faith-Based Corporate Responsibility Highlighted in NY Times

by: Laura Wintroub

Mon Nov 14, 2011 at 10:25:05 AM EST

Long before Occupy Wall Street, the Sisters of St. Francis were quietly staging an occupation of their own. In recent years, this Roman Catholic order of 540 or so nuns has become one of the most surprising groups of corporate activists around.

The nuns have gone toe-to-toe with Kroger, the grocery store chain, over farm worker rights; with McDonald’s, over childhood obesity; and with Wells Fargo, over lending practices. They have tried, with mixed success, to exert some moral suasion over Fortune 500 executives, a group not always known for its piety.