Letter to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Demanding Action To
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Gender in Jewish Studies
Gender in Jewish Studies Proceedings of the Sherman Conversations 2017 Volume 13 (2019) GUEST EDITOR Katja Stuerzenhofecker & Renate Smithuis ASSISTANT EDITOR Lawrence Rabone A publication of the Centre for Jewish Studies, University of Manchester, United Kingdom. Co-published by © University of Manchester, UK. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this volume may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher, the University of Manchester, and the co-publisher, Gorgias Press LLC. All inquiries should be addressed to the Centre for Jewish Studies, University of Manchester (email: [email protected]). Co-Published by Gorgias Press LLC 954 River Road Piscataway, NJ 08854 USA Internet: www.gorgiaspress.com Email: [email protected] ISBN 978-1-4632-4056-1 ISSN 1759-1953 This volume is printed on acid-free paper that meets the American National Standard for Permanence of paper for Printed Library Materials. Printed in the United States of America Melilah: Manchester Journal of Jewish Studies is distributed electronically free of charge at www.melilahjournal.org Melilah is an interdisciplinary Open Access journal available in both electronic and book form concerned with Jewish law, history, literature, religion, culture and thought in the ancient, medieval and modern eras. Melilah: A Volume of Studies was founded by Edward Robertson and Meir Wallenstein, and published (in Hebrew) by Manchester University Press from 1944 to 1955. Five substantial volumes were produced before the series was discontinued; these are now available online. -
July 30, 2019 Dear Legislator, We Write to You As Rabbis and Cantors
July 30, 2019 Dear Legislator, We write to you as rabbis and cantors affiliated with T’ruah and J Street to ask that you defend the free speech of all Americans by opposing any efforts to pass legislation penalizing supporters of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. At both the federal and state level, this type of deeply misguided legislation undermines a core principle of American democracy. These laws do nothing to protect the State of Israel, and they would injure the American Jewish community. While proponents of imposing legislative penalties on BDS supporters portray their efforts as “pro-Israel,” none of these laws have any impact on bringing about a peace agreement, or on wiping out anti-Semitism. Instead, these laws and the debate around them distract us from the real work of supporting Israel -- namely, working toward a two-state solution and a long-term peace agreement that creates a better future for both Israelis and Palestinians, each with self-determination in their own state. J Street and T’ruah do not support or advocate for the Global BDS movement. At the same time, we firmly believe that legislating against boycotts, which are a form of speech protected under the First Amendment, opens the door to much broader government control of public discourse. With our democratic institutions under attack, we must hold the line on our constitutional freedoms. We follow proudly in the footsteps of Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, a renowned Zionist leader, who wrote in the 1927 free-speech case Whitney v. California that our country’s founders “eschewed silence...coerced by law — the argument of force in its worst form.” A true commitment to the First Amendment means we must defend free speech even and especially when we find it objectionable or offensive. -
June 16, 2020 Chairman Eliot Engel Ranking Member Michael Mccaul House Foreign Affairs Committee House Foreign Affairs Committee Washington, D.C
June 16, 2020 Chairman Eliot Engel Ranking Member Michael McCaul House Foreign Affairs Committee House Foreign Affairs Committee Washington, D.C. 20515 Washington, D.C. 20515 Dear Chairman Engel and Ranking Member McCaul: As more than 350 Jewish clergy members from 36 states and the District of Columbia, we write today to raise our voices in support of global lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) human rights. As we mark Pride Month, our faith reminds us that all people are created b’tzelem Elohim, in the divine image, and that we must not stand idly by in the face of injustice. Unfortunately, we know that LGBTQI+ communities face hate and discrimination, and we are deeply concerned about COVID-19’s disproportionate impacts on the lives and dignity of LGBTQI+ people across the world. We strongly urge the House Foreign Affairs Committee to demonstrate its commitment to supporting the needs of LGBTQI+ people during this crisis, including the addition of non-discrimination language and bolstering protections for LGBTQI+ people and other vulnerable groups in international assistance funding and future COVID-19 relief packages, and to hold an LGBTQI+-focused hearing as soon as time allows. Too often, skewed interpretations of religious doctrines are used to stigmatize LGBTQI+ people, justifying the creation and defense of discriminatory laws and norms. As faith leaders, we unequivocally denounce these attempts to use religion to justify oppression. In 70 countries across the globe, being LGBTQI+ is criminalized and, in some countries, a person can be sentenced to death simply because of who they are or whom they love. -
RECONSTRUCTIONIST RABBINICAL COLLEGE and JEWISH RECONSTRUCTIONIST COMMUNITIES
RECONSTRUCTIONIST RABBINICAL COLLEGE and JEWISH RECONSTRUCTIONIST COMMUNITIES 2015 ANNUAL REPORT Watch the video at www.RRC.edu/AR15 RECONSTRUCTIONIST HOME | RABBINICAL EDUCATION | OUR GRADUATES | COMMUNITY | YOU MAKE A | CAMP JRF | FINANCIALS | TAKE ACTION RABBINICAL COLLEGE & BEYOND ENGAGEMENT DIFFERENCE and JEWISH RECONSTRUCTIONIST COMMUNITIES This is the script of a video WHO, you ask, is the WE that you can watch at holding a hand out to www.RRC.edu/AR15 you right now? Is this you? ME. I am a student at RRC because the How about this? College believes in my unique vision for Or this? . Jewish engagement and leadership, and supports If so, let’s join together . me with extensive training in sacred texts, We believe that all of us are a flexible curriculum, responsible for Judaism, and for reconstructing it in each generation, to create the Judaism innovative ritual practices, mentoring in social activism and multifaith conversation, and we want to live today…and tomorrow. entrepreneurial training. When I took my first internship, I felt ready to help … We know that people take many different paths towards meaningful Jewish living, and we ME. I’m a newly elected congregation president with big dreams for our community. must nurture each individual journey. I devote countless hours to finding and engaging people like you. People who can bring open hearts and minds to create something larger than each of us individually—a We embrace and celebrate the diversity of Jews, and see our role as nourishing each other’s community of fellow travelers who learn together, celebrate together and weather hard spirits through mutual support. -
The Roots and Development of Jewish Feminism in the United States, 1972-Present: a Path Toward Uncertain Equality
Aquila - The FGCU Student Research Journal The Roots and Development of Jewish Feminism in the United States, 1972-Present: A Path Toward Uncertain Equality Jessica Evers Division of Social & Behavioral Sciences, College of Arts & Sciences Faculty mentor: Scott Rohrer, Ph.D., Division of Social & Behavioral Sciences, College of Arts & Sciences ABSTRACT This research project involves discovering the pathway to equality for Jewish women, specifically in Reform Judaism. The goal is to show that the ordination of the first woman rabbi in the United States initiated Jewish feminism, and while this raised awareness, full-equality for Jewish women currently remains unachieved. This has been done by examining such events at the ordination process of Sally Priesand, reviewing the scholarship of Jewish women throughout the waves of Jewish feminism, and examining the perspectives of current Reform rabbis (one woman and one man). Upon the examination of these events and perspectives, it becomes clear that the full-equality of women is a continual struggle within all branches of American Judaism. This research highlights the importance of bringing to light an issue in the religion of Judaism that remains unnoticed, either purposefully or unintentionally by many, inside and outside of the religion. Key Words: Jewish Feminism, Reform Judaism, American Jewish History INTRODUCTION “I am a feminist. That is, I believe that being a woman or a in the 1990s and up to the present. The great accomplishments man is an intricate blend of biological predispositions and of Jewish women are provided here, however, as the evidence social constructions that varies greatly according to time and illustrates, the path towards total equality is still unachieved. -
Ethnicity and Faith in American Judaism: Reconstructionism As Ideology and Institution, 1935-1959
ETHNICITY AND FAITH IN AMERICAN JUDAISM: RECONSTRUCTIONISM AS IDEOLOGY AND INSTITUTION, 1935-1959 A Dissertation Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By Deborah Waxman May, 2010 Examining Committee Members: Lila Corwin Berman, Advisory Chair, History David Harrington Watt, History Rebecca Trachtenberg Alpert, Religion Deborah Dash Moore, External Member, University of Michigan ii ABSTRACT Title: Ethnicity and Faith in American Judaism: Reconstructionism as Ideology and Institution, 1935-1959 Candidate's Name: Deborah Waxman Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Temple University, 2010 Doctoral Advisory Committee Chair: Lila Corwin Berman This dissertation addresses the development of the movement of Reconstructionist Judaism in the period between 1935 and 1959 through an examination of ideological writings and institution-building efforts. It focuses on Reconstructionist rhetorical strategies, their efforts to establish a liberal basis of religious authority, and theories of cultural production. It argues that Reconstructionist ideologues helped to create a concept of ethnicity for Jews and non-Jews alike that was distinct both from earlier ―racial‖ constructions or strictly religious understandings of modern Jewish identity. iii DEDICATION To Christina, who loves being Jewish, With gratitude and abundant love iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation is the product of ten years of doctoral studies, so I type these words of grateful acknowledgment with a combination of astonishment and excitement that I have reached this point. I have been inspired by extraordinary teachers throughout my studies. As an undergraduate at Columbia, Randall Balmer introduced me to the study of American religious history and Holland Hendrix encouraged me to take seriously the prospect of graduate studies. -
Rabbi Deborah Waxman January 2014 Page 1 A
Rabbi Deborah Waxman January 2014 Page 1 A RECONSTRUCTIONIST RESPONSE TO THE PEW STUDY Much ink has been spilled over the recent Pew Research Center’s study Portrait of Jewish Americans.1 I offer now both reflections on the study itself and the reactions to it, and a Reconstructionist response. In brief, I believe the Reconstructionist movement is well-poised to act on the tremendous positive Jewish identification reported by the study through continuing conceptual work and incubation of engaging ideas and practices. Findings and Reactions The study begins with an overarching claim that 94% of American Jews are proud to be part of the Jewish people, and 46% are very proud. In this era of majority society’s expansive embrace of American Jews and abundant choices in identities and commitments (including the choice to be “nothing,” to pass without judgment or difficulty as “American”), almost every Jew asked asserts pride in his or her Jewishness. This could easily be cause for celebration. Yet the initial reactions to the survey results were gloomy, even dire, because of other findings. The survey reports a marked decline in the religiosity of American Jews, especially compared to the “greatest generation,” those Jews who fought in World War II in the European and Asian theaters and on the home front and who, after the war’s end, built most of the institutions of postwar American Judaism. Where 93% of Jews in the greatest generation said their Jewish identity was based on religion, only 68% of millennials— the youngest generation of Jewish adults—identify their Jewishness with the religion of Judaism, while the remainder identify as Jews on the basis of ancestry, ethnicity or culture. -
RE Final Draft
Connected to Community: Jewish Ritual, Meaning, and Gender at Brandeis University Master’s Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Brandeis University Hornstein Program for Jewish Professional Leadership Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies Sylvia Barack Fishman, Advisor Amy L. Sales, Reader In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in Jewish Professional Leadership and Near Eastern and Judaic Studies by Rachel Elizabeth Eisen May 2016 Acknowledgements One of the first classes I took as a graduate student was called “Half-Jews, Queer- Jews, and Bu-Jews: Mapping Jewish Identities in America,” taught by then-PhD-candidate Emily Sigalow. I went into the class intrigued by intersectional identities and I came out intrigued by qualitative research. Although I had no idea what I wanted to study for my (then still so far off) master’s thesis, I knew how I wanted to study it. This thesis has truly been a labor of love, emphasis on labor. Beyond Emily’s class, I had very little idea of what goes into sociological research, and, in my typical fashion, I dove straight in, and asked questions later. I am grateful to Emily not only for introducing me to this field of research but also for introducing me to her dissertation advisor, Sylvia Barack Fishman. Professors Fishman and Amy L. Sales, my advisors in this thesis, have offered me guidance and support throughout, encouraging me all along. I am also indebted to Harry Abrahams, Jewish Student Life Associate at Brandeis Hillel, Rabbi Peretz Chein of Chabad House Brandeis, Rabbi David Pardo of the Jewish Learning Initiative at Brandeis, and Rabbi Elyse Winick, the Jewish Chaplain at Brandeis, along with multiple student leaders at Brandeis Hillel, for their assistance in recruiting research participants. -
Rabbinic Statement on the Mosque Burning in Israel
Rabbinic Statement on the Mosque Burning in Israel כי ביתי בית תפילה יקרא לכל העמים My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples As religious leaders and representatives of Jewish houses of worship around the world, we wish to express our deep sadness and outrage at the desecration of a mosque in the Bedouin village of Tuba-Zangariya in the north of Israel. We condemn this act as an affront to G-d and to the values of our Torah. We extend a hand in friendship and solidarity to the leaders and residents of the town, a prayer for their safety and peace in the days to come, and a hope that those who perpetrated this despicable act will be brought to justice. We condemn those in Israel who exacerbate conflict and strife, and who insist that only one people or religion belongs to this land. We thank the Israeli leadership – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres, the Chief Rabbis of Israel and others – who have spoken out forcefully against this incident. They have demonstrated the Jewish values woven into the very fabric of the State of Israel, whose Declaration of Independence guarantees that Israel will “safeguard the sanctity and inviolability of the shrines and Holy Places of all religions”. We are grateful for the actions of the many organizations and individuals in Israel who have already raised their voices on behalf of Israel’s highest and truest values. We urge them to continue to take a public stand for the values of pluralism and mutual respect, and against violence, exclusion and racism. -
Surpass Shelf List
Beth Sholom B'Nai Israel Shelf List Barcode Call Author Title Cost 1001502 Daily prayer book = : Ha-Siddur $0.00 ha-shalem / translated and annotated with an introduction by Philip Birnbaum. 1000691 Documents on the Holocaust : $0.00 selected sources on the destruction of the Jews of Germany and Austria, Poland, and the Soviet Union / edited by Yitzhak Arad, Yisrael Gutman, Abraham Margaliot. 1001830 Explaining death to children / $0.00 Edited by Earl A. Grollman. 1003811 In the tradition : an anthology $0.00 of young Black writers / edited by Kevin Powell and Ras Baraka. 1003812 In the tradition : an anthology $0.00 of young Black writers / edited by Kevin Powell and Ras Baraka. 1002040 Jewish art and civilization / $0.00 editor-in-chief: Geoffrey Wigoder. 1001839 The Jews / edited by Louis $0.00 Finkelstein. 56 The last butterfly $0.00 [videorecording] / Boudjemaa Dahmane et Jacques Methe presentent ; Cinema et Communication and Film Studio Barrandov with Filmexport Czechoslovakia in association with HTV International Ltd. ; [The Blum Group and Action Media Group 41 The magician of Lublin $0.00 [videorecording] / Cannon Video. 1001486 My people's Passover Haggadah : $0.00 traditional texts, modern commentaries / edited by Lawrence A. Hoffman and David Arnow. 1001487 My people's Passover Haggadah : $0.00 traditional texts, modern commentaries / edited by Lawrence A. Hoffman and David Arnow. 1003430 The Prophets (Nevi'im) : a new $0.00 trans. of the Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic text. Second section. 1001506 Seder K'riat Hatorah (the Torah $0.00 12/11/2019 Surpass Page 1 Beth Sholom B'Nai Israel Shelf List Barcode Call Author Title Cost service) / edited by Lawrence A. -
The Honorable Michael R. Pompeo Secretary of State U.S. Department of State 2201 C Street NW Washington, D.C
The Honorable Michael R. Pompeo Secretary of State U.S. Department of State 2201 C Street NW Washington, D.C. 20250 August 22, 2019 Dear Mr. Secretary, As we mark the second-year anniversary of the continued campaign of genocide against the Rohingya people of Burma on August 25, we call on you to prioritize the pursuit of justice and accountability for the Rohingya people and all ethnic minorities in Burma. As 575 rabbis and Jewish clergy from 38 states across the U.S. and from many Jewish denominational backgrounds, we collectively serve tens of thousands of American Jews and represent this call-to-action from many more communities and congregations. As clergy, we have not—and will not—stay silent in the face of genocide. We know all too well, from our own Jewish history, what happens when the international community does not stand up unequivocally in defense of oppressed minorities subject to state-sanctioned hate, oppression and violence. The Department of State released a report in September 2018 documenting atrocities in Northern Rakhine State, which attests that the violence against the Rohingya people was “extreme, large- scaled, widespread” and “well-planned.” We were deeply disappointed that the report failed to legally determine that there were international crimes committed against the Rohingya people by the Burmese military. The horrifying atrocities outlined in the report—with the full weight and expertise of the Department of State behind it—surely must trigger meaningful U.S. response and actions. We call on you, Mr. Secretary, as you lead the Department, to defend the rights and dignity of the Rohingya people and other ethnic minorities. -
Imah on the Bimah: Gender and the Roles of Latin American Conservative Congregational Rabinas Valeria N
Florida International University FIU Digital Commons FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations University Graduate School 3-29-2011 Imah on the Bimah: Gender and the Roles of Latin American Conservative Congregational Rabinas Valeria N. Schindler Florida International University, [email protected] DOI: 10.25148/etd.FI11042002 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd Part of the Gender and Sexuality Commons, Other Religion Commons, Sociology of Culture Commons, and the Women's Studies Commons Recommended Citation Schindler, Valeria N., "Imah on the Bimah: Gender and the Roles of Latin American Conservative Congregational Rabinas" (2011). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 353. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/353 This work is brought to you for free and open access by the University Graduate School at FIU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of FIU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY Miami, Florida IMAH ON THE BIMAH: GENDER AND THE ROLES OF LATIN AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE CONGREGATIONAL RABINAS A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in RELIGIOUS STUDIES by Valeria Schindler 2011 To: Dean Kenneth Furton College of Arts and Sciences This thesis, written by Valeria Schindler, and entitled Imah on the Bimah: Gender and the Roles of Latin American Conservative Congregational Rabinas, having been approved in respect to style and intellectual content, is referred to you for judgment. We have read this thesis and recommend that it be approved. _______________________________________ Ana María Bidegain _______________________________________ Albert Wuaku _______________________________________ Oren Baruch Stier, Major Professor Date of Defense: March 29, 2011 The thesis of Valeria Schindler is approved.