You are invited to join the Philadelphia Jewish Voice and the Greater Philadelphia Jewish community at the Wells Fargo Center for an exciting, family-friendly evening of arena football as the Philadelphia Soul take on the Pittsburgh Power during the Soul's Jewish Heritage Night, Sunday, June 24 at 6:05 pm. In addition to the non-stop action that arena football brings, the evening will also feature kosher food and Jewish themed entertainment.
Each ticket costs $28. Tickets can be used for Jewish Heritage night or for any 2012 Philadelphia Soul regular season home game. A portion of the proceeds will support the Philadelphia Jewish Voice.
Contact publisher@pjvoice.com if you have any questions.
Republican Congressman Joe Pitts, 72, of Pennsylvania's 16th Congressional District (Chester, Lancaster and Berks Counties), has made a blunder that is receiving international attention.
In response to a letter from a Chester County constituent on the Middle-East Pitts's office responded with a letter saying Yasser Arafat and Ariel Sharon should sit down and negotiate. Arafat died in 2004 and Sharon has been in a coma since 2006.
On 28 April, the fifth largest supermarket chain in Britain, the Co-operative Group, voted to stop trading with Israeli companies that source some of their products from Jewish settlements in the West Bank. It is the first British supermarket chain to do so.
For those of us who oppose boycotts targetting the Jewish state, it is easy to dismiss this as irrelevant. After all, it's not like the Co-op voted to ban all Israeli products. In fact the Co-op went out of their way to say precisely that. They're not boycotting Israel, they said. They're just boycotting "companies that profit from the occupation".
Remember the ACA facet which says that health insurers must rebate to policyholders the amount of money policyholders paid in premiums that did not go to health care costs if those costs are less than 80%/85%? The percentage was dependent on whether it was a group or individual policy. Those checks are going to go out soon, and the first paragraph of the attached letter will say:
"This letter is to inform you that you will receive a rebate of a portion of your health insurance premiums. This rebate is required by the Affordable Care Act—the health reform law."
The largest rebates overall are projected to go to consumers and businesses in Texas (total $186 million) and Florida ($149 million); Hawaii is the only state where no insurer is expected to issue a rebate.
Consumers receiving rebates in the individual market are projected to receive $127 on average, with amounts varying significantly by insurer and state. The average rebates for individual purchasers expected to receive them range from just a few dollars in some states to as much as an average of $305 in Alaska, $294 in Maryland, $243 in Pennsylvania, $241 in Idaho, and $236 in Mississippi.
If you have a WSJ subscription, you can see the full breakdown by type of policy, amount of average rebate and state here. That chart indicates that the total number of Americans who will receive rebate checks is:
Individual policyholders: 3,360,858 Small Group policyholders: 4,932,786 Large Group policyholders: 7,475,657 Total: 15,769,301
That's almost 16 million people. Trying to find the number of people who have private health insurance is a little tricky. We know that about 87 million people have insurance, but many of them are covered by government programs (Medicare, Medicaid, SChip, military benefits, government workers). Depending on whose statistics you believe, the number of people covered by employer plans runs between 42% and 48%. Thus, the overall conclusion is that as health insurance rates keep climbing, and the number of uninsured keep rising the premium dollars are NOT going to health care costs, but rather to the companies. Which, ahem, now have to send that money back.
So let's recap: the Affordable Health Care Act is working! It's decreasing the amount of money that just gets kept by the insurance companies who keep saying they need to raise premiums to cover costs. (Liars.) This is in addition to the other benefits of covering more people including offspring in their 20's, people with pre-existing conditions, people who don't receive employer benefits and cannot afford individual plans on the open market, plus the decreased Medicare donut hole, and free preventive services. And yet, people seem not to like this, according to most polling. Yet another Ich Kreplach moment, but a win for most Americans nonetheless.
It goes without saying that a civilized society will feed prisoners and keep them healthy.
If so, why do we begrudge the same standard of care to the poor among us.
Over a hundred years ago, O. Henry [William Sidney Porter] took up this theme and wrote the short story "The Cop and The Anthem" (published 1904 by New York World, dramatized in 1954 on The Red Skelton Show as shown in the image on the right, and now in the public domain).
In the story, a homeless man "Soapy" prepares to spend the winter in jail as a sort of de facto homeless shelter. It is a funny story as the protagonist fails again and again in his effort to get arrested. However, the humor is bitter-sweet when we realize the truth in the situation where the poor are being treated as less than common criminals.
This is a story which repeats itself to our day. Last year James Verone robbed a bank of $1 in order to get arrested a receive free health care in jail.
The short story "The Cop and the Anthem" follows the jump.
The Jewish Council for Public Affairs' 14 national member agencies and 125 Community Relations Councils debated and adopted five resolutions expressing the consensus view of the American Jewish community at the JCPA's annual Plenum in Detroit. The resolutions deal with anti-Semitism on campuses, collective bargaining, education equity, gender segregation in Israel, and hydrofracking for natural gas and oil.
Countering Anti-Israel and Anti-Semitic Activity on Campus This resolution calls for education about and support for the "important remedy" that is now available under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and calls on campus leaders to do more to make students safe. It embraces a range of responses to hostile campus atmospheres including dialogue, education, and legal remedies.
Collective Bargaining This resolution continues longstanding support for collective bargaining for public employees and opposes efforts to narrow or eliminate it.
Equal Education Opportunity This resolution addresses inequity in educational opportunity in public schools. This resolution calls for research, education, and community attention directed to closing the achievement gap in our nation's public schools and heightening awareness of this issue on the national Jewish agenda.
Gender Segregation in Public Spaces in Israel This resolution was ultimately supported by the National Council of Jewish Women along with the Conservative, Reconstructionist, Reform, and Orthodox Jewish movements. It states that enforced gender segregation in secular public spaces is inconsistent with Israel's founding principles of equality and, at the same time, that there may be circumstances where accommodation of gender segregation may be appropriate such as the consideration of religious and cultural sensitivities in the delivery of municipal services
Hydrofracking This resolution addresses natural gas and oil extraction by the combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, otherwise known as hydrofracking. The resolution calls for studies, disclosure, safeguards, and oversight.
Yesterday, President Barack Obama joined with the sweeping majority of American Jews in supporting marriage equality for all Americans. Leading Jewish organizations including the NJDC lauded the President's show of support.
"To put it plainly, the vast majority of American Jews are behind the President in support of marriage equality," commented NJDC President and CEO David A. Harris. "In recent decades, many of our community's mainstream institutions have worked to welcome and include gays and lesbians-to the point where it is now a widely accepted norm, with certain Jewish clergy routinely performing same-sex marriages. But perhaps most notably, the recent poll released by the Public Religion Research institute found that at least 81% of American Jews support marriage equality — showing that grassroots American Jewry, our communal institutions, and now the President are united on this important civil rights issue."
A roundup of their statements appears below.
The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
We enthusiastically welcome President Obama's endorsement today of marriage equality for all couples. History will regard his affirmation of this core right for the LGBT community as a key moment in the advance of civil rights in America. ... Civil marriage has historically connoted social acceptance and the recognition of not just a legal relationship between two individuals, but as the Supreme Court has recognized, is 'the most important relation in life' (Maynard v. Hill); it is 'a coming together for better or for worse, hopefully enduring, and intimate to the degree of being sacred' (Griswold v. Connecticut). These rights are due no less to same sex couples than heterosexual ones, as the President's comments today acknowledge....
The support of the President on this issue is particularly meaningful to us as Jews. Our holy texts teach us that all people are created b'tselem Elohim (in the Divine image) (Gen. 1:27), and as such are entitled to be treated with dignity and respect. We are inspired by our faith and history to stand up for the rights of LGBT Americans, including civil marriage, for we have known the experience of being victims of group hatred, persecution, and discrimination. We feel a keen empathy for those who are still be victimized, deprived of opportunities, and discriminated against because of who they are.
The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
We are gratified to know that President Obama has said publicly what so many of us have known for some time — that civil marriage is a basic civil right. It should not be denied to anyone. We stand firm in our belief that civil marriage, which is not bound by halacha [Jewish law] but conveys many civil rights and privileges, should be open to all. That comes from our belief that human beings are created b'tzelem Elohim — in God's image — and therefore have an inherent dignity.
Keshet, which works to "ensure that gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Jews are fully included in all parts of the Jewish community" sent the tweet on the right.
Women are losing ground in many states on the reproductive rights front. Indeed, women are at risk of losing the choice of whether or not to become mothers by banning common forms of birth control, fertility treatment like in-vitro fertilization, and all abortions (even in case of rape).
Last month, the Senate voted down a bill that would have allowed employers to deny women coverage for birth control and any "objectionable" medical service, possibly even flu shots. Senators Roy Blunt and Marco Rubio's amendment would have allowed any employer — not religious institutions, because they are already exempt — to make this call on behalf of their female employees. That means a woman's boss at a restaurant, retail store, law firm or anywhere would have control over what health care she could receive. After an hour during which he was on the record opposed to it, Mitt Romney said, in typical flip flop fashion, "Of course I support that amendment." Of course he does. And we can thank him for paving the way — he also said he would have supported a "personhood" amendment in Massachusetts, which could have banned abortion in any circumstance, some contraception, and even fertility treatments like IVF.
In the video on the right, Dr. Mildred Hanson explains how she and other U.S. doctors worked around the law to provide abortions before the procedure was legalized in 1973 through Roe v. Wade. We don't want to have to go back to this.
This Mother's Day Give the Gift that Lasts A Lifetime
This Mother's Day, honor the women in your life with a living tribute — one that will last longer than the traditional bouquet of flowers. Help replant the trees lost last year in Israel.
Yesterday President Obama finally came out as a supporter of gay marriage. You can "blame" Joe Biden for pushing the president into this pronouncement, but as it turns out, his Sunday interview was taped on Friday, and the White House knew about it then. They could have asked for a do-over, but they chose not to. The back story is that Obama had planned to announce his support closer to the convention, but decided to move it up. He had said for a long time that his feelings were evolving, and the story is that he made this decision back in January.
Some say that this will not hurt him politically, as those people who would have voted him, still will, and those who never would, still won't. (Although that does beg the question of the Log Cabin Republicans: I just don't get how they can support people who support North Carolina's Amendment 1, but maybe Jon Stewart says it best in his piece on cognitive dissonance. Clip here. He's talking Romney, but you'll easily see the association.) There is an issue of whether fundamentalist blacks will still support him: some are rabid anti-gay, but it's likely that re-voting Obama will trump the single issue. The statistic you'll here is that 90% of blacks in California voted for Obama in 2008, but 58% voted for Prop 8. In my heart, I believe that a lot of those people will see Obama's evolution, and think that maybe they, too, need to evolve. Loving v. Virginia all over again with different actors.
The most important thing, I believe, is contained in what Corey Booker said last night on TRMS. He perfectly encapsulated the idea that what Obama did today is not about gay rights, the suffragette movement was not about women's rights, and the Civil Rights movement was not about black rights -- they are ALL about ONE set of EQUAL rights for ALL Americans. He further made the point that teenagers in his city now feel that their president considers them equal, that it is a necessary form of validation. In addition, he pointed out that it isn't just "marriage" - it's the thousands of legal rights and protections that straight people have and gay people do not. If you click on the chart on the left, you'll be taken to an interactive graphic showing how far some states have come, and how far others have to go.
It's all so clear: when you vote this November, will you vote for ALL the people, or only the rich white guys? Will you, personally, say: my issue is X, but I understand that X is part of A,B,C through X,Y,Z, and we must all stand together. Stand up for all Americans. Stand up and lead the world. You can watch Corey Booker, superstar and super hero, below:
On April 26, the United States Senate passed S. 1925, a reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), by a vote of 68 to 31. S. 1925, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2011, introduced by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Mike Crapo (R-ID), ensures a continued federal government response to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking while making significant improvements to the law. To celebrate the passage of this critical legislation, Jewish Women International (JWI) Executive Director Lori Weinstein released the following statement:
The Violence Against Women Act is a historic law that has benefited millions of women across the country. Today, the Senate passed a strong, bipartisan reauthorization bill and sent a strong message to victims of violence throughout the country: You are not forgotten. This bill not only continues VAWA's successful programs and services for another five years but also improves access to services for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and immigrant victims, and gives American Indian women equal access to justice.
For the last two years, JWI has worked closely with our colleagues on the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women and our allies on Capitol Hill to pass a reauthorization bill that strengthens and improves VAWA. After today's victory, we turn our attention to the House of Representatives and call on them to renew and strengthen this lifesaving legislation in a bipartisan manner.
Barbara Weinstein, Legislative Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, issued the following statement:
Since its enactment in 1994, the Violence Against Women Act has been an invaluable tool for preventing, investigating, and prosecuting violent crimes targeting women. Studies have shown that incidents of domestic violence have decreased as more women report attacks and law enforcement has improved its investigation and prosecution of the crimes.
The bipartisan Senate vote reauthorizing VAWA will help continue this trend, providing better tools to train law enforcement and victim service providers, focus attention on addressing the high rate of violence in the tribal and LGBT communities, and redirect funds to the most effective programs.
Even as Maimonides reminded men of the imperative to treat women with honor and respect (Sefer Nashim 15:19), our Jewish sages recognized that violence comes in forms that are both physical and emotional. The Violence Against Women Act helps prevent and respond to such tragedies when they occur and is worthy of reauthorization. We call on the House to follow the Senate's lead and swiftly pass the Violence Against Women Act.
Cheryl Dorsch of Wynnewood, an active and much loved member of the community, passed away suddenly on May 7, 2012. She leaves behind her husband, Jay, three sons, a daughter and a daughter-in-law. Her eldest son, Rabbi Daniel Dorsch, said at the funeral service held on May 8 at Temple Beth Hillel-Beth El,
Jewish mothers are our teachers, our booboo kissers, our comforters, our heart-menders... They are our superwomen who don't wear capes... My mother was the best kind of Jewish mother. Somehow, she managed throughout her life to successfully walk the boundary of being our best friend, our teacher, and our moral compass at the same time.
What is the measure of a man's worth? If it's durable accomplishments, then Maurice Sendak has left a whoppingly large body of work: author of 18 books/anthologies, illustrator of 78 books by others (if I counted correctly); set designer of more than five ballets and operas, and author of one opera. However, if we were to include the generations of children whose memories have been indelibly influenced by Sendak, then we're heading into the stratosphere.
Reprinted courtesy of Yaakov (Dry Bones) Kirschen www.DryBonesBlog.blogspot.com.
— by Yaakov Kirschen Today's Golden Oldie is from the Lag Ba'Omer holiday back in 1999. I'm running it today because tonight we'll be celebrating the bon-fire holiday.
Back then we were having an election and Mr. Shuldig had saved all the campaign literature for burning. This year we're also having an election but it hasn't quite started and it's too early to have a stock of campaign leaflets to burn yet.
Editor's Introduction: The statistics in the article by Tami Lehman-Wilzig that follows point to the mitzvah-centered courage that it takes to adopt. The range of feelings and vignettes she shares help us all appreciate the mitzvah of kavod habriot, honor for all who are created. The Other Side of Adoption
— by Tami Lehman-Wilzig
For over a decade my husband has been urging to me to write the book The Other Side of Adoption. "You've got to tell the real story - that it's no picnic." Shuddering at the thought, I always answer: "Too painful, too personal and it will only hurt the boys."
This is Chapter One of a three-part series on the War on Women.
Lilly Ledbetter explains why equal pay for equal work is a civil right, and Mitt Romney should listen.
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was the first bill President Obama signed into law. When asked whether Mitt Romney supports the Act, Romney's campaign replied, "We'll get back to you on that."
From the very beginning of his administration, President Obama has worked to ensure that women are paid fairly for their work. The President is committed to securing equal pay for equal work because it's a matter of fair play, and because American families and the health of our nation's economy depends on it. April 17 was Equal Pay Day, which marks the fact that, nearly 50 years since President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act of 1963, the average woman still has to work well into the calendar year to earn what the average man earned last year.
In conjunction with Equal Pay Day:
The White House released the Equal Pay Task Force Accomplishments Report: Fighting for Fair Pay in the Workplace. The Equal Pay Task Force brings together the best expertise of professionals at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Department of Justice, the Department of Labor and the Office of Personnel Management, who work daily to combat pay discrimination in the workplace. The report details the significant progress that the Task Force has made to fight pay discrimination - including improving inter-agency coordination and collaboration to ensure that the full weight of the federal government is focused on closing the gender pay gap once and for all.
Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis announced the winners of the Equal Pay App Challenge. In January of this year, the Department of Labor, in conjunction with the Equal Pay Task Force, launched this challenge, inviting software developers to use publicly available data and resources to create applications that accomplish at least one of the following goals: provide greater access to pay data organized by gender, race, and ethnicity; provide interactive tools for early career coaching or online mentoring or to help inform negotiations. A solution to the pay gap has been elusive, in part because access to basic information — e.g., typical salary ranges and skill level requirements for particular positions, advice on how to negotiate appropriate pay — is limited. Because of the enthusiastic response to the Equal Pay App Challenge and the creative apps that were developed, anyone with a smartphone, tablet or computer can access answers to these basic, but important, questions. This challenge represents just one more way that women can empower themselves with the tools they need to make sure they get equal pay for equal work.
Finally, in an ongoing effort to educate employees and employers about their rights and responsibilities under our nation's equal pay laws, the Department of Labor's Women's Bureau today published two brochures that will help educate employees regarding their rights under the existing equal pay laws and enable employers to understand their obligations.
From signing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, to creating the National Equal Pay Task Force, to proposing minimum wage and overtime protections for home-care workers - 90% of whom are women - President Obama has made clear his belief that there should be no second class citizens in our workplaces and that making our economy work means making sure it works for everyone.
If only women had a coupon like this, they wouldn't suffer from the wage gap!
Vice President Joe Biden addressed the Rabbinical Assembly National Convention today, in Atlanta, and spoke on issues such as the U.S-Israel relationship, the military cooperation between the two countries and the Obama Administration's commitment to Israel's security.
In his speech, Vice President Biden also expressed his concern about the State of Israel and the international assault attempting to delegitimize Israel as a Jewish state, saying, "I'm more worried about Israel today than I have been any time in my career, because it's a different struggle."
Viral Music Video That Every Women (and Man) Should Watch
The video Bad Romance: Women's Suffrage is Soomo Publishing's moving music video parody of Lady Gaga. The video pays homage to Alice Paul and the generations of brave women who joined together in the fight to pass the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote in 1920. (See Lyrics)
This Sunday is Mother's Day when we honor the women in our lives.
However, in politics, the place of women can not be taken for granted. Just as our matriarchs fought for Women's suffrage a hundred years ago, we must continue to fight to ensure the women in our lives the same rights that men enjoy.
Today, the gender war is being fought at a fevered pitch. As I see it there is action on at least three fronts:
Women made gains on the front for pay equality.
Women held off an assault on the Violence Against Women Act.
Women are losing ground in many states on the reproductive rights front.
Indeed, women are at risk of losing the choice of whether or not to become mothers by banning common forms of birth control, fertility treatment like in-vitro fertilization, and all abortions (even in case of rape).
Over the days leading up to Mother's Day, we will publish a series of report showing the progress women are achieving and the setbacks women are contending with on each front.
In this week's Time magazine, Bill Bradley has a column. Bradley was a three-term US senator, ran against Al Gore in the 2000 presidential primary, was a Rhodes scholar, plus he was some type of athlete. Smart guy. You can read his full column here. I agree with parts of it, disagree with others, and was struck by this:
The Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street offer contrasting examples of citizen involvement. The Tea Party promulgated a very specific objective — roll back government — and immediately converted its energy into electoral politics. The result was that in 2010, 49 Tea Party Republicans won election to Congress. Through their leverage in the Republican caucus, they almost forced the country into bankruptcy during the debate on the debt limit in the summer of 2011. That's how quickly things can change. That's how easily the status quo can crumble. Occupy, on the other hand, while full of passion and solidarity and armed with a catchy slogan — "We're the 99%" — failed to have much of an impact on policy because it had no specific objective. (Emphasis mine.)
Think about it: one election, one group, all that power. And it's more extreme than Bradley counted, if you include the state governments in Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, just to name a few. If you doubt the power of a few, remember that yesterday, Jan Brewer signed legislation effectually banning Planned Parenthood, which Rick Perry did in Texas (now struck down by the courts), and that today marks the Democratic primary to challenge Scott Walker next month, and where Amendment 1 will likely pass in North Carolina.
I don't know that Bradley's conclusion about Occupy is correct: the teabag contingent was already a movement without a name prior to their rising against the ACA in 2009. The people who comprise the teabaggers are the same racist, homophobic, anti-choice, anti-Semitic, gun-toting, poorly-educated, climate change deniers they've always been. The teabag banner just gave them a clubhouse they could all share with their vitriol.
Occupy, on the other hand, is relatively young, and has not yet gone through a legitimate election cycle: we'll see whether or not the power of that voting bloc can be harnessed in November. And it is incumbent on us, the Democrats, to reach out and bring them into our tent. It may be a transient location. In France this past weekend, Sarkozy was ousted and much of his party replaced by Socialists who realize that "austerity" is a disaster, and government spending is the only way for Europe to recover from the sins and excesses of the right wing and their bankers. By 2014, Occupy may well be organized enough to be fielding candidates who legitimately embrace the money-out-of-politics, and related, goals. This year, their choice will be to join us, or sit out the election, possibly causing further inroads on the part of the far right.
It's an "ich kreplach" moment for Occupy. (If you don't know "ich kreplach", it's after the jump.) The idea is that they hate the influence of corporations, their money and their power, on elections, politics, and sadly, democracy. They see both parties as having fallen into the grasp of that money pit. If you ask them about individual issues, Occupy identifies with the mainline Democratic positions: gay marriage, cap and trade, more money for education, etc. In the end though, many do not want to vote because they don't see enough difference between the two major parties, and consider them both equally corrupt.
It is up to US as individuals, to move them from that spot. Bradley's conclusion is different than mine, he thinks the answer lies in expecting more from our politicians, and making them give concrete answers. His conclusion fails in the fact that it's easy to lie, get elected, and change sides. Or just be Mittens and have a position for everyone, given the time of day. My conclusion is that we must realize that the GOP, circa 2012, is the problem, and vanquishing them is the solution. Through any non-violent way possible.
A shout out to John McCain, who is the last Republican to have done something decent. Yesterday, Mittens was faced at a town hall by a woman who said that Obama should be charged with treason. Like all Republican candidates faced with idiocy and racism on the part of an audience member, he just ignored it. Back in 2008, in the single best moment of his campaign, McCain was faced with a woman who said all sorts of nasty things about Obama in a similar forum. McCain took the mic back and said that while he disagreed with Obama on a number of issues, Obama was a decent man, and an American.
Mic check: Vanquish the GOP at the voting booth. Bring everyone you know. It's our only chance.
Israel's Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren
Israel was the featured nation at the Equality Forum, a worldwide LGBT rights conference based in Philadelphia, in May 3-6, 2012.
The forum began with a VIP kickoff reception held at the Gershman Y, Broad and Pine streets. In the lobby of the Gershman, the works of Israeli photographer David Adika were displayed, as part of the 13th Annual Gay and Lesbian Art Exhibit. Titled Equator, Adika's photographs were displayed on the north, east south, and west sides of the lobby, representing similar regions in Israel.
Over the weekend, Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough spoke in front of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy's Weinberg Founders Conference. McDonough covered a wide range of topics regarding the Middle East, but spent a significant amount of time discussing the United States' special relationship with Israel.
This year, as every year, Jewish Women International (JWI) honors the 45,000 women and children spending Mother's Day in battered women's shelters through our annual Flower Project. These families, and the shelters that house them, need aid and resources more urgently than ever.
JWI's Mother's Day Flower Project delivers hope — both in the bouquets, gifts and beauty products we send to 200 shelters across the United States on this special day, and through initiatives, supported by Flower Project proceeds, that work every day to educate communities, empower women and break the cycle of abuse. Over 70 synagogues and organizations have signed on to help raise awareness and funds for this important cause. For each $25 contribution, JWI will send a Mother's Day card to any woman the donor chooses, thanking her for the inspiration to help women in need.
Local Participating Synagogues and Partners:
Kesher Israel Congregation, West Chester, PA.
Beth Israel Congregation of Chester County, Uwchland, PA.
Beth El, Allentown, PA.
Reform Congregation Oheb Sholom, Wyomissing, PA.
Women of Vision - Jeiwsh Community Foundation of Central PA, Harrisburg, PA
JWI Chapter 0368, Batim, Union, NJ
JWI Chapter 0941, Springfield, NJ
Congregation B'nai Jeshurun, Short Hills, NJ
Jersey Tribe, Morristown, NJ
String of Pearls Reconstructionist Synagogue, Princeton, NJ
Temple Har Shalom, Warren, NJ
Participating Local Shelters:
Laurel House, Norritown, PA
Alle-Kiski Area Hope Center, Tarentum, PA
Domestic Violence Center of Chester County, West Chester, PA
Women Against Abuse, Philadelphia, PA
The Safe House, Belleville, NJ
Women Aware, Inc., New Brunswick, NJ
Strength Our Sisters, West Milford, NJ
Jersey Battered Women's Service (JBWS), Morris Plains, NJ
Listed below are three stories, all true. They are things that are going on in America right now, and I'm very interested in determining how many of them you know about. When I bring them up amoungst people I know who read newspapers, read news online, watch tv and are fundamentally "informed", they don't know about all (or sometimes even any) of them. I consider this a problem with the media, who aren't telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Not that they ever did, as a whole, but it seems to be getting worse. Here goes.
#1: This Tuesday, a ballot initiative called "Amendment 1" will appear on North Carolina ballots. It reads:
Constitutional amendment to provide that marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State.
The most heinous part of this proposal is not just that the rights of the minority should NEVER be a ballot issue, but that couples (same sex or male-female) lose all protections they now have. For example, an unmarried woman would lose the legal standing to get a restraining order against her live-in boyfriend.
#2: In Michigan (and to a lesser extent Indiana and New York) Emergency Managers have been put in place to run cities and towns. These folks have the right to invalidate contracts, sell city assets, fire city workers, deny elected officials the right to hold meetings, and fundamentally serve as mini-dictators over all aspects of city government. An attempt was made to put repeal of the enabling legislation on the ballot, but the Board of Canvassers (who needed to certify the petitions) disregarded the position of the Board of Elections, and on a party-line vote deadlocked, therefore denying the ballot issue. Their gripe? The petitions used the wrong font size.
The problem with Emergency Managers is that they completely usurp the democratic process of electing officials, honouring the contracts put in place by those officials, and in general, they don't work out in terms of "saving" the economies of the towns and cities they are charged with running.
#3: Tom Corbett's Pennsylvania budget cuts from schools, infrastructure improvements, Medicaid, food stamps, and everything else reasonable people believe in. Doubtless you knew that, and possibly even knew that with the latest cuts, the total cut this year and next fiscal year specifically to education is about $1 Billion dollars. You probably also knew that the reason Corbett likes cutting school budgets is because he and his friends make money on charter schools. But did you know that the state ended the 2010-2011 fiscal year with a surplus of close to $200 million dollars?
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You are invited to join the Philadelphia Jewish Voice and the Greater Philadelphia Jewish community at the Wells Fargo Center for an exciting, family-friendly evening of arena football as the Philadelphia Soul take on the Pittsburgh Power during the Soul's Jewish Heritage Night, Sunday, June 24 at 6:05 pm. In addition to the non-stop action that arena football brings, the evening will also feature kosher food and Jewish themed entertainment.
— By Eric Lee
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It goes without saying that a civilized society will feed prisoners and keep them healthy.
The Jewish Council for Public Affairs' 14 national member agencies and 125 Community Relations Councils debated and adopted five resolutions expressing the consensus view of the American Jewish community at the JCPA's annual Plenum in Detroit. The resolutions deal with anti-Semitism on campuses, collective bargaining, education equity, gender segregation in Israel, and hydrofracking for natural gas and oil.
Keshet, which works to "ensure that gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Jews are fully included in all parts of the Jewish community" sent the tweet on the right.
This is Chapter 3 of a 3-part series on the 
This Mother's Day Give the Gift that Lasts A Lifetime
This 
— by Anita Bihovsky
— by Hannah Lee
Reprinted courtesy of Yaakov (Dry Bones) Kirschen www.DryBonesBlog.blogspot.com.
In this week's Time magazine, Bill Bradley has a column. Bradley was a three-term US senator, ran against Al Gore in the 2000 presidential primary, was a Rhodes scholar, plus he was some type of athlete. Smart guy. You can read his full column 
