Our day began with a meeting at Tel Aviv University’s NCJW Center for Women and Gender Studies. I was so proud to introduce our guests to Hannah Naveh, founder of the program that began 14 years ago. Hannah recalled, “What NCJW has done for us is unimaginable. No university in Israel had a program for gender studies. NCJW came here when there were no such programs anywhere in this region, invested in teaching students and helped launch a field of study that has transformed knowledge.” She thanked Nan Rich, Susan Katz, and Jan Schneiderman for their vision and their commitment. There are now 135 graduate students in the program.

More recently, the NCJW Women’s Forum has added an important supplementary component, and its head, Professor Daphne Hacker from the Faculty of Law, also spoke with us. The Forum meets on Fridays when hundreds of women come to the campus to listen and learn about a range of topics concerning women’s issues. Four students from the program joined us to discuss their own research and interests. Yifat, one of the students, came to the program after working as a lawyer because she wanted to better understand the issues facing her women clients. Professor Naveh closed the meeting and discussion with a D’var Torah about Purim and Queen Vashti’s role in the Purim story – “she stood up to the King and said no!”

[More]

It is late and I am tired, but so much has happened  today I couldn’t wait to write about the amazing experiences!

Our day began in  Akko with a tour of the historic old city. We then proceeded to Haifa. Haifa is Boston’s “sister city” in Israel, and after my many years as director of the Boston JCRC doing countless projects in Haifa, the city feels like my second home.

We began our day at the Haifa Feminist Center, which was founded in 1983 and is the oldest grassroots feminist organization in Israel. Its unique structure combines a number of feminist organizations under one umbrella into a non-hierarchical, collaborative force for change. Under the umbrella there is Kayan (an Arab feminist organization whose members we met with yesterday), Oswat (an Arab LGBT organization), a rape crisis hotline and counseling program, and the violence against women prevention program. We heard from representatives of each program about their work and the obstacles they face.We also heard from Hannah Safran, one of the founders of the Center and early leaders of Israel’s feminist movement.

[More]

Our CEO Nancy K. Kaufman, along with the Israel Action Network is leading a week-long study tour in Israel for a group of progressive women leaders from the US. Read her dispatches all week at the NCJW Insider.

We just finished our second day of the Progressive Women Leaders trip to Israel and it was jam-packed.

We began the day meeting with Dr. Dalia Fadila, a Muslim educator whom I had gotten to know in New York City when we co-sponsored a program with the Inter-Agency Taskforce on Arab Issues.

Dalia travelled a couple of hours from her home to be with us. Dalia is an amazing, inspiring woman. She shared with us her experience as a highly educated Muslim woman challenging the status quo to improve opportunities for younger generations of women. After serving as Acting President of Al Quasimi Academy and being passed over for the permanent position by a man two levels below her, Dalia decided to start her own supplementary schools, teaching English to young Arab girls. Dalia is a true role model for the up-and-coming generation of Israeli Arab women who are passionate about improving their communities.

[More]

We just finished our first day of what is going to be an extraordinary study tour in Israel with a dozen national progressive women leaders from all over the country. Represented are women who are activists in LGBT issues, unions, legal assistance for immigrants, reproductive justice, and preventing violence against women — including trafficking and empowerment programs for women and girls.

The group arrived today tired but very happy and thankful to be part of this special trip. We began the day at the port in Caesaria where we had an introductory session and a brief tour of the ruins. We then headed for Akko, a city north of Haifa that has a mix of Jewish and Arab residents. Here we are staying in a beautiful old building, once a courthouse. It became a small hotel with only 16 rooms — and we have them all!

[More]

by Madeline Shepherd, NCJW Legislative Aide

Part of the #HERVotes blog carnival on the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). 

When I was a senior in college, the reality of domestic violence—and specifically teen dating violence—hit closer to home than any study or statistic ever could. I was preparing to graduate when another student killed his girlfriend, who was a sophomore at the time. Shock and sadness of indescribable depth enveloped our campus, a small community where you knew most of the faces you passed on the sidewalk. Overnight, we were pitched into a national debate about dating violence and mental health. Reporters roamed the grounds and snapped pictures of the candles and photographs assembled to honor the victim. We mourned as best we could, while the story was splashed across major news networks. Our paths have diverged, but every student present that day carries the memory we wish we didn’t share.

According to the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence, three women are murdered by their partners every day in the United States. By my calculations that breaks down to one woman killed in the eight hours I spend at work; one for my time attending class, eating dinner, and relaxing with my roommates; and a third for the hours I’m asleep and preparing for another day.

[More]

by Phyllis Snyder, NCJW President (2005-2008) 

I have been attending NCJW Washington Institutes since the 1980’s.  And, every one of them has been exhilarating, motivating, educational, and unique in its own way. I, like many NCJW advocates, speak out regularly and effectively through the online work of the NCJW Action Center. But during those few days of Washington Institute, I get to be where the center of the action is – in Washington, DC – hearing about the key topics of the day; learning from experts in the field; and doing my advocacy face-to-face with my legislators as we take “our issues” up to Capitol Hill.

[More]

Cheers and whoops greeted President Clinton as he made ready to sign the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) in the White House Rose Garden on February 5, 1993. I was fortunate enough to be one of the exuberant on-lookers that day 20 years ago and believe me formal applause just wouldn’t do on that special day. This very first bill signing for President Clinton was the culmination of nine long years of hard work on the part of a diverse, national coalition led by what was then the Women’s Legal Defense Fund (now National Partnership for Women and Families).

Mixed into the crowd with First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, senators and representatives, and administration officials were those of us who made the day possible – leaders from organizations like NCJW that educated and mobilized their constituents to speak out for a new labor standard that took into account the needs of working families.

[More]

by Carole Levine, NCJW vice president

Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her in dance with timbrels. And Miriam chanted for them…          

In the Torah portion for Shabbat Shira (January 26, 2013), we can not only visualize, but we can hear the voices of women, celebrating a victory over Pharaoh. While we don’t often hear the voice of women in the Torah, more and more writings and commentaries bring us a feminist perspective. The voices and impact of Jewish women have been a component of social justice throughout our history.

For me, elevating the voices of women is personal. Perhaps this is because I have been raising my own voice since the age of five when I expressed discomfort in having to recite the Lord’s Prayer every morning in my public school kindergarten. My habit of speaking out continued through middle and high school directed wherever I saw injustice and beyond. But I did not really understand the importance and value of women’s voices until I directed my activism to women’s issues and to broader social justice issues from a Jewish woman’s perspective.

[More]

by Judi Wolf, Chair of the Play It Safe Campaign, NCJW Cleveland Section

Since last year’s horrific tragedies involving firearms, suggestions as to how to stop this problem have been coming forward in articles, editorials, and social media. So, too, have suggestions on where to put the blame: violence in movies, TV, and electronic games; the lack of sufficient mental health services; the proliferation of firearms with the ability for mass shooting; and the loose laws that easily allow for the purchase of illegal firearms.

Here in the NCJW Cleveland (OH) Section our advocacy committee works in coalitions, working together to ensure a safer environment by reducing illegal gun trafficking and ensuring the enforcement of laws concerning legal gun purchasing. We also spend a considerable amount of time advocating for sensible gun laws. These efforts, tied up with political wrangling, will take time to bear fruit.

[More]

By Julie Lowenberg, NCJW Board Director

“Judges Needed for Federal Courts – President Obama and the Senate must make filling the judiciary a paramount priority,” said a New York Times editorial published on December 13, the day that NCJW (with co-sponsors: Alliance for Justice, Center for American Progress, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and People for the American Way Foundation) convened “Courts Matter”, a two-day training workshop on this timely topic. Held in Dallas, TX, the workshop included participants representing diverse organizations in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, the states that make up the 5th Circuit of the Federal Judiciary. NCJW members attending with me were LA SPA Ina Davis and Jill Zimmerman from New Orleans Section, Marlene Cohen TX SPA, Joy Friedman (Houston Section).

[More]