According to Jewish legend, humanity’s first woman was Lilith — said to be the biblical Adam’s first wife, even before Eve. As the story goes, in the earliest days of Creation, she pointed out to Adam: “The two of us are equal, since we are both from the earth!” And yet, the work for gender equality continues into our contemporary times, and into this country.

That’s why we’re so excited that, 100 years after the first introduction of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in Congress, the Senate is set to affirm the amendment’s validity to support equal rights and end discrimination based on gender and sex. The ERA is as important today as it was then, especially as the rights we as a society have relied on to protect women and the LGBTQ+ community are being rolled back.

To expand the meaning of the Constitution, we need to amend it. That is why we need the ERA, which provides an explicit prohibition against discrimination on the basis of sex.

The ERA is being voted on in the Senate for the first time in years with a resolution to remove the deadline on the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. We need all hands on deck to get as many Senators on record supporting the ERA as possible.

As Jews, we believe we should always be striving for our vision of a more whole world, and the ERA helps get us there. Please tell your lawmakers to vote to remove the time limit and affirm the ERA today.