Paul Wallace, in his essay entitled “Breathing Metaphors”, begins with the following exercise which I ask you to do along with me: Settle yourself and breathe with me before we begin. Note how it feels. Pull the cool air in through your nostrils, moving the breath downward into your chest. Fill your lungs slowly and…
As the Director of Education for Jewish World Watch, I spend a large portion of my time talking to adults and students about genocide and mass atrocities, the unrest and fragility across the globe, our obligations as Jews, and the need for all of us to participate in the great but weighty mitzvah of tikkun…
This past Shabbat we read the story of the census. God tells Moses that he should conduct a census of all the Israelite men over the age of 20. There is much to relate to in this parsha, especially in this year when the US census is being conducted. Why does Moses conduct the first…
Can jumping rope help survivors of genocide and mass atrocities? It can when the Hirschhorn sisters get involved! Following in the footsteps of her older sister Michelle, Ariella Hirschhorn is reviving the fundraiser that Michelle started in 2006 as a “Jump for Darfur.” Ariella’s jump-a thon, called “Jump-4-Syrian-Children”, takes place on June 10, 2018, as…
“Just as my dreams have come true in coming [to the Iridimi refugee camp in Chad] to see this [Solar Cooker] project to fruition, here’s hoping the refugees’ dream of going back to their homes in a safe and secure Darfur happens soon… or at least within our lifetime.” – Rachel Andres, Director, Solar Cooker…
I marched on Saturday with 749,999 of my fellow Angelenos: old and young, different races and genders, some wearing hats, and many carrying signs with a plethora of diverse messages. People marched for many different reasons: for women’s rights to gay rights to human rights; from a request for unity to a more divisive declaration…
The Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis Social Justice Fellowship, named to honor JWW’s co-founder, the visionary longtime leader of Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, is a year-long internship for college and graduate-school students. Rabbi Schulweis envisioned a network of students, multiplying annually, who would help to carry out JWW’s mission — to not stand idly by…
In October, JWW launched a new initiative aimed at bringing high school students together from schools throughout L.A. County to develop a cohort of educated teen activists: the JWW Teen Ambassador Program, or TAP. The 2016-17 TAP group, comprised of 21 student Ambassadors from 11 public and private high schools, will meet monthly to learn, share…
It has been said that something as small as the flutter of a butterfly’s wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world. This is the part of Chaos Theory, called the “Butterfly Effect”, that explains that one small change can influence a big change later. The quote has also been used to express…
One of the great pleasures of my job is that I get to work with so many incredible people. Through the Walk to End Genocide in each of its locations, to our advocacy events, fundraisers and speaking engagements, I have come to know hundreds of activists. The youngest activist I met was an adorable three…