By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal
SAN DIEGO — It’s not often that one sees a verse from the weekly parasha brought to life.
In Parashat Shoftim God demands: tzedek tzedek tirdof – Justice, justice, shall you pursue. (Deut. 16:20) Our Etz Hayim commentary observes: “The well-being of society depends neither on the goodwill of the ruler nor on the ascendance of the most capable in a competitive environment but on the certainty that the law will treat all alike and will protect the most vulnerable against the most powerful.”
The protection of the vulnerable was a key theme at the ceremony Judy and I attended in Los Angeles this week. Our daughter, Margalit, was being recognized as one of seventeen Los Angeles Global Justice Fellows who had completed their yearlong study and travel program with the American Jewish World Service.
American Jewish World Service (AJWS) is unique among Jewish organizations in that its emphasis is not on Israel or the Jewish community, but rather on marginalized populations in underdeveloped countries (countries they refer to as “the Global South”).
According to its website, since its founding in 1985, “AJWS has remained true to our founders’ vision and commitment to tzedakah: empowering people throughout the world to achieve justice and self-sufficiency through the promotion of human rights, education, economic development, healthcare and sustainable agriculture.”
The Global Justice Fellows from Los Angeles traveled to Oaxaca, Mexico and Mexico City to learn about the life and challenges of the local population. As the Fellows shared their experiences, we learned about the poverty and family violence that exists among the indigenous populations of Mexico. Particularly moving were the stories they told about women who were in physically abusive relationships who were able to better their relationships with their husbands or find safe shelter.
The Fellows also told about their trip to Washington, D.C. where they met with government representatives and urged them to do more to champion the human rights of women, girls, and LGBT peoples worldwide, specifically through AJWS’s current “We Believe” campaign.
The campaign urges Congress to pass the International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA), which was fortuitously introduced in the Senate by Barbara Boxer just days before the DC trip, in the aftermath of the kidnapping of more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls.
Particularly moving for me was how the Fellows, who ranged in age from 22 to 68, and the AJWS Los Angeles staff, spoke of how their motivation to fight injustice is based in Jewish tradition. They did not speak in generalizations about their Judaism being defined by acts of tikkun ha-olam (perfecting the world), but rather about how specific texts they had studied and the Jewish lives they led brought them to care deeply about poverty and violence in the world. One of them specifically cited this week’s parasha: tzedek tzedek tirdof – Justice, justice, shall you pursue.
As I often say, Judaism contains particularistic and humanistic elements. Sometimes we are enjoined to take care of our own and other times we are commanded to care for the other. I was pleased to hear how these AJWS Global Justice Fellows were able to use their Jewish commitment and knowledge to lead them to care for and help the vulnerable and the oppressed.
For more information about the American Jewish World Service and its programs, please click here
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Rabbi Rosenthal is spiritual leader of Tifereth Israel Synagogue in San Diego. He may be contacted via leonard.rosenthal@sdjewishworld.com