It’s that time of year again, global Jewish Social Action Month, at www.Cheshvan.org.  To watch the JSAM video, click here.

Shana tova!

There is something magical about bringing together two worlds.  Having my two oldest daughters with me, Aliza (15) and Hallel (13), along with Susan and our various nannies through time in Newton, was a great experience. This was an anniverary present for ourselves (16 years so far). The T shirts the girls got, with Paul McCartney in English as well as Hebrew lettering for Tel Aviv, is priceless.

Some Peoplehood highlights:

**  63 years after the end of the Shoah, sitting with nearly 50,000 mostly Jews, lighters and cell phones raised, and singing “Hey Jude” over and over again.  “Take a sad song/and make it better.”  

**  Sitting with so many people, including soldiers in uniform, singing “all we are saying/is give peace a chance.”   That’s in stark contrast to the threats to assassinate the Beatle by Islamic fundamentalists for appearing in Israel. 

**  Having organized many demonstrations against the USSR for Soviet Jewry, and sitting with Adin, son of my activist friend Jacob Ner David, who also rallied against the Soviets, and then to rock in Tel Aviv to “Back in the USSR.”  Very strange, especially since probably 10% of the audience was Russian origin (my estimate) and it was the Soviets who sold the arms to the Syrians and Egyptians for their Yom kippur war assault. 

**  Hebrew. Paul really made an effort, and not just shalom. He dedicated “My Love” in Hebrew to Linda, Shana tova-ed several times, beckoned us all to sing at times with “kulam” and more.

All in all, a magical evening in Tel Aviv during Elul.

Click here for a great video by Sarah, initiated by Mik Moore, to get grandkids to shlepp to Florida to get their grandparents to vote for Barak.  We’re proud of Sarah! 

From Jeremy Moses on MJL: “…late last week, I started a discussion on  Yossi Abramowitz’s article about the merits of encouraging women who can’t find a Jewish husband to intermarry.  You should join in.”

Jeremy misses some key points:

1)  Most of normative Judaism considers religion is passed down via the mother, so men and women do not necessarily face the same dillema.

2)  Women tend to have more influence on the way the children are raised.

3)  You can prefer to be against intermarriage–a preference I share–but that preference can do little to nothing to affect the future of the Jewish People. 

Fight on. Yossi

Globes Article – Sept. 14^th, 2008

Following the Sun – Good News for Consumers:  The Israel Land Administration will Grant Full Exemption on Installation of Solar Panels on Rooftops

This decision was reached following the request of the Minister of Infrastructure, Benyamin (Fuad) Ben Eliezer – the Energy Companies are satisfied: “The decision will promote renewable energies”

Lior Baron and Dalia Tal

Recently the ILA retracted on two major decisions that would have been highly detrimental to the feasibility of producing solar electricity in Israel. Last week (Wednesday) ILA’s committee decided that it would grant full exemption on payment of license fees for installing arrays for renewable energies on rooftops.

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Kol hakavod to the Israel Lands Administration and to the Minister of Infrastructure on being open to reconsider previous positions and figure out how to work together with the emerging solar industry to create the right regulatory climate. Click here for details.

The New York Jewish Week has an excellent article, on an excellent person and an excellent study on the growth in social justice work in the American Jewish Community. Click here to read.  The Nathan Cummings Foundation has been a key driver of this growth over the years.

The only glaring omission from the Cummings’ study is the role of the Internet so far, with recommendations on the future. They have played over the years a major role in funding www.SocialAction.com, which has had over a million readers over the years and which is one of the engines of global Jewish Social Action Month, another concept and intiative missing from the Cummings report.  Networks, along with the organizations, are going to be key in scaling up Jews doing social justice as Jews.  Mazel tov to Cummings and everyone on the Jewish Week’s recognition of this major achievement in American Jewish life.

Get involved and Make a differenceJewish Social Action Month 2008www.cheshvan.org  -  jsam@koldor.orgOctober 30-November 27, 2008

Cheshvan 5769

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