Last night we had dinner in Evanston at a lovely Italian restaurant. It seemed a little surreal. Small plates of pasta laden with black truffles or butternut squash, bruschetta with tuna, capers, lemon and fennel, gourmet Italian cheeses, good bread, roasted garlic. Good conversation. Time seemed to stop. We could have sat there all night into the wee small hours of the morning.

We were meeting with the organizer Amit Smotrich, for Chicago with American Jewish World Service. Our conversation covered easy topics like what to pack for the trip to Kenya. What the balance might be between hands on service projects, meeting with partners and government officials, and would we get to go on a safari. Serious life or death topics like 19,000 food insecure people in Elgin and why U-46 may not be able to provide school breakfasts any more. Really–while eating black truffle pasta!  How do we talk about peace in the Middle East without being polarizing?

How to pass the International Violence Against Women Act in the US House of Representatives when my sitting congressman voted against the domestic bill. Why the rights of women have been linked to abortion. Why in order to deliver poverty services in Africa with AJWS and its NGO partners you need to end violence against women. Duh! Check out their campaign. It is a no brainer and you can sign a petition to your own congress person supporting this action.

http://webelieve.ajws.org