This week I did something that unfortunately very few Americans get the opportunity to do. I traveled to Washington DC to speak truth to power. I went to the American Jewish World Service Policy Summit on Reducing Violence against Women, Girls and the LGBT community worldwide.
When we arrived in Washington, we counted the omer and were reminded that like the wheat our actions count. Congressman Engel told us “Don’t ever think you can’t ever make a difference. Your voice counts.”
Think globally. Act locally. I had a chance to do both. Act locally and globally.
I am a Global Justice Fellow for American Jewish World Service. It is part of my rabbinic professional development. It helps me learn a global context that I can then apply locally to my congregation and my town. It allows me to meet other rabbis and lay leaders who are committed to Tikkun Olam, repairing the world, which is one of our highest Jewish values.
I have long supported American Jewish World Service. Since my friend and colleague Rabbi Katy Allen traveled with them to El Salvador as a rabbinical student I have been aware of the fine work that AJWS does on the ground. Currently in 19 countries. They were instrumental in Haiti because they were already there. They are working diligently in Nepal, because they are already there.
Their method is to vet local partners to deliver the services necessary to reduce poverty. What they discovered is that in order to deliver services, it is critical to reduce violence first, especially against women and girls and the LGBT community.
When I applied for the fellowship, I didn’t fully understand what their current focus was. I thought I would go on the international travel portion of the fellowship and build a wall or dig a well. It would be like my version of the Peace Corps. But they have discovered that middle-aged rabbis are not so good at wall building and well digging. We are good at listening, storytelling and spreading the world. We build bridges that way.
The topic of the reduction of violence against women and girls in particular is one that I have worked on for a long time, locally. I wrote part of my rabbinic thesis on it. I have staffed a rape and domestic violence hotline. I worked as a mikveh guide and educator at Mayyim Hayyim. I produced a film about Mayyim Hayyim. I served on the Jewish Domestic Violence Taskforce and currently am the chairperson of the 16th and 23rd Circuit Court Faith Committee on Domestic Violence.
One in three women will be abused sometime in their lifetime. It is a staggering figure. I know that in every congregation I have served there are people that have wrestled with this issue. They come to me and they tell me their stories. They are the victims. The survivors. I do this work for them.
So yet again I got trained.
We heard people speak passionately about why this matters.
We heard the painful stories, like the one from Haiti. After the earthquake, girls in the refugee camps had to walk quite some distance to go to the latrines at night. Frequently they were attacked and raped on their way. They started wearing three pairs of jeans because they figured that if they were attacked, and they screamed, someone would come to their help before all the layers could be removed. AJWS heard their plight and began providing lights for the camps. The girls then began to organize patrols and the violence was reduced.
We learned how to write an op-ed and a letter to the editor. About the lede (or lead), the nut graph, the kicker, the devils advocate. I hope that coaching will help also with sermon writing and my blog.
We met with our lobby captain for Illinois and I helped plan our strategy for speaking to members of Congress. Not all our meetings would be easy, but we would have the opportunity to thank Senator Kirk for being a co-sponsor of the International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA). My congregation had already made valentines back in February to thank him. Maybe we could even convince Congressman Roskam’s office to take another look at the bill and become a co-signer, like Kirk and Gibson. Gibson, as a Republican spoke to us powerfully about his experiences in Iraq. He explained we need this bill for all our mothers, daughters and wives. For him it is a national security issue.
On Wednesday morning, we left our hotel and walked to Capitol Hill. It is always thrilling to speak truth to power. I have been to Washington for this reason before. On behalf of Soviet Jews. To save Darfur (which started as an AJWS and US Holocaust Museum project). For Israel. As a Girl Scout.
Seven Congressmen joined us for breakfast on the Hill. I was in the second row. We were told by Representative Deutch, D. FL that “The work that you will do today is as important as any you will do in your life. Rep Deutch. Check. Do not stand idly by while your neighbor bleeds. Welcome the widow, the orphan the stranger. Check. This is important work.
Judaism places a high value on saving lives. If you save one life it is as though you have saved the world. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schulz was late for our breakfast meeting because as she explained, she was at a hearing to put local laws in place for swimming pools in DC that will save young lives. And she joked about speaking to a room full of curly haired women! Jan Schakowsky dazzled us with her commitment and her passion. A freshman congressman from New York explained that his rabbi told him he had to go to the meeting.
This trip was different. As I walked across the street to get my Starbucks, I could see the Capitol dome. I was going to Congress to speak on my issue. In that instant, I had an epiphany. I figured out the language I could use to make my voice count. To give this issue the necessary gravitas.
Not everyone gets to go to Washington and speak to members of the Congress and the Senate. Not everyone gets a chance to speak out on the issues that matter most. Not everyone gets to make a difference locally and globally.
It was simple.
I am passionate about the Congress passing the International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA) because I am one of those one in three.
And in that instant I realized how far I have come in my own personal journey and my own healing. And I cried. My voice counts.
Thank you AJWS for your passion and compassion and commitment to Tikkun Olam. Thank you for giving me the courage to find me voice (again). And thank you to Congregation Kneseth Israel for understanding how this professional development benefits CKI, Elgin and the world.