Social Justice Initiatives

Your Update From the RAC

Crisis in Afghanistan
More than 20,000 Afghans are trapped in Afghanistan and are targets of violence after a crippling backlog by the U.S. government in processing their Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs). There are also untold numbers of Afghans who are facing violent retaliation, including human rights activists (especially women and girls), journalists, and religious minorities, requiring large scale humanitarian evacuations for those whose lives are in danger.

What can you do?
Click here to read Rabbi Z's blog post on the importance of compassion when responding to the Afghani tragedy.
Click here to learn how you can advocate, volunteer, and stay informed during this crisis. HIAS and other humanitarian organizations need your help.

RAC-NY's Campaign – Voting Rights
Last November, despite the pandemic and a patchwork of barriers to the ballot box across the country, more than 159 million Americans voted in the 2020 elections, the highest rates seen in over a century. However, some elected officials want to roll back this progress by creating more barriers to vote. 

The For the People Act (H.R. 1/S. 1) and John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act are two of the most significant pro-voter bills in generations; however, they face obstacles to passage in Congress. By educating our family, friends, networks, and urging our elected officials to support these bills, we can help ensure that all Americans have their freedom to vote protected no matter their race, background, or zip code.

Together we can ensure that all Americans have their freedom to vote protected no matter their race, background, or zip code.

RAC-NY's Campaign – Parole Reform
In a major victory for RAC-NY, the Less Is More NY Coalition, and for racial justice in New York State, Less Is More parole reform passed the New York State Legislature on June 10! Thank you and Kol HaKavod – good job! – to all who participated. It was truly a group effort. We now look to Governor Cuomo to pass the Less is More bill – preventing the imprisonment of thousands of people in NY State who have completed their prison sentence for minor technical parole violations. African Americans are imprisoned for technical parole violations at five times the rates of white people in New York.  

If you would like a little more information to understand why we are supporting this, click here for a short video. Together we will move New York State toward racial justice. 

HIAS's Initiative – Immigration Reform
Thank you to those who have participated in our Welcome Letter to Congress. We are currently setting up lobbying calls with our state legislators to urge their support of The Grace Act which addresses immigration reform. Learn More

What can you do?
To participate in one of these calls, please email Mara Silverstein. 

RAC-NY (Religious Action Center-New York) is the statewide social justice effort of the Reform Movement representing 99 Reform Jewish congregations and 150,000 Reform Jews throughout New York State. RAC-NY is focused on increasing the Jewish values of wholeness, justice, and compassion in New York state policy. 

HIAS, founded as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society in 1881 to assist Jews fleeing pogroms in Russia and Eastern Europe, HIAS has touched the life of nearly every Jewish family in America and now welcomes all who have fled persecution. HIAS works around the world to protect refugees who have been forced to flee their homelands because of who they are, including ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities. For more than 130 years, HIAS has been helping refugees rebuild their lives in safety and dignity.