In my synagogue, after the Torah reading on Saturday, we recite the customary prayer for our country. You probably remember that it begins, “Our God and God of our ancestors: We ask your blessings for our country — for its government, for its leaders and advisers, and for all who exercise just and rightful authority ....”

This week that prayer will have a special meaning for me. No explanation is necessary. We all feel it, even those who did not vote for Barack Obama.

This is an auspicious time for those who advocate a progressive agenda. It is also a precarious time. As a new team of leaders assume that "just and rightful authority," we need to do more than ask for divine blessing. We need to engage (and in many cases to re-engage) ourselves in the task of repairing the world and perfecting the country that we love.

And let us say, Amen.

The Application states that it "has been brought on behalf of a coalition of diverse national, regional, statewide and local religious and faith organizations, as well as individual clergy and faith leaders from across California. .... By submitting this Application, these organizations and individuals hope to lend strength in numbers to the objections and concerns that religious groups have already described to the Court and to demonstrate that the vocal religious proponents of Proposition 8 do not speak for all of, or even most of, the faith-based community in California."

In summary, the applicants "believe that same-sex couples should be afforded the same fundamental rights as different-sex couples to participate in the State-sanctioned institution of marriage."

In the text of the Application, JSPAN's Statement of Interest is listed third in the section on the rationales of seven "national" organizations for joining the argument. Kudos to the JSPAN Legal Committee for receiving such recognition from their interfaith partners working on this effort, and our heartfelt thanks for the many hours spent drafting a separate JSPAN brief before the decision was made to sign on to this document!

To read JSPAN's Statement of Interest, click here. (Note the reference to Rabbi Rebecca Alpert's new book, "Whose Torah? A Concise Guide to Progressive Judaism." Please see details in this newsletter about a JSPAN-sponsored program with the author on February 26.)

To read the brief submitted by the California Council of Churches and the Progressive Jewish Alliance, click here.

On Sunday, January 18, a band of hardy souls braved the frigid weather and the competition of the NFL playoff game to visit the Arden Theatre for a performance of the new play “My Name Is Asher Lev.” Based on the novel by Chaim Potok, and created in partnership with JSPAN Board member Adena Potok, the play dramatizes the story of a brilliant artist born into an Orthodox Jewish family. As the title character struggles to reconcile his responsibilities as a dutiful son and an observant Jew with his need to express his extraordinary artistic talent, we meet several characters who are important to his development as both an artist and a man. With only three actors, the play conveys a strong sense of both the Orthodox and the artistic communities as well as the maturation of Asher Lev.

After the performance, Adena and the actors shared their insights about the book, the play, and individual characters. The audience learned about some of the choices that a playwright has to make when adapting a work of literature for the stage and the challenge of making the Orthodox Jewish world comprehensible to general audiences.

Following the discussion, our JSPAN group enjoyed wine and delicious hors d’oeuvres and an opportunity to talk further with Adena and each other about the play. It was a delightful afternoon! (though we were all concerned about the Eagles, who clearly needed our help.)

We are at a crucial moment. A new President who has pledged to end the genocide in Darfur has taken office. With a full slate of challenges facing the incoming administration, we must not allow the situation in Darfur to be forgotten. Together, we can ensure that bringing peace and security to Darfur is a Day One priority.

Your voice is needed. The American Jewish World Service is asking all of us to take a moment to sign a postcard to President Obama. Be one of the million voices calling for U.S. leadership to finally bring an end to the genocide in Darfur.

To send a message to the President today, click here.

Thank you for standing with the people of Darfur.

The January 13 issue of Haaretz.com included a guide to watching "Waltz With Bashir." The guide was produced by Makom - the Israel Engagement Network, a partnership since 2004 between North American Jewish communities and the Jewish Agency. To access the guide, click here.

Some induction centers, known as Military Entrance Processing Stations (MEPS), had been granting Gideons International and other organizations special access to recruits in order to provide Bibles and religious messages on the day of their induction. After it was discovered that this privilege was being offered to a select group, the American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to the commanding officer of MEPS in August 2007 to determine the extent to which religious and non-religious organizations were permitted to circulate literature.

The Military Entrance Processing Command's new rule, instituted on November 6, 2008, establishes an equal access principle to the 65 MEPS, that allows organizations to provide secular or religious literature in the facilities to avoid the "impression that the government is sponsoring, endorsing or inhibiting religion generally, or favoring or disfavoring a particular religion." This remedy ensures that the First Amendment rights of potential service members will be protected in these facilities.

"The new rule strikes the right constitutional balance by preserving religious liberty without showing governmental favoritism for one religion or belief over another," said Dr. T. Jeremy Gunn, Director of the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief.

To read the new Command policy, click here.

If signed into law, this legislation would reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), providing healthcare coverage to low-income children in working families that earn too much to qualify for Medicaid coverage but not enough to afford private insurance. The bill extends coverage to an additional 4.1 million children, covering over 11 million children across the United States in total. Both the U.S. House and Senate approved similar legislation in the 110th Congress, but a final children's healthcare bill was never signed into law.

A significant improvement to this year's bill is the inclusion of a provision that will waive the five-year waiting period for legal immigrant children and pregnant women. This provision would allow those two groups to get urgent medical care regardless of the number of years they have legally lived in the United States.

The full Senate is expected to consider similar legislation in the coming weeks. Advocacy groups across the country are urging Senate members to recognize that no legal resident of the United States who is eligible for SCHIP should be denied access to the program based on his or her country of origin.

JSPAN urges its readers to contact their Senators about supporting the SCHIP legislation. Click here to find telephone numbers and e-mail addresses of Senate members.

Roberta Fahn Schoffman is the IPF's representative in Jerusalem.

Israel cautiously welcomed a unilateral ceasefire on Saturday night that promised to bring the boys home from the front after three long and difficult weeks. Twelve hours later, Hamas announced their own ceasefire and gave Israelis one week to withdraw. Israel aimed to do even better and decided to remove all troops by the time the official inauguration ceremony of Barak Obama was to commence in Washington DC. The hope here is that this belated nod of consideration to the new president at the moment he assumes his crisis-driven agenda will allow him to at least start off on a better footing with Israel when he begins to focus on his Middle East policy.

The optimistic among Israelis hope this fragile Israel-Hamas truce will usher in a period of enduring security and quiet on both sides of the Gaza-Israel border. The realists know that it won’t be that simple and violations resulting in more firefights and attacks are expected. Meanwhile, the naysayers believe that the unilateral move is a recipe for disaster, handing Hamas a cynical victory that will fuel even more deadly bombardments against Israel while reinforcing their political strength in Gaza and the region. Given the relentless history of this conflict, it is hard to know. What we do know is the unbearable loss of life and massive destruction that spread across that daunting strip of land. We also know that until a long-term agreement is reached and both sides resolve to live in peace with the other, no one can celebrate.

For Israelis, the 2:00 A.M. order to cease fire marked the end of the Gaza war and the beginning of the election battle. From that moment on, the unity that characterized Israeli opinion during this operation, and the high marks generously given to Defense Minister Barak and even Prime Minister Olmert, will become a thing of the past. The gloves are off even before the bodies are counted. With just three weeks to go, we can expect the war to loom large in this election campaign and to see critical military and diplomatic decisions of the operation dissected with a political scalpel. This truncated campaign, cut short by the war, means that politicians and their consultants have a lot to make up for and it is bound to be bloody.

Please remember that JSPAN welcomes your donations to help us continue our important and effective work in Tikkun Olam. You may send gifts via PayPal on www.jspan.org. or to JSPAN, 1735 Market Street, Suite #A417, Philadelphia, PA 19103