Reverend William H. Gray, III, is an ordained Baptist minister who served 13 years in the United States House of Representatives, from 1978 until 1991. A Democrat, he rose to the powerful role of majority whip, the third most important post in the House, and the most powerful elected African American leader in the United States. Throughout his service in Congress, Rev. Gray also continued to hold down the post of senior pastor at the Bright Hope Baptist Church in Philadelphia. He resigned from Congress to begin a 13-year career as head of the United Negro College Fund.

Also joining the program was Justice Sandra Schultz Newman, a Republican, who resigned from the bench at the beginning of 2007 to head the national appellate practice at the Cozen O'Connor law firm. In 1995, Justice Newman became the first woman elected to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the oldest court in the United States. She previously served as an elected judge on the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court.

With the program held in March, JSPAN has opened up a topic that deserves further analysis and discussion. Of course, no single program and no two speakers could evaluate this knotty subject alone. But they have launched us on a serious study.

Conventionally, we in the Jewish community see the issue as one of protecting the freedom to be ourselves. We don't wish to be told by politicians that this is a Christian country, although surely there is as much truth in that statement as in much else we hear from those on the election stump. We don't want to hear a politician urge a position because the Bible or other religious work says so.

But those who become politicians, like the rest of us, were assigned a religion at birth; if there are atheists in electoral politics, it is difficult to identify them. Indeed many of us want to know that our elected representatives can be trusted, and we place "God-fearing" among the qualities that we think may justify our trust. How can we ask a candidate to be "God-fearing," but not explicitly accept the binding force of any particular body of religious rules? This is one of the difficult balancing acts we place before the politicians.

Senators Clinton, Obama and McCain will be represented by three members of the US Congress who are playing key roles in their campaigns. Jonathan Tobin, editor of the Jewish Exponent, will moderate.

Sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia and the Jewish Exponent.

Please reserve your place via email scamara@philafederation.org.

Congressman Holt is still at it - and if Americans are going to vote on paper ballots by November, we're down to the wire! A new emergency bill was introduced on January 17 in the House. The bill urges election officials to switch from electronic machines to paper ballots and audits, with Congress paying for the move.

After spending millions of dollars on the electronic machines, election officials are reluctant to spend more money switching to paper ballots. However, if Congress pays the cost, more and more states and counties will be using them in November. Many states, including Florida, Ohio and Colorado, are already replacing electronic voting machines with paper ballots. But other battleground states, including Pennsylvania, are still using flawed, insecure and hackable machines.

The Emergency Assistance for Secure Elections Act (H.R. 5036) provides money for upgrading to paper-based voting, as well as funds to conduct audits of paper records. As the New York Times stated in its editorial of January 16, "The ultimate solution to the problem of electronic voting is a national law requiring voter-verified paper records, something Congress has been inexcusably slow in adopting. As a temporary measure, however, Mr. Holt's legislation is a good step forward."

JSPAN urges its readers to encourage their legislators in the House to co-sponsor H.R. 5036. Click here to find contact information for House members. Time is running out for voting reform this November!

The Darfur Alert Coalition is holding a public rally Sunday, April 13, at noon, as part of an annual day of worldwide demonstrations. With the Beijing "Genocide Olympics" on the horizon, and the Olympic torch about to arrive in the U.S., China’s shameful role as Sudan's enabler is the main focus of our collective Global Day for Darfur protests.

We’ll be at Philadelphia's crossroads – the west plaza of City Hall at Broad and Market Streets – from noon to 2 p.m. We'll have a Tent of Hope set up, and lots of petitions for people to sign. With the Pennsylvania presidential primary heating up, help us take this opportunity to raise awareness about world inaction and show people how they can get involved.

And bring your cameras: With the primary campaign going full tilt, we're inviting the presidential candidates to stop by!

To sign up, email us at info@darfuralert.org

Please contact your legislator to ask for support for H.B. 1140. Click here to access telephone numbers of Pennsylvania State Senate members

Holocaust education is essential to building a society and a world where all people are aware of the evils of hatred and the potential for human destruction. The Holocaust is a very difficult subject to teach. Often educators who work with this material need special training and assistance. By providing additional resources, this bill would give teachers and their students the opportunity to confront this dark period in world history in a more meaningful way.

Agencies within the Jewish Federation system may be eligible for grants.

JSPAN urges our readers to call their Senators and Representatives and ask them to co-sponsor the Simon Wiesenthal Holocaust Education Assistance Act.

• The current list of Senate co-sponsors can be found here.
• The current list of House co-sponsors can be found here.

Things are not always what they seem, but sometimes they are. Public rhetoric is sometimes over the top. The same person can speak hateful words and words of beauty. Context isn't everything, but it is a lot.

Herewith, some quotes of more than passing interest. You may want to see, as you're reading, whether you can identify the source.

"So we will mercilessly, viciously, effectively attack and destroy all kinds of symptoms. When the rubble has settled and the dust is gone, the disease is still going to be out there untouched. Because we don't want to look at why, why it is that all of these people hate us. It’s not because of freedom. It's not because Britney Spears has a belly button or because we export hamburgers. They hate us because of things they see us doing to their part of the world that they definitely do not like."

The source: Edward Peck, former chief of mission at the American embassy in Iraq, former ambassador to Mauritania, deputy director of covert intelligence programs at the State Department and deputy director of the White House Task Force on Terrorism in the Reagan Administration, in a CNN interview on October 11, 2001.

Applicants for food stamps must have incomes close to poverty level. The economic slowdown, coupled with the rise in prices of basic commodities and the expected growth in unemployment, are causing officials in the Congressional Budget office to project "a continued increase in the monthly number of recipients in the next fiscal year, starting Oct. 1."

Food stamps, an entitlement program put in place by Congress, has been hailed as an effective safety net for those households living with poverty. However, there has been a steady decline over the years in the value of the stamps and the real benefits that they offer. The current spike in food stamp use is being seen across the country, with 14 states recording record numbers of participants by last December.

To read the NY Times article, "As Jobs Vanish and Prices Rise, Food Stamp Use Nears Record," in its entirety, click here.

Click here to read the evangelical ad.

Click here to read Ethan Felson's response.

Mr. Rosenberg states that for an agreement to work - "whether on a cease-fire or on final status issues - (it must be) binding on Hamas as well as on Fatah. .... That is why Olmert and Abbas can't move ahead with their agreement: it is unenforceable unless Hamas signs on."

Mr. Rosenberg concludes: "In other words, it's time to start dealing with reality. Hamas, like it or not, is reality."

To read MJ Rosenberg's opinion column in its entirety, click here.

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