October 1, 2005
L'Shanna Tova: Happy New Year
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IN THIS ISSUE: A Final Word About Burt Siegel Jewish Survival and American Democracy JSPAN Condemns Vote Favoring Religious Discrimination
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By now, as we enter this High Holiday season, your rabbi's sermons are written and well rehearsed. Here at JSPAN you won't get an annual message about repentance, the power of prayer or sinners in the hands of an angry God. Instead, we invite you to use the quiet moments in synagogue to listen to the still small voice inside your own head, and to reflect how you will use the New Year to help repair a troubled world. We wish everyone a L'Shana Tovah.
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The ten-day countdown to the Yom Kippur fast is just about to begin. At a time when we are so conscious of our own hunger in one short day, we should be conscious of the poor and hungry in our community and those who suffer from food insecurity. Help feed them this holiday season by making a contribution to Mazon, the Jewish Response to Hunger, and help feed your own spirit by learning more about the issue of hunger in America. Click here to contribute to Mazon. The Food Research and Action Center has just issued a new report on Food Stamp Access in Urban America. Click here to learn how important Food Stamps are in helping the poor obtain adequate nutrition and how much work must be done just to ensure that all eligible Food Stamp recipients actually receive the benefits of the program.
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A Final Word About Burt Siegel 
We were delighted to be joined by so many community activists in honoring Burt Siegel, long-time head of the Jewish Community Relations Council in Philadelphia. For 35 years Burt has worked tirelessly to bridge difference between ethnic and religious groups and to forge coalitions of benefit to the Jewish community. We salute Burt with our Social Justice Award and invite you to Click here to read more about the event.
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Jewish Survival and American Democracy 
"At the heart of the Jewish narrative" says Dr. Larry Rubin, "is the belief that we were put on this earth to make a difference." Yet American Jews have always been torn between the desire to seize the opportunity presented by America and the commitment to preserve our cultural and religious distinctiveness. As Senior Scholar at the National Center for Jewish Policy Studies, Dr. Rubin concludes that, "On the most pragmatic level, it must be understood that without the political values of American society it would be impossible to sustain a secure Jewish community. Not only would our neighbors not be safe in their homes, but no amount of day school education, in-marriage, synagogue attendance, or Jewish literacy would assure Jewish survival were democracy to be threatened." For a full text of his remarks delivered September 21st, Click here.
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SPAN
Condemns Vote Favoring Religious Discrimination Should federal tax dollars be used to fund program that openly discriminate in employment on the basis of religion? At JSPAN we think this is bad policy as well as a violation of constitutional principles separating church and state. Yet on September 22, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to allow Head Start programs to discriminate in hiring on the basis of religion while accepting federal funds. We urge the Senate to reject any similar effort to include religious discrimination in Head Start and to ensure that our nation's children are taught by teachers qualified in early childhood education - not theology.
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