Adelaide Ferguson and Alan Lerner, whose commitment to human rights, education and social justice has been felt locally and internationally, will be honored by the Jewish Social Policy Action Network on Wednesday, November 14. The couple, Philadelphia residents, will be presented with JSPAN's Social Justice Award at a 5:30 p.m. reception held at the Pyramid Club in Philadelphia.

Mark Heywood, Phyllis Beck Scholar at Temple University and an AIDS activist from South Africa, will be the featured speaker at the event.

Jeffrey Pasek, president of JSPAN, has noted, "We are excited to celebrate two people who, through great personal dedication and effort, have made valuable contributions to our community and the world. They have applied their legal training and educational expertise to achieve key social reforms, Alan through his child advocacy training program at the University of Pennsylvania and Adelaide through the teaching of law to foreign students and through her work in international human rights."

The JSPAN Social Justice Award, given annually, recognizes individuals for their noteworthy service to the community in the areas of civil and economic rights, the protection of those less powerful in our society, and the advancement of our pluralistic democracy.

Registration for the reception is available on the web at www.jspan.org or by telephone (215)635-2554.

In his remarks delivered at the rally, the Prime Minister spoke about the importance of "giv(ing) peace a chance - a peace that will solve most of Israel's problems." He went on to state, "Without partners for peace, there can be no peace. We will demand that they do their part for peace, just as we will do our part for peace, in order to solve the most complicated, prolonged and emotionally charged aspect of the Israeli-Arab conflict: the Palestinian-Israeli conflict."

Yitzhak Rabin's call for reconciliation between the Israelis and the Palestinians bears striking relevance at this moment, as both sides prepare to engage in first steps toward this end at the upcoming Annapolis conference in December.

To read Prime Minister Rabin's remarks in their entirety, click here.

The deadline for signing was October 31, and produced 73 signatures. Signatories from Pennsylvania included Congressmen Jason Altmire, Chakkah Fattah and Joe Sestak.

The Ackerman-Bousany letter specifically calls for "robust, hands-on U.S. leadership and diplomacy" and states that "resolving the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, through the establishment of two states for two peoples, is too important not to seize the opportunities that have emerged over the past weeks."

The letter is being supported by a number of Jewish, Arab and Christian groups, including the American Task Force on Palestine, Americans for Peace Now, Arab-American Institute, Brit Tzedek v'Shalom, Churches for Middle East Peace, Israel Policy Forum and the Union for Reform Judaism.

For the full text of the letter to Secretary of State Rice, click here.

What is most needed to help cope with this disaster is monetary donations. Organizations such as the Red Cross are NOT requesting collections of supplies, because it is expensive to transport them and because, by using donated money to purchase needed goods in the region, this helps the local economy toward recovery.

United Synagogue has established a California Fire Relief Fund to aid fire victims and to assist in recovery. The money will be allocated as it is determined specifically where it is needed. To contribute to this fund, you can send a check payable to United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and write "California Fire Relief Fund" in the memo section. Checks should be mailed to:

Some death penalty opponents and other analysts are mildly optimistic at these developments. "But", warns Ms. Greenhouse, "there is enough ambiguity to warrant caution. The signals the Supreme Court has been sending are far from clear." At the end of the debate, however, the justices need to grapple with the ultimate question: Is the death penalty constitutional?

To read Linda Greenhouse's article in its entirety, click here.

UPDATE: Since the publishing of the 10/19 article, Ms. Greenhouse has written a more recent piece on the status of the Supreme Court's decision to stay the execution of Earl W. Berry.

Click either arrow above to play the video clip.

Ted Mann, JSPAN Board member and a major player in the effort to free Soviet Jews, recollects for us about the stunning sequence of events, starting in 1987, that brought an end to the Cold War and the dramatic exodus of Soviet Jews:

A Reagan/Gorbachev Summit in 1987 was highlighted by the signing of a treaty to reduce intermediate nuclear missiles and by a joint statement acknowledging that the summit was about much more than arms control, as important as that was, and that human rights was a critical part of their agenda. At the same time, the largest demonstration of concern ever for the plight of Soviet Jews, attended by almost 250,000 activists, was taking place opposite the Capital, heralding a fundamental change in the relations between the two nations, and in the lives of over a million Soviet Jews who emigrated to Israel and to the United States, for the most part after that summit.

Thus 19,000 Jews emigrated in 1988, 71,000 in 1989, 187,000 in 1990, 180,000 in 1991 and many, many more thousands in the years that followed.........But that was not all. Not hardly.

In 1988 life for Jews in the Soviet Union totally changed. Thousands were allowed to visit relatives in Israel and to visit the United States and Israel as tourists, Jewish educational and cultural centers were opening in Moscow and Leningrad, and there was an Israeli consular presence in Moscow for the first time in twenty years, free to contact Soviet Jews without interference.........And that was not all either. Not hardly.

In June 1989 elections in Poland produced a non-communist government; in October communism ended in Hungary; in November the Berlin wall was torn down, in December communism ended in Czechoslovakia and Romania, and President Bush (the elder) and Gorbachev declared that the Cold War was over. Somehow, miraculously, the concept of mutually assured destruction came to an end after 45 years, with not a single one of the many thousands of hydrogen bomb-tipped intercontinental missiles each side aimed at the other having been launched.

In 1990 communism ended in Bulgaria. In 1991 the Baltic States were granted independence, the Ukraine voted for independence too, and by the end of the year the USSR officially disbanded and broke up into its 15 formerly constituent parts.

We have much to celebrate.

What's in the 2007 Senate Farm Bill mark-up?

On October 25, the Senate Agriculture Committee , which had formally marked up the 2007 Farm Bill the previous day, voted to sent it to the Senate floor. Of particular interest to JSPAN members is the Nutrition Title (Title IV), the section of the bill that affects the over 25 million Americans currently dependent on food stamps for their daily nutritional intake.

At stake are new investments on the part of the government in the Food Stamp Program and The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). The House version of the Farm Bill Nutrition Title, (H.R. 2419), which was passed on July 27 by a vote of 231 to 191, raises food stamp benefit levels (including the minimum benefit), improves food stamp access, and bolsters TEFAP funding.

Now is the time to urge Senate members to build on the work done by the House. The Senators must provide additional funding to strengthen the Farm Bill Food Stamp and Nutrition Programs. They need to increase the food stamp benefits beyond the current $10 monthly minimum that has not changed in thirty years. They also need to update current rules to expand access to benefits so that the Food Stamp Program will be more available to those who need it most, including working families, seniors, persons with disabilities and, perhaps most importantly, the close to thirteen million children who are considered food insecure in this country.

The Senate mark-up of the 2007 Farm Bill has placed a total of $4.3 billion of new money in the Nutrition Title. Both Sen. Robert Casey, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and Sen. Arlen Specter, are seen as generally on board with this legislation. It is, however, imperative that they hear now from their constituents about how much the hunger relief community appreciates their ongoing advocacy for the Senate version of the Farm Bill. Several amendments now in draft form that are designed to improve the benefits adequacy to the Food Stamp section of the bill, will bring it closer to the House version.

Please contact Sens. Casey and Specter immediately with your concerns.

Sen. Casey can be reached at (866) 802-2833
Sen. Specter can be reached at (202) 224-4254

To read a draft summary of the Nutrition Title, click here.

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