Gutow, who is the Executive Director of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, ran through the numbers in the national elections: 13 Jewish Senators and 30 Jewish Congressmen elected, a tally totally out of proportion to the 2% of the population who are Jewish; Democrats again sweeping the Jewish vote (87% according to exit polling); and the common understanding that unhappiness with the situation in Iraq drove the results. Gutow noted that many incumbents who survived won reelection in very tight races. Despite this, Gutow suggested that there is going to be no revolutionary change in direction on issues involving strong White House positions (Ed.: including Iraq and issues that speak to the so-called “base”). Democrats may hope to advance just a few issues (they need to ”keep it simple”, said Gutow), particularly where they can secure sufficient Republican support to overcome a veto. These could include minimum wage, immigration, stem cell research, and a limited ethics initiative such as disclosing “earmarks” (an amendment to a Bill that authorizes funds for a Congressman’s pet project). Broader efforts at ethics reform tend to dry up within a few weeks in Washington, said Gutow.

The case involves the East Brunswick New Jersey football coach who for 25 years, in open defiance of settled law, led his football team in prayer at pregame dinners and just prior to the game. When ordered to stop by school district officials, the coach stopped leading the prayers, but bowed his head and "took a knee" when one of the team members led the prayer.

Remarkably, a federal district court judge in Newark ruled that the school district could not prevent the coach from engaging in what it considered merely an expression of unity with the team. In its brief to the Court of Appeals, JSPAN relied on a Supreme Court case decided earlier this year holding that when public employees act pursuant to their official duties, their speech is not entitled to protection under the First Amendment.

JSPAN told the court that "over and above the compelling interest of the school in complying with the Establishment Clause ..., public schools have an important interest in preserving the perception amongst students and parents that the schools and their employees are neither political nor religious partisans."

The brief was drafted by Marc Stern of the American Jewish Congress, with whom JSPAN joined. To read a copy of the JSPAN brief, click here. The case is expected to be argued in the spring.

Although several states have raised their minimum wage rates, here at JSPAN we hope the new Congress will move quickly to raise the minimum wage as a matter of moral imperative if not economic security. To read JSPAN's testimony on the necessity of raising the minimum wage, click here.

JSPAN, of course, takes no position on the propriety of this decision by the Conservative movement and its reading of halachic law; but we are very interested in what the decision will mean for the Jewish community. We are interested to hear the views of our readers.

At the same time, this decision reminds us that the civil liberties of lesbians and gays remains an urgent issue confronting American society. Regardless of how one resolves questions under religious law, there should be no barrier to providing full civil rights to all individuals regardless of their sexual orientation.

While Congress termed the Darfur atrocities a genocide in 2004, with then-Secretary of State Colin Powell following suit, the violence against black Africans in southern Sudan by the Arab-led government and government-backed militias has continued. The world has an obligation not only to pray but to act. For further information on what you can do, click here.