National Council of Jewish Women

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

  Part of a series of articles on
Jewish feminism
Advocates
Rachel Adler · Blu Greenberg · Tova Hartman · Judith Hauptman · Paula Hyman · Judith Plaskow · Tamar Ross · Mendel Shapiro · Daniel Sperber · Trude Weiss-Rosmarin · Joel B. Wolowelsky
Groups
JOFA · National Council of Jewish Women · Shira Hadasha
Issues
Agunah · Feminism · Jewish marriage · Minyan · Mitzvah · Partnership minyan · Women in Judaism
v • d • e


Contents

[edit] Background

The National Council of Jewish Women is an organization dedicated to community action and forward social movement according to 14 core principles based on and inspired by Jewish values. Started in 1893 under the leadership of Hannah Greenebaum Solomon, the NCJW has helped to develop the field of Social Work as well as creating employment opportunities within and outside of the Jewish community for women. Similar organizations exist outside the US such as the Jüdischer Frauenbund in Germany (founded in 1904) and The Union of Jewish Women in Great Britain (founded in 1902).

According to the NCJW website, the council was formed at the 1893 World Parliament of Religions in Chicago to “shape the destinies” of American lives. Shaping the destinies of American lives meant, under Greenebaum Solomon, advocating women and children’s rights as well as women’s reproductive rights. According to Faith Rogow, author of Gone to Another Meetings: The National Council of Jewish Women (1893-1993) the “NCJW was the offspring of the economic and social success achieved by German Jewish immigrants in the United States. As this community of German Jews matured and stabilized, it faced the same challenge to gender role definitions that had accompanied the Jacksonian Democracy a half century earlier (Rogow 1995:2).

Haskalah, is known as the Jewish Enlightenment movement started in eighteenth-century Germany. This movement was dedicated to modernity and brought with it new ideas about women’s roles and interactions with the Jewish faith in both synagogues and the home. During this time period Reform Judaism was shaped. Reform Judaism stated that women were entitled to the same religious duties as men and that women were to be treated as equal to males. The movement toward equal educational opportunities for men and women within the synagogue is that is believed to have been the initial construct of the National Council of Jewish Women (deLange, Freud-Kandel 2005:389-393).

The NCJW also largely began one of its central focuses on education and employment for women by sponsoring and holding adult study circles to promote learning and leadership, providing vocational training for women and girls, developing school health programs and free health dispensaries, and working with Jane Adams’ Hull House in Chicago. (www.ncjw.org) As women began to work with and go into the community, the NCJW developed training seminars all volunteers were required to attend. As these volunteers started to become more and more skilled in helping the community, the field of women’s social worker began. In its early stages the NCJW is most notably known for its involvement and participation in the Women’s division of President Hoover’s Emergency Committee for employment to provide victims of the depression with job soliciting and placement.

The NCJW was involved in a number of movements in the beginning of the twentieth century that included immigrant aide, educational opportunities, maternal and infant health care, establishment of child labor laws, religious education, opposition to anti-Semitism, international relief work, civil rights for blacks and women and peace initiatives. [4]During World War I the NCJW raised over 4 million dollars under Hannah Greenebaum Solomon, and also helped settle over 65,000 immigrants.

In the middle part of the twentieth century new waves of feminism within Modern Judaism helped the NCJW focus on reproductive and sexual health as well as mental health rights and reforms that work to expand the rights of patients. During this time period the NCJW also began researching and writing documents in relationship to children’s rights within the foster care system. In 1970 the NCJW officially publishes a series of documents: Windows on Day Care, the first nationwide survey of day care facilities and services, Children Without Justice, a study of the US Justice Department’s work with foster children, and Innocent Victims, a comprehensive manual on child abuse detection and prevention.

The NCJW currently has over 90,000 members in the United States and their current and global issues as well as statements of purpose and structure and chapters can be seen below.

[edit] Statement of Purpose

The core belief of the NCJW is that progressive ideals put into meaningful action can improve the world.The National Council of Jewish women is foundationally based on 14 fundamental beliefs working through a program of research, education, avocacy, and community service to improve the quality of life for women, children, and families. [1]

Principle 1: Individual liberties and rights guaranteed by the Constitution are keystones of a free and pluralistic society and must be protected and preserved.

Principle 2: Religious liberty and the separation of religion and state are constitutional principles that must be protected and preserved in order to maintain our democratic society.

Principle 3: Human rights and dignity are fundamental and must be guaranteed to all individuals.

Principle 4: All individuals have the right to live in a world at peace and free from the threat of terrorism.

Principle 5: A democratic society and its people must value diversity and promote mutual understanding and respect or all.

Principle 6: Discrimination on the basis of race, gender, national origin, ethnicity, religion, age, disability, marital status, or sexual orientation must be eliminated.

Principle 7: Equal rights and equal opportunities for women must be guaranteed.

Principle 8: The continuity of the Jewish people must be assured from generation to generation through Jewish education, culture, values, and respect among all streams of Judaism.

Principle 9: The survival and security of the State of Israel and the establishment of a just and permanent peace are central to the Jewish people and vital to the interests of the United States.

Principle 10: A democratic society must recognize its obligation to provide for the needs of individuals unable to provide for themselves.

Principle 11: Human services must be coordinated, comprehensive, accessible, and sufficiently funded.

Principle 12: An educated and informed public is fundamental to a democratic society.

Principle 13: The protection and preservation of the environment are vital to a sustainable future.

Principle 14: A democratic society depends on the collective efforts of the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors and is strengthened by the commitment and contribution of volunteers.

[edit] Current and Global Issues

Current Advocacy Campaigns from the NCJW Action Center include:[2]

NCJW's Campaign to Save Roe BenchMark: NCJW's Campaign to Save Roe educates and mobilizes NCJW members, the Jewish community, and friends and allies everywhere to promote a federal bench with judges who support fundamental freedoms, including a woman's right to reproductive choice.

The success of the BenchMark campaign rests largely in the participation of grassroots activists. Make your mark on the future of reproductive freedom in America.

NCJW's Campaign for Contraceptive Access Plan A: NCJW's Campaign for Contraceptive Access educates and empowers individuals to advocate for women's universal access to contraceptive information and health services.

Through a combination of education and advocacy initiatives at the community, state, and national levels, Plan A aims to secure and protect access to contraceptive information and health services for all, putting individuals back in control of their personal health decisions.

In the United States, there is overwhelming popular support for comprehensive sexuality education and there is widespread use of contraceptives. However, an extreme religious minority is increasingly influencing policy and practices -- spreading misinformation, blocking women's access, and signaling that access to complete and accurate information and to safe and effective contraceptive options can no longer be taken for granted. Plan A is poised to help individuals and groups stand up and speak out.

StoP: NCJW's Strategies to Prevent Domestic Violence NCJW's StoP grassroots network facilitates education and outreach to the Jewish community and the general public, as well as advocacy for policy and program changes at all levels of government and community action.

On the grassroots level, NCJW sections around the country are involved in a variety of domestic violence prevention programs, including Court Watch programs, teen dating violence education, and Silent Witness and Clothesline projects.

The NCJW Women and Gender Studies Program at Tel Aviv University The NCJW Women and Gender Studies Program at Tel Aviv University is the first bachelor's degree-granting program of its kind in the Middle East. Using an interdisciplinary approach to teaching and research through over a hundred courses from the faculties of Law, Humanities, Art, and the Social Sciences, the program stresses critical analysis of the role of women and other minorities in institutions of all kinds, public and private. Ninety students, including three men, have enrolled in the degree program to date, and the first degrees were granted Summer 2004.

NCJW's work with Tel Aviv University continues its commitment to assisting Israel in building a vibrant democratic society through education. Prior to the opening of this program in October of 2001, NCJW supported projects that promote the education of at-risk and disadvantaged children and families through the Research Institute for Innovation in Education (RIFIE) at Hebrew University.

From April 1, 2004 through June 1, 2004, the faculty of the Women and Gender Studies Program collaborated with Dartmouth College to teach in tandem a co-operative, interactive course: "Gender and Generation: Holocaust and Memory in Israel and the United States." The Dartmouth and Tel Aviv classes interacted through email, the web, and videoconferencing to achieve cross-cultural insights.

The NCJW Women Studies Forum at Tel Aviv University The Women Studies Forum is a vital association of faculty and students that advances research and analysis in feminist studies. With the support of NCJW, the forum sponsors major conferences and lecture series, critical community service initiatives, and delivers essential services to women on the Tel Aviv campus.

Each year, the forum organizes a conference on critical issues of concern to Israeli citizens. The 2003 conference explored the intersections of gender, culture, and economics with "The Feminization of Poverty," and in 2004, the conference focused on "Women and Society in the Middle Ages," facilitating dialogue and collaboration on history, literature, and art.

Most recently, in April 2005, the forum brought together top scholars to address the complexities of "Feminism, Law, and Social Change." Twenty-three intensive sessions were held on topics ranging from the politics of violence, legal and cultural challenges in divorce inequities, reproductive technologies and policy, women at work, and the evolving boundaries of Halacha. This year's annual conference marked the thirteenth of its kind, continuing the forum's tradition of scholarship and strengthening its progressive approach to gender and women's studies.

Beyond sponsoring this conference, the forum also founded and supports the Tel Aviv University Sexual Harassment Hotline, the first such campus hotline in Israel.

Yad B’Yad: NCJW's Initiative to Nurture Knowledge Yad B' Yad: NCJW's Initiative to Nurture Knowledge is a grant program supporting grassroots organizations serving at-risk children and their families in Israel. Launched in 1998, the Yad B' Yad program has funded hundreds of grants since its inception, facilitating a range of critical support services and providing multi-lingual books, computer equipment, and other educational materials to foster positive and innovative learning environments for individuals of all backgrounds.

In 2005, NCJW partnered with US/Israel Women to Women, an organization dedicated to supporting grassroots programs and advocacy efforts for women in Israel. As a result of this collaborative pairing, the NCJW Israel Granting Program has expanded to include Women to Women: NCJW's Empowerment Initiative. This new funding stream complements the work of Yad B' Yad by supporting women's empowerment projects, which address women's rights and well-being in areas like economics, politics, education, domestic violence, and social justice.

The 2008 grant cycle features five new Yad B' Yad grants and 11 Women to Women grants. In response to the recent crisis in Israel in 2006 -- which left the country's at-risk populations even more vulnerable -- NCJW worked to help ease the trauma for those living in the line of fire. Emergency funds were allocated to provide hundreds of women and children with retreats in the relative safety of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

[edit] Structure and Chapters

A board of directors and an executive committee govern the NCJW and maintain national headquarters in New York City. National committees assist in the administration of council programs and receive technical support and expertise from professionally staffed departments based at council headquarters in New York. Members vote on council policies and resolutions at national conventions, which have been held every two years since 1953 and every three years before then. [3]

For over a century, the National Council of Jewish Women has been at the forefront of social change—championing the needs of women, children, and families—while taking a progressive stance on such issues as child welfare, women’s rights, and reproductive freedom. The National Council of Jewish Women has many community programs around the globe. These programs include: [4]

NCJW’s Community Action Projects address the needs of women, children, and families at the local level—identifying distinct challenges, developing responses, and delivering support and strength from coast to coast.

NCJW’s Coalition Work In Washington DC, Israel, and across the US make it an important partner and leader in collaborative work to effect public policy change on a wide range of domestic and international issues.

NCJW’s Online Action Center provides instant access to issue information, advocacy campaigns, and email updates enabling site visitors to learn more and speak out.

NCJW’s State Public Affairs Network---a corps of traine volunteers – shares public policy expertise at the state level, taking the lead on issues of concern to NCJW and representing the organization in state capitals.

Benchmark: NCJW’s Campaign to Save Roe educate and mobilizes NCJW members and the Jewish community to ensure a federal bench with judges who will protect fundamental freedoms, including women’s right to reproductive choice. Roe V. Wade

The NCJW Women and Gender Studies Program at Tel Aviv University, the first bachelor’s degree-granting program of its kind in the Middle East, offers an interdisciplinary analysis of issues impacting women and other minorities.

The NCJW Women Studies Forum at Tel Aviv University advances research and analysis in feminist studies while reaching out to the public through educational seminars and community services.

Yad B’Yad: NCJW’s Initiative to Nurture Knowledge supports grassroots organizations empowering women and servicing at-risk children and their families in Israel.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] Links