Voices of WRJ: Parashat Shof’tim

This week’s Torah portion is Shof’tim. It discusses the importance of setting up a judicial system and appointing judges. The most memorable verse in the portion states, “Justice, Justice shall you pursue.” When we read this commandment we are moved to action. How though can we as individuals make this part of our lives (especially if we are not lawyers)? Every time we engage in social action we are pursuing justice. That is why WRJ passes resolutions and statements on different issues of concern. In fact, WRJ’s book of those resolutions and statements passed since its founding is called, “Pursuing Justice.” It contains position statements on issues involving women and children, social justice, economic justice, the criminal justice system, civil rights and civil liberties, peace, honest government, and much more. WRJ then uses these resolutions and statements to inform its actions. We work in coalition with other groups on these issues. We write or sign statements to government authorities and legislators about specific issues. We encourage our members to do programs, educate themselves, and lobby their legislators to see our resolutions make change. We also have programs at our assemblies, regional conferences, and area days on these issues. One of the other and less known ways that WRJ engages in the pursuit of justice is by signing on to amicus briefs in appellate courts. Amicus briefs, otherwise known as friend of the court briefs, are ways organizations bring their points of view to courts when the courts are hearing cases. The organizations are not parties to the case so they add their perspective on this issues which is often not fully briefed by the actual parties. At times, these additional views can be highly influential to the court by bringing different arguments to it. WRJ has frequently signed onto briefs that have been written from feminist, civil rights, civil liberties, and or religious perspectives to federal and state appellate courts. While it is rare that we can actually show that a position we have taken either in amicus briefs or otherwise has influenced a court or government action, on rare occasions, we can in fact see that we have made a difference. For instance, I was quite excited to see the Union of Reform Judaism specifically mentioned as a religious organization that supported marriage equality in a footnote in the Iowa Supreme Court opinion that required the state to recognize same sex marriages. I knew that the important work WRJ and the other arms of the URJ had made a difference. In fact, WRJ passed its first resolution supporting the rights of lesbians in the 1960s, even before the URJ did. Thus, we can show our hard work for the rights of the LGBTQ community made a difference. We cannot leave it up to WRJ on an international level to engage in the pursuit of justice. The commandment in this week’s Torah portion applies to us all. Each of us needs to make sure that our sisterhoods have programs that engage in the work of justice. WRJ provides programming ideas on how to implement our many resolutions on the website. You can supplement those program ideas by sending in your own programs that other sisterhoods can follow. As individuals we can also act. Sign-up to get bulletins from the Religious Action Center and follow this blog and Facebook page to learn about issues that are coming up in Congress and make calls to your legislators. Follow what is happening in your state or provincial governments and weigh in to your representatives. Do service work to help the poor or oppressed in your community. Give of your time and your money to support the causes that seek justice. It is important to note that the Hebrew word often translated at charity, tzedakah has the same route as the word for justice used in this week’s Torah portion, Tzedek. Thus, when we give our money to causes, we are not giving charity, we are pursuing justice. Let us all commit to following the commandment in this Torah portion to pursue justice. If we do, we will also be helping to repair our world.