A Prophetic Movement for Social Justice among American Jews? Prospects and Possibilities
 Sunday, June 8, 2008
10:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
Due to the popularity of this event, registration is now closed.
To be placed on the waiting list, please email abernstein@hebrewcollege.edu.
Presenter: Ruth Messinger, President, American Jewish World Service
Cosponsored by the American Jewish World Service and the Jewish Organizing Initiative.
Ruth Messinger, distinguished activist, political leader and president of the American Jewish World Service, has been a passionate advocate for building a socially engaged Jewish voice in this country and throughout the world.  In a commencement address at Hebrew College last June, Ms. Messinger declared that we live in a time of global catastrophes and overwhelming complacency, and exhorted all assembled to “create an activist, global, social justice Judaism for the 21st century.” Her vision—a prophetic Judaism with patience, hope and joie de vivre as its cardinal virtues, the pursuit of justice on behalf of the stranger its chief expression, and devotion to God its foundation stone.
Does such a vision have the power to move Jews and transform today’s American Jewish communities? What would we need to do differently in our institutions and personal lives? If, as is often quipped, the Jews with the deepest commitment to progressive politics are often the least inclined to pray with their fellow Jews, what are the prospects for a realignment between progressive politics and Jewish piety?
Ms. Messinger will draw on her personal experiences speaking and working with thousands of Jews as she shares her realistic appraisal and visionary hopes. Join us in a frank and urgent conversation with one of the great American Jewish leaders—and human beings—of our time.
Ruth W. Messinger is the president of American Jewish World Service, an international development organization providing support to 350 grassroots social change projects throughout the world. Prior to assuming this role in 1998, Ms. Messinger was in public service in New York City for 20 years. In honor of her tireless work to end the genocide in Darfur, Sudan, Ms. Messinger received an award from the Jewish Council for Public Affairs in 2006. She was awarded honorary degrees by both Hebrew Union College (2005) and Hebrew College (2007). For the past seven years, she has been named one of the 50 most influential Jews of the year by the Forward
To read Ruth Messinger’s 2007 Hebrew College Commencement address, please click here.
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