|
February 15, 2002/Adar 3 5762, Vol. 54, No. 22
Political activist seeks social justice
BARRY COHEN
|
 Rabbi David Saperstein |
"Commitment to or involvement with social justice remains the primary organizing principal of Jewish identity," says Rabbi David Saperstein, director and counsel of the Religious Action of Reform Judaism - the political arm of the Reform Jewish Movement - for 27 years. He acts as the movement's political representative in the capital, Congress and the Bush administration.
According to Saperstein, Jews support social justice more than they support Israel, Jewish rituals, study or prayer.
And whether they act as volunteers at local hospitals, organizers of soup kitchens, proponents of environmental issues or leaders in political reform movements, "Jews remain disproportionately represented in almost every cause for social justice in American life," notes Saperstein, who visited the Valley Jan. 24 to speak at the Women's Department of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix Lion of Judah fund-raising event.
For Saperstein, the quest for social justice transcends religious or political labels.
"Whether conservatives or liberals, republicans or democrats, Jews are involved beyond their numbers in shaping a better world" through public life or civic affairs, he points out. Though Jews comprise 2.5 percent of the United States' population, they make up 10 percent of the Senate, 7 percent of the House of Representatives and two of nine justices of the Supreme Court.
Saperstein sees the quest for social justice as a powerful means to bring Jews - especially Reform Jews - back to the synagogue.
"Reform Judaism raised the prophetic tradition ... of speaking to the great moral issues of the time ... to a centerpiece of Jewish identity in Jewish life," he explains.
By attending synagogue, Jews may learn how the prophets Amos, Jeremiah and Isaiah critiqued their society thousands of years ago and thereby be inspired to challenge the injustices of this society, he says.
For Saperstein, the synagogue remains central because doing social justice in the community cannot be divorced from study or worship.
"There is no such thing as 'social justice Judaism' in the abstract. It has to be woven together with study and worship," he says. "People should not be doing social justice without a sense of God's presence in that act and God's presence in the divine image in every person that they are helping."
Synagogues are not limited to improving society through social action committees, Saperstein says. A larger picture must include social justice projects facilitated by religious school classes, youth groups, bar and bat mitzvah students and men's groups and women's groups. In addition, congregants are often inspired by worship and study to become social workers, doctors or public interest attorneys, he says.
"Actually, the synagogue is contributing much more to the community than people believe," remarks Saperstein.
Another setting where Jews can learn about the importance of social justice is in the home; parents have the responsibility to teach their children about the need to improve society, he says.
Saperstein and his wife, Ellen Weiss, editor of the national desk for National Public Radio, have two sons, Daniel, 12, and Ari, 9.
Their professional careers allow them to invite community leaders into their home and share ideas around the dinner table, Saperstein says. Last Passover, Saperstein's family welcomed into their home Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the Archbishop of Washington, and Raul Yzaguirrez, president of LaRaza - an organization dedicated to the reduction of poverty and discrimination in the Hispanic American community.
"Daniel ... loved talking with them about political affairs and religious affairs," remarks Saperstein.
He views such a conversation as part of the "cross fertilization" of social justice with study and worship. Saperstein remarks that the ultimate goal of social justice is to be "partners with God in healing the world."