1. DC Jews Celebrate Inauguration Weekend
Monday’s 57th Presidential Inauguration officially sent Barack Obama into a second term as America’s 44th President, and members of the Washington D.C. Jewish community were right there with him to participate in inauguration-weekend activism and service events.
The Women’s Leadership Network luncheon of the National Jewish Democratic Council kicked off the inaugural weekend in “Jewish Washington” last Friday. The group held a discussion panel which included former White House Communications Director Ann Lewis, Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA) and The Jerusalem Post Washington Bureau Chief Hilary Krieger.
It was “one of the most inspirational events I’ve attended in a very long time,” Barbara Goldberg Goldman told JNS.org. “Proud Jewish women of all ages came together to share their desire to perform tikun olam and make a difference in the world in which they live.”
2. Rabbis Who Marched with MLK
In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day yesterday, JSpace.com is showing how a Torah made its way to Dr. King’s March on Selma.
In 1965, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote to Rabbi Maurice Eisendrath, sharing an idea he had for a march with the Jewish leader. King was planning an unprecedented demonstration, hoping to bring thousands on a walk from Montgomery to Selma in support of voting rights for the black community.
What resulted would go down in history as one of the greatest civil rights moments of all time. Rabbi Eisendrath did indeed participate, as did other spiritual leaders from many other factions. Click here to see an iconic photo from the Selma march, in which Rabbi Eisendrath, clutching a Torah, can be seen standing with Dr. King.
Pauline Friedman Phillips, known around the world a “Dear Abby” died Wednesday after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. She was 94.
Phillips was born in Iowa in 1918 to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents. In 1937, she began writing the iconic “Dear Abby” advice column, assuming the penname Abigail van Buren. The column would go on to earn worldwide fame as a syndicated piece of Americana, printed in more than 1,000 newspapers.
Phillips was a member of Women in Communications, the American College of Psychiatrics, and the National Council of Jewish Women.