HHRC Blog
Jews Who Made Rainbow Waves
The Jewish experience is complex and intersectional in that it encompasses both ethnicity and religion. When you add into the mix sexual orientation and gender identity, it adds to that complexity.
"All My Mothers" -The Story of Yehudith Kleinman
Yehudith Kleinman was born in Venice in 1939; her mother and grandmother moved to Milan shortly thereafter. In January 1944, she was taken to a convent for safety, where she was hidden and raised as a Christian. After the war, Yehudith had to make a fateful choice – to remain at the convent, or to immigrate to Israel as a Jew.
What is Genocide?
According to the United Nations, genocide is "any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such: a. killing members of the group; b. causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; c. deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; d. imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; e. forcibly transferring children of the group to another group."
We were all in Egypt. We were all at Sinai. Were we all at Auschwitz?
But the amount of suffering in the world is so immense, how do I do this and not despair? I used to remind myself of the saying in Pirkei Avot: “you are not obligated to finish the work of healing the world, but neither are you allowed to desist from it.” And that was enough.
What is Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights?
Hanukkah evokes light. Light that burns; light hat did not go out even when there was not enough. Light that illuminates some of the darkness. Light that stands against oppression and discrimination and suffering. Today’s world feels dark. Not as dark as it has been in Jewish history, but dark nonetheless. But the candles have been lit and will continue to be lit and from each window a little that light will shine.
How the Nazis persecuted LGBTQ people
Homosexual prisoners wore a pink triangle on their uniforms. If a prisoner was both homosexual and Jewish, a pink inverted triangle would be superimposed over a regular yellow one. This system allowed camp guards and other prisoners to instantly identify where an inmate came from and what type of prisoner he was.
This Conversation Is Anti-Racist
Young people have the vision to imagine—and create—a world without racism. Adults just need to get on board.
The Weaponization of Whiteness in Schools
White supremacist or anti-Black attitudes don’t belong to only one ideology, one political party or one particular geographical location. These attitudes exist across different regions, socio-economic classes, income levels, education groups and political affiliations. Since both anti-Blackness and white supremacy are baked into our country’s foundation, they often play out in our daily lives.
READ: Teenage Ruth Bader Ginsburg Essay on the Holocaust
Ruth Bader Ginsberg z”l was tireless and relentless in her pursuit of social justice. She was articulate, determined, intelligent, steadfast and humble. If she had her moments of doubt or fear as she fought her battles - our battles - we did not see them.
Watch: Netflix Documentary '13th' explores Constitution, Slavery and Mass Incarceration
In the Netflix Documentary "13th," director Ava DuVernay examines the issue of mass incarceration using footage and testimony from leading scholars and activists.
New Resources for Confronting White Nationalism
Educators can play a critical role in recognizing and addressing white nationalism. Two authors of Western States Center’s toolkit, ‘Confronting White Nationalism in Schools,’ explain how.
Antisemitism Past and Present
In order to understand the antisemitism of the present day, we must understand the antisemitism of the past.