NCJW August 2021 News and Events
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So July has come to an end but summer is still here and the time is still right for dancin' in the streets.... Well, maybe we aren't dancing in the streets but we are working hard on our fall programming schedule. And we hope to have at least one or two in-person (but outdoor) events this fall and we hope to see you there! Check your mailboxes mid-September for our print newsletter with more information on what we have in store for you this year!
Melissa Prober
Executive Director, NCJW Chicago North Shore
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Please Welcome our Newest Members
- Susan Boldrey
- Peggy Frank
- Betty Magness
- Tracey Minkin
Let's Celebrate some August Birthdays!
- Cathy Carmody
- Arden Edelcup
- Gerry Keen
- Laura Maurer
- Susan Schreiber
- Donna Stone
- Ruthann Tovian
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You can honor and celebrate a special event in you or a loved one's life by purchasing an NCJW tribute. Birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, and personal wins - big or small - are all great ways to honor and celebrate those we love and are most proud of.
Click here for information on how to order tributes
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To: Terry Vismantas
From: Cindy Wolfson
In Honor of your birthday
To Blair Kamin & Barbara Mahany
From Kim Sterling and Larry Friedman
In Memory of Ginny Kamin
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International Women’s Roundtable
Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021, 11:30 am
Register for yourself or for your own watch group, but don’t forget to
wear your favorite hat!! Click here to register or use the QR code above. After you order your free ticket, a page pops up to check off the events of
the conference you want to attend—especially this one. Our own Sheila
Katz, CEO of NCJW, is on the panel. It’s going to be a fantastic 90 minutes
you won’t want to miss.
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NCJW Spotlight: Serve and Protect? ECPS (Empowering Communites for Public Safety) and Police Accountibility
Monday, August 23, 2021, 7:00 pm
The Chicago City Council recently passed the strongest police accountability ordinance in the country. The new Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountabilitywill have community members on the commission and enlist community members in other areas.
Jane Ramsey, the founder of Just Ventures, is a longtime community activist with a strong commitment to the achievement of social and economic justice, will update us on the CCPSA and how to make our voices heard. She’ll update us on the ordinance and tell us what we can do. For more information and to register, visit https://ncjwcns.org/events/sp082321.
Upcoming Spotlights (all at 7PM CT via Zoom):
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October 10. Let’s Talk I. My Truth Your Truth: Propaganda through History
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October 21. Let’s Talk II. Truth or Consequences: Artificial Intelligence & Social Media
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October 25. Let’s Talk III. My Rights Your Rights: Free Speech and Regulation
- November 29. Does our vote still count? Update on voting rights bills, S.1 and HR4.
December 27. The challenge of advocacy: Where do I begin?
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Our vote is our voice. Since NCJW’s founding, we have worked to expand and protect our sacred right to vote. But since the 2020 election, states have passed more than 30 laws making it harder to vote. This cannot stand!
On August 28, the 58th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic March on Washington, NCJW is partnering on a national action: March On for Voting Rights. Advocates will gather inWashington, DC, Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Miami, and Phoenix — and other cities across the country to demand that elected officials denounce voter suppression and ensure fair, easy access to the vote for all. And, we’ll kick off the action with an interfaith event a few days prior, on August 22.
Click here to learn more and watch your inbox for information about the Chicago March!
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Did you miss a program or wish you could rewatch or share it with a friend? Visit our YouTube Channel for recordings of many of our Zoom Programs from the last year.
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NCJW August Soup Kitchen at First United Methodist Church
COVID-19 has altered so many of our regular volunteer activities. A traditional Soup Kitchen evening would involve 10-15 volunteers cooking and serving a nutritious meal to the homeless and working poor in our community. With special pandemic procedures still in place at First United Methodist Church in Evanston, things will look a bit different at our next Soup Kitchen evening on August 5. (We do anticipate things being back to "normal" for our December Soup Kitchen evening!)
While we aren't able to provide in-person volunteers for the soup kitchen, we can provide the funds to sponsor the meal. If you would like to help us offset the cost of the August 5 dinner at the First United Methodist Church Soup Kitchen, click here and select Soup Kitchen from the dropdown menu. Your donations will be earmarked specifically for the Soup Kitchen. If you would like to be added to our Soup Kitchen Volunteer List, email soup@ncjwcns.org to add your name to our and be contacted when it's time to sign up for in-person volunteer opportunities!
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LUGGAGE FOR FREEDOM
This October, Luggage for Freedom, NCJW Chicago North Shore's premiere community service project, will will once again hold its annual Packing and Delivery Day. Watch your inbox for the exact date.
Ways you can help - because the pandemic prevented us from having our traditional packing and delivery day in 2020, our storage space is almost full and we are unable to accept donations of luggage until after the October event. We are still looking for donations of new toiletries (travel-size preferred), new sheet sets and new towels. Email luggageforfreedom@ncjwcns.org to arrange for drop off or place an order from our Amazon Wish List and have it shipped directly to the LFF chairs. U se this link to view and order: https://a.co/9MKPSkp.
New Storage Space Needed: Luggage for Freedom is in need of a new storage facility in the Deerfield area! At our current storage facility, rental increases have become prohibitive. A Corporate or Business Sponsorship would be most appreciated, as would a less expensive rental. Please contact Melissa Prober if you can help.
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Leona Z Rosenberg Leadership Initiative
We have an amazing history, but we must look to the future to instill strong leadership skills in every generation of our membership. Thanks to a generous bequest from the Estate of Past President Leona Rosenberg as well as generous donations from our inaugral class of sponsors, NCJW Chicago North Shore is please to launch our new 2-pronged leadership initative.
NCJW L.E.A.D.S (leadership exploration and development series)
NCJW LEADS will provide in-depth leadership development and training to existing NCJW leaders. Topics include: courageous conversations, centering other voices, fundraising for the non-fundraiser, setting goals and priorities, and more. The goal is to build confident NCJW leaders ready to take on greater roles and responsibility within our section and within our community.
NCJW L.I.F.T.S (leadership impact fellowship training series)
NCJW LIFTS brings together an annual cohort of 8-10 advocates who seek professional growth, relationship-building opportunities, and a higher level of involvement within the NCJW and the progressive community. Topics include: developing personal leadership skills, telling your story, courageous conversations, centering other voices, setting goals and priorities, and team building. NCJW LIFTS graduates will receive a subsidized registration to NCJW Washington Institute 2022. Applications for NCJW LIFTS will be available on or around September 1 on our website.
Join our inaugural sponsors and support this important initiative to create a legacy of fearless advocates, powerful leaders and vocal participants! To donate, visit https://ncjwcns.org/donate-2 and select Leona Z Rosenberg Leadership Initiative from the dropdown menu.
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Why This Past Supreme Court Session Has Rocked Our Advocacy Boat!!!
Carole Levine, Chair – Courts Matter Illinois
When the Supreme Court ended their 2020-21 session the first week in July, they went out with a bang and for many of us, with a whimper as well. On their final day, they announced their 6/3 decision in Brnovich v. DNC, a voting rights case from Arizona in which the conservative majority held that it was legal for the state to enforce rules to keep third parties from collecting mail-in ballots (to turn in) and that votes mistakenly cast in the wrong precinct could be disallowed (in other words – tossed!). This decision disproportionately impacts people of color and low-income people and decimates article 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The three liberal justices protested this decisions strongly and forcefully, but the ruling stands. It seems that the Court saved one of its worst rulings for last.
Other rulings of note on the negative side of our NCJW issues this session include the anti-union decision(another 6/3 ruling) in Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid which will allow employers to block union organizers from coming on to their property to speak with their workers. The scary part of this ruling is that it might extend to any kind of inspector or regulator who wants to come onto a property to conduct an inspection. Consider the health and safety inspections at food plants, hospitals or other such facilities that could be blocked by this decision. And while we are bemoaning decisions, consider Americans for Prosperity v. Bonta (another 6/3 decision) that shielded tax-exempt charities from having to reveal their major donors to the state (in this case California). This only serves to strengthen undisclosed donations across the board.
And one more on my “bad, bad, bad” list is a religion/state case: Fulton v. Philadelphia. But this was a 9/0 unanimous decision that surprised most of us. This was the case of the city of Philadelphia denying funding for adoption services to a Catholic social service agency because they would not serve LGBTQ and unmarried couples based on the agency’s religious beliefs. The narrow ruling was focused on the fact that the policies of the city of Philadelphia allowed for exceptions, and as long as that was in place, the Catholic social service agency was entitled to a city contract for adoption services and same-sex and unmarried couples could be served by other agencies. It is clear that there is wiggle room for this to grow and for religious discrimination (which is greatly protected by the six conservative justices on this court) to become a much larger issue in the future. Watch for this!
There was some good news coming from this Court and this session. (It is always better to end with the good news.) The Court upheld, for the 3rd time, the Affordable Care Act by a 7/2 vote in California v. Texas. They never got to the nitty gritty of the Act, but told the states bringing suit that they had no standing to do so! And college athletes won a victory against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in NCAA v. Alston, in a 9/0 ruling that says that schools could offer athletes better benefits tied to education. What this means is that young athletes who bring big bucks to their colleges and universities can earn some academic-related compensation for their “work” in their athletic programs. And one more “good news” case was what I like to call the “Foul-Mouthed Cheerleader” case in which the Court decided 8/1 that protection of student speech extended to social media. In Mahanoy Area School District v. B. L., the court said that the Pennsylvania school district went too far in punishing a high-school cheerleader who used vulgarity on Snapchat when she did not make the varsity team. What was clear in the Court’s finding in this case is that this is a pro-free speech Supreme Court.
What does this mean for NCJW and our issues? Clearly this is a conservative court that is just beginning to show its stripes. And this will be a conservative court for the long haul. The areas I would watch for with this court include religious liberty (which they give the highest priority in my opinion), limiting federal regulations (you can put abortion rights and gun rights in here if you like), and issues like affirmative action. They have already accepted cases in this areas for the upcoming session (except affirmative action, but there are cases being considered). This Court’s decision on Arizona’s voter suppression laws has opened the gates for states to do more and made it more difficult to litigate against these state laws. We have much work ahead, and it starts with educating more people about the importance of our federal court systems. That is the work of Courts Matter Illinois. I urge you to check out our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/courtsmatterillinois/) and follow us. You can sign up for our weekly emails by filling out the form here: https://www.facebook.com/courtsmatterillinois/app/100265896690345 and take action with us every week. Sometimes, it is that one email or phone call to your Senator that makes a difference. You can be that difference…
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Supreme Court: On October 5, 2020, just one week after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was laid to rest, the US Supreme Court began its new term. Despite the fact that the election was only weeks away and the country was reeling in the midst of an unprecedented global pandemic, the Senate majority rushed through the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett, who was sworn in on October 26, 2020. This term, the Supreme Court heard cases involving the future of health care, voting rights, and the separation of religion and state, among other issues. Click here for the cases NCJW watched closely during the 2020-2021 term.
DACA: The recent decision to partially end DACA is a cruel attack on immigrant youth and their families. Judge Hanen of the Southern District of Texas ruled that no new DACA applications can be granted, though current DACA recipients can still apply for renewals. For many DACA recipients, the United States is the only home they have ever known. They own houses and businesses, attend school, worship in our congregations, and are vital to the economic strength of our nation. This ruling is further evidence that temporary protections leave people vulnerable. The only thing that can protect DACA recipients and other temporarily protected immigrants — other immigrant youth, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, farmworkers, and essential workers — is a pathway to citizenship. Click here to read the full statement.
Policy Updates: Want to know the latest policy updates? You can find "On The Hill" Updates published twice each week on The NCJW Website.
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Membership - Are you up to date?
Annual Member? Most NCJW annual memberships expired on June 30? Click here to join, renew or gift a membership online. If you prefer to mail a check, please send your membership donation to the NCJW Chicago North Shore (NCJWCNS) to: NCJW Chicago North Shore, 5 Revere Drive, Suite 200, Northbrook, IL 60062. Your annual membership donation is only $50 but it helps us make such a difference! And for those 36 and under, we offer a special double chai membership rate of just $36!
Life Member? You're not just a life member because you made that life member donation back in the day - you are a life member because you are the heart and soul of our section! Is there someone in your life that you think would enjoy being a part of our group of motivated, fun, and thoughtful women? A collective of folks connecting with each other and learning together as a community of progressive change-makers. If you do, why not gift them a membership!
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National Council of Jewish Women works all day, every day, to advance policies and efforts that directly affect the most vulnerable populations in the United States. Below, find three actions you can take immediately to make a difference. Want to go further? Visit ncjw.org/act to see all the actions you can take today to better the lives of women, children, and families.
Be Bold, End Hyde! This year, for the first time in decades, the House has introduced a spending bill that does not ban Medicaid insurance coverage of abortion through the Hyde Amendment. Hyde language has also been removed from additional spending bills impacting federal employees and dependents, Peace Corps volunteers, pregnant individuals in federal prisons and detention centers, and Washington, DC residents. Now, Representatives must reject efforts by anti-abortion lawmakers to add these discriminatory and immoral amendments back into the bills. Urge your Representatives to pass clean appropriations bills free of abortion coverage bans!
Judges Matter. While the Supreme Court makes the headlines, our district and circuit courts make the final call in over ninety-nine percent of federal cases. Over 400,000 cases are filed each year in our federal district and circuit courts, and these cases affect countless people every day. Federal judges who serve in lifetime appointments must be fair, independent, and qualified with a commitment to constitutional rights for everyone. NCJW believes in a federal judiciary that is of and for the people. Tell your senators to support a diverse slate of qualified, fair, and independent nominees to the federal courts, including public defenders Eunice Lee and Veronica Rossman, Peurto Rican jurist Chief Judge Gustavo A. Gelpí, Jr, and voting rights champion Myrna Pérez.
Recovery Package. President Biden and a bipartisan group of senators have reached an agreement on a narrow infrastructure bill. But this bill leaves out NCJW priorities, such as health care, childcare, and anti-poverty measures — measures that Congress plans to include in a separate recovery package. If the infrastructure bill is passed on its own, there may not be the political willpower in Congress to also pass this broad recovery legislation. Majority Leader Schumer and Speaker Pelosi have promised to pass both a narrow infrastructure bill and a broad recovery package simultaneously. Right now, Congress is negotiating what priorities to include in the next COVID-19 recovery package. Tell Congress to pass a broad recovery package that helps women, children, and families alongside an infrastructure package. R
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Chicago North Shore has several new ways to support our section. As always, you can make a one time donation or purchase a tribute (links are below), you can even purchase an NCJW star necklace or hanger charm or become a monthly donor!
NCJW is recognized as an organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue code. Contributions to it are tax deductible to the full extent provided by the law.
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