Social justice discussion at Jewish center

The "Jews and Social Justice" series continues today with a 10 a.m. Charleston appearance by Dyonna Ginsburg, director of Jewish service learning at the Jewish Agency for Israel.

The talk, "Ships Passing in the Night: Parallel Trends Among Jewish Social Justice Activists in North America and Israel," will be held in the College of Charleston's Jewish Studies Center, 96 Wentworth St. A 9 a.m. bagel breakfast will precede the lecture.

International issues affecting Israel receive a lot of attention abroad, said Jess Glasser, com-

munity liaison for the Jewish Studies Program. But like any other democracy, Israel contends with a slate of domestic social justice issues, including immigrant rights and assimilation, religious freedom, gender equality, economic justice and affordable housing, to name a few.

"After almost a year of examining Jewish approaches to social justice issues facing Americans, we are shifting our focus to Israeli Jewish approaches to social inequality and comparing the two," Glasser said. "How is Israel's tent protest from last summer at all related to Jewish involvement in the Occupy Wall Street tent protests? Will next week's SlutWalk in Tel Aviv (March 16) reflect lessons learned from the controversy taking place in the U.S. right now over reproductive health rights?"

The series is made possible by a grant from the Legacy Heritage Jewish Studies Project, directed by the Association for Jewish Studies. The College of Charleston has used the grant to present national leaders concerned with social justice, including Rabbi Jill Jacobs, the head of Rabbis for Human Rights-North America; Idit Klein, head of Keshet, an organization that works for LGBT inclusion in Jewish organizations; Gideon Aronoff, head of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society; and most recently, Rabbi Morris Allen of Magen Tzedek, leading the charge on a new kind of kosher -- one that encompasses labor concerns, animal welfare, environmental impact, consumer issues and corporate integrity.