Author: Rabbi Liz P. G. Hirsch

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CCAR Press Women in the Rabbinate

Embracing Hope: Rabbi Liz P.G. Hirsch on ‘Covenant of Justice’

CCAR Press and Women of Reform Judaism have recently copublished Covenant of Justice: Prayers, Poems, and Meditations from Women of Reform Judaism. In this interview, Rabbi Liz P.G. Hirsch, CEO of WRJ and author of the book’s section introductions, explains how the collection serves as both a spiritual resource and a call to action.

What inspired you to select social justice as the theme for this latest book in WRJ’s Covenant book series? 

Social justice is one of WRJ’s core pillars. We were thrilled to debut this publication at the inaugural Rabbi Marla J. Feldman Social Justice Conference earlier this year–an event that highlighted dedication to action and activism. It is only fitting to continue our Covenant book series with a theme so integral to both our legacy and future.  

What was the process for finding authors? 

We put out a call for submissions to all who identified with our mission. We specified that those who submitted a piece for consideration identify as women, nonbinary, or gender fluid, in line with our most recent updates to our membership policy to be inclusive within our spaces.  

How does Judaism approach social justice in a unique way? 

Social justice is integral to our Jewish tradition. I turn to Pirkei Avot as a helpful example; you are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it. We will not solve every challenge facing the world today, yet we also can’t ignore the important work that is before us, throw our hands up in the air, and not even try to start somewhere. From reproductive freedom, to defending democracy and protections against violence against women, we can turn to Judaism to help guide us in this important fight to create a more just and compassionate world for all.  

Can you highlight a piece from the book that exemplifies its approach? 

I had the honor of writing the introductions of each section of the publication, connecting the meaningful texts to WRJ’s resolutions and liturgical traditions. One of the sections, Embracing Hope, reminds us to always seek peace and pursue it, even when the work seems impossible. Here is a piece from that section, “Tears to Action” by Cantor Lisa Levine:

Tears to Action
From our tears comes action
from our fears comes compassion
in the world so torn from hate
we hear the cry to change our fate
and join our hands for the way
to free ourselves from this tyranny.

Bring us home to a time
where our leaders are not blind
everyone is equal
every spirit joined
sing for justice and for peace
sing for everyone’s release.

From our tears comes understanding
from our fear comes love
knowing who we are
gives us strength to soar
all of our beautiful differences
make us who we are!

Bring us home to the day
marching and chanting all the way
where everyone is equal
every spirit joined
sing for justice, sing for peace
sing to save our souls.

What do you hope readers will take away from the collection? 

Just as the other collections within this series, it is always the right time to lift up the voices of women and others pushed to the sidelines of our community. Each prayer, poem, meditation, and reflection exemplifies the themes of justice and equality, while making our feminist lens front and center.   

Rabbi Liz P.G. Hirsch is the CEO of Women of Reform Judaism (WRJ). She is a contributor to Covenant of Justice: Prayers, Poems, and Meditations from Women of Reform Judaism.

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CCAR Press gender equality Torah

You Shall Not Defraud Your Fellow: A Haftarah for Equal Pay Day

Tuesday, March 14, 2023, is Equal Pay Day, marking how far into the year women need to work to earn the same amount as men earned in 2022. Rabbi Liz P. G. Hirsch, recently named incoming executive director of Women of Reform Judaism, shares her contribution to Prophetic Voices: Renewing and Reimagining Haftarah: a contemporary haftarah reading—WRJ’s 2015 “Resolution on Pay Equity”—and accompanying commentary for Equal Pay Day. In addition to alternative readings for the traditional haftarot, Prophetic Voices includes new haftarot for each Shabbat, holiday, and many events on the American Jewish calendar.

From “The Women of Reform Judaism Resolution on Pay Equity,” 2015

Given the profound injustice of unequal pay, Women of Reform Judaism reaffirms its com­mitment to achieving pay equity and calls upon its sisterhoods to:

  1. Urge the swift adoption of legislation that would provide women who face sex-based wage discrimination with a straightforward, accessible path for recourse, including but not limited to:
    • Barring retaliation against workers who disclose their wages, so that workers can more easily determine whether they face wage discrimination, and
    • Ensuring the right to maintain a class action lawsuit, providing women with the same remedies in court for pay discrimination as those subjected to dis­crimination based on race or national origin.
  2. Work with synagogue leadership to enact just compensation policies for clergy and staff at all levels, or, where they already exist, to ensure that these policies properly guide the compensation, interviewing, hiring, firing, and promoting of clergy and staff.
  3. Implement sisterhood or congregational programs to empower women with tools to address pay inequity they may face in their professional lives outside the synagogue.
  4. Take a leadership role to advocate for pay equity in their Jewish community and in their broader local community by forging partnerships with Jewish, other faith, and secular organizations in those communities.

You Shall Not Defraud Your Fellow

Rabbi Liz P. G. Hirsch

Not unlike our Jewish holidays, Equal Pay Day is not fixed to one calendar date of the year. It moves according to the specific calculations of the wage gap each year. Black Equal Pay Day, Latina Equal Pay Day, and Native Equal Pay Day are consistently later in the year, emphasizing the wider wage gap due to greater pay discrimination faced by women of color in the United States.

As the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism notes, “Equal Pay Day is not a holiday to celebrate, but rather a day we use to bring attention to the ongoing injustice of pay discrimination in the United States . . . mark[ing] how far into the new year women must work to receive in wages what their male counterparts earned in the previous calendar year.” The haftarah reading for Equal Pay Day is an excerpt from the Women of Reform Judaism’s 2015 “Resolution on Pay Equity.”

Our values, principles, and resolutions are the roots of the Reform Movement. With our text, we affirm our sacred commitment to gender equality and economic justice.

There is much work to be done. According to an analysis by the National Part­nership for Women and Families, as of March 2020, “women in the United States are paid 82 cents for every dollar paid to men.” The resolution first calls upon us to take a legislative strategy, supporting current bills and policies that work to reduce the gender wage gap. We can look to the work of our Religious Action Center for the most current legislation in need of our advocacy. Significantly, the resolution also requires us to hold up a mirror and examine the policies and practices of our own institutions to ensure we are modeling pay equity in every way. To that end, seventeen organizations have joined together to form the Reform Pay Equity Ini­tiative, which is developing best practices for addressing the gender wage gap.

As we learn in the Holiness Code, the heart of our Torah, “You shall not defraud your fellow. You shall not commit robbery. The wages of a laborer shall not remain with you until morning” (Leviticus 19:13). May we work toward a day when all people are paid equally and justly.

Rabbi Liz P. G. Hirsch is the incoming executive director of Women of Reform Judaism. She currently serves as rabbi of Temple Anshe Amunim, a Reform synagogue in Pittsfield, MA, and is the founding cochair of RAC Massachusetts. Rabbi Hirsch has contributed to The Social Justice Torah Commentary (CCAR Press, 2021) and Prophetic Voices: Renewing and Reimagining Haftarah (CCAR Press, 2023).