Name: Michael Rothbaum
Bio: Rabbi Michael Rothbaum is the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Elohim in Acton, Massachusetts. He is a graduate of the Academy of Jewish Religion in New York (AJR-NY) where he received his Rabbinic S’mikhah (ordination) in 2006. He graduated from the New College of Florida in 1997 with a BA in Public Policy/Economics. Rabbi Rothbaum was the Campus Rabbi at Hillels of Westchester (NY), during which he served as sole rabbinic figure for students at Sarah Lawrence College and Purchase College. He has served as Director of Congregational Learning at Kehillat Lev Shalem – the Woodstock, NY Jewish Congregation and Rabbi Rothbaum was the rabbi at the Philipstown Reform Synagogue in Cold Spring, NY. Rabbi Rothbaum was Co-Chair of the Bay Area Regional Council of Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice, as well as Rabbi-Educator at Beth Chaim Congregation in Danville, CA. Rabbi Rothbaum has spoken and taught widely, addressing groups as varied as Moishe House, Jewish Community Relations Council, and Nuns on the Bus. He has appeared in front of audiences at the US Senate and House of Representatives, Oakland City Council, and the New York State Democratic Party. His writing has been included in the Forward, Tikkun, the Huffington Post, and the anthology, “Peace, Justice, and Jews: Reclaiming Our Tradition” (2007).
Website: https://www.bethelohim.org/leadership/ourrabbi.html
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/michael-rothbaum
Name: New England Jewish Labor Committee
Bio: The Jewish Labor Committee was formed in February, 1934, by Yiddish-speaking immigrant trade union leaders. In the beginning the purpose was to rescue Jews and Trade Unionists from certain death at the hands of Nazis. The JLC’s leadership helped secure U.S. visas for 2000 union leaders and their families in Eastern Europe, France, Germany, Italy, Austria and Belgium. The JLC also raised almost $300,000 to buy weapons that were smuggled into the Warsaw Ghetto. Following the war, the Jewish Labor Committee helped settle refugees and helped them find jobs and set up a Holocaust education program. In 1951 the Jewish Labor Committee, through the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA), became the official the voice of labor in the Jewish community, speaking in the name of 500,000 North American workers. It was also the voice of the Jewish community in the labor community. After World War II, the JLC focused more on domestic issues, such as anti-discrimination, desegregation and civil rights, the Grape boycott, and the development of trade union human rights programs. It has also worked to protect Soviet Jewry. The JLC organizes support for Israel among the labor community.More recently the National Jewish Labor Committee has focused on the Hyatt Hotel Boycott, supporting Walmart workers as they demand respect and decent working conditions, and immigration reform.
Website: https://www.newenglandjewishlabor.org
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/jewish-labor-committee-new-england
