Jewish Activist Penny Rosenwasser Issues Call to Action against anti-Semitism

Even in 2017, anti-Semitism persists. In America, neo-Nazis and white nationalists threaten not only blacks and other minorities but also Jews. In these perilous times, how should Jews, especially women and those who identify as trans/gender-queer, respond? In her book “Hope Into Practice: Jewish Women Choosing Justice Despite Our Fears,” social activist Penny Rosenwasser suggests,
 
“Our security as US Jews lies in our relationships with our allies and with each other, our hope in what we can create together. Speaking out again crimes targeting our people, we speak out just as strongly against crimes targeting others. Using our Jewishness as a social justice platform, for us, activism is putting hope into practice.”
 
Simultaneously, the author urges readers to face and work through their internalized anti-Semitism (and internalized oppression, in general): to “love ourselves enough to face our fears without acting on them, linking personal healing with social justice.” In short, this is a book about liberation from our narrow places and the power to change the world.

In “Hope into Practice,” the author incorporates exuberant Jewish women’s voices and stories, essays, and Jewish history (Jewish resistance during the Nazi Holocaust, also the Israeli-Palestinian conflict) to help her readers reflect events, examine their attitudes towards their Jewishness, and maximize their potential to bring change.
 
“Life experience has taught me that the better we feel about who we are and where we come from, the better we’ll treat other people – and the more positive/powerful our activism will be in creating a just and generous world,” said the author.
 
“Hope Into Practice: Jewish Women Choosing Justice Despite Our Fears” is available at Amazon.
 
Readers are encouraged to visit the author’s website at pennyrosenwasser.com
 
Hope Into Practice: Jewish Women Choosing Justice Despite Our Fears
Written by Penny Rosenwasser
Published by PennyRosenwasser.com
Published date: September 15, 2013, reprint edition
Paperback price: $21.95
 
About the Author
A life-long heartfelt rabble-rouser for social justice, Penny Rosenwasser earned her Ph.D. at the California Institute of Integral Studies in Transformational Learning & Change. Penny is former Jewish Caucus Chair of the National Women’s Studies Association and is a founding board member of Jewish Voice for Peace. She teaches an Anti-Semitism/Anti-Arabism class with a Palestinian colleague at the City College of San Francisco and belongs to Kehilla Synagogue. Transplanted to Oakland, California, from Northern Virginia/Washington, DC, Penny is a former performing folk musician and radio host; she loves fooling around on the ukulele, drumming on the dumbek, and snorkeling in search of sea turtles and spotted eagle rays.

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