National Council of Jewish Women was proud to be anchor partners for the Poor People’s Campaign. In addition to speaking about the war between Israel and Hamas, NCJW CEO Sheila Katz took the stage to speak about lifting people out of poverty with dignity.

Shabbat shalom, everyone! I’m Sheila Katz, CEO of National Council of Jewish Women.

Kavod habriot, the dignity of every human, is one of the most sacred commandments in Jewish scripture. Dignity first and foremost, not just for the wealthy and well-connected, but for all people.

We refuse to be complacent in the face of injustice.

Today is Shabbat, the Jewish peoples’ holy day of rest and prayer. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel famously talked about praying with his feet when marching alongside Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Today, while many in the Jewish community are praying in synagogues — and many prayed right here before this started — we are also here, arm in arm with our friends, to pray with our feet, with our legs, with our wheelchairs, with our bodies, and with everything we have to bend the moral arc of the universe toward justice to end the plague of poverty and systemic oppression in America.

May we continue marching together toward a more holy world we create with love, with peace and with justice. Amen.