Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

National Council of Jewish Women Fast for Immigration Coincides With Fast of Esther

The National Council of Jewish Women is leading Jewish groups in a day of fasting for immigration reform to coincide with the Fast of Esther.

Thursday’s fast, which will include Jewish social justice and Jewish women’s organizations, is part of a monthlong campaign of one-day fasts by women’s groups across the country to “bring increased attention to the disparate impact of the current U.S. immigration policies and the need to pass just immigration reform legislation,” NCJW said in a statement.

The Fast for Families campaign is under the auspices of the We Belong Together organization in conjunction with SEIU and the Fair Immigration Reformation Movement.

“The Fast of Esther commemorates Queen Esther’s strength and leadership among the Jews of Persia. Her resolve, which we hope to emulate, saved her people from certain death,” said Nancy Kaufman, the CEO of NCJW. “We hope to draw on Queen Esther’s courage as we fast to call attention to the importance of just, humane and comprehensive immigration reform that is sensitive to the needs of women, children, and families.”

The series of daylong fasts will culminate in Washington, D.C., with a 48-hour fast in conjunction with the Fast for Families nationwide bus tour.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.