Image by tktkt

Rabbi Jill Jacobs, who has long been active in social justice circles, was tapped this April to run Rabbis for Human Rights-North America, a multidenominational human rights group.

Jacobs, 36, is a former Forward columnist and onetime rabbi-in-residence at Jewish Funds for Justice. Though the Israeli branch of Rabbis for Human Rights is known for its work with Palestinians in the West Bank, Jacobs’s own focus has long been on workers’ rights.

In September, Jacobs visited the tomato fields of Immokalee, Fla., as part of an ongoing RHR-NA campaign to draw attention to the conditions of workers there, who must pick more than two tons of tomatoes a day in order to earn a minimum wage. Jacobs’s organization has been seeking to pressure tomato sellers to demand that growers improve workers’ conditions.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

RHR-NA has likened the working conditions of today’s tomato pickers to slavery. “Slavery is just the dark underbelly of an American labor system that forces wages lower and lower,” Jacobs said. “This system flies in the face of Jewish law, which demands that workers be paid a living wage and be guaranteed dignity in the workplace.”

Besides her advocacy in the field, Jacobs has become a thought leader among Jewish activists, this year publishing a hands-on guide to doing Jewish social justice work titled, “Where Justice Dwells.”

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’re near the end of our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we have a very ambitious goal of $127,000 by April 21.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Make a Passover Gift Today!

$90 $180

$360

Other amount