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Equal Pay Day

Equal Pay Day marks the extra time a woman needs to work to earn the same amount men earned in a previous secular year. March 31st date is designated “All Women’s Equal Pay Day,” reflecting the average for all women to bridge the wage gap. However, there are other notable Equal Pay Days, breaking down the wage gap by subgroups: February 11, 2020, Asian American Women’s Equal Pay Day; March 31, 2020 White Women’s Equal Pay Day; August 13, 2020, Black Women’s Equal Pay Day; October 1, 2020, Native Women’s Equal Pay Day; November 2, 2020, Latinas’ Equal Pay Day.

International Women’s Day is on March 8th and Equal Pay Day is on March 31st. RPEI, with the great assistance of the CCAR and ACC, has produced materials to help all of our organizations and our members highlight the issue of Pay Equity during this season. Please push these resources, which include: sample sermons, sermon/writing fodder and talking points, study guides to teach pay equity to 1) boards, 2) search committees, and 3) adult education groups, and a curated list of music for services/gatherings. How wonderful it will be to have this social justice issue lifted by our professionals and lay leaders by preaching, teaching, singing, and writing about pay equity, including its challenges and solutions within the Reform Movement.

Resources

Responsum on Equal Pay

Past CCAR, URJ, and WRJ Resolutions on the issue of Pay Equity

Gender Pay Equity: A Textual Exploration for Justice

Musical Resources

Study Guides

Reform Pay Equity Initiative, in collaboration with CCAR and with generous support from the Jewish Women’s Foundation of New York, is pleased to present the following study guides to be used with these essays:

Facilitators’ Guide

Study Track 1: Synagogue Board: “Reform Jewish Perspectives”

Study Track 2: Synagogue Search Committee: “Social Justice” and “Best Practices”

Study Track 3: Adult Education: The Sacred Partnership: Ethics and Values

Sermons/ D’vrei Torah

Pay equity is inherently a Jewish issue. Raise the issue of the gender wage gap in your community from the bima. Here are some samples of d’var Torah on the topic of Equal Pay Day.

Rabbi Marla Feldman, Trumah 2017

Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, Pinchas 2017

Rabbi Helaine Ettinger, Rosh Hodesh Nisan 2019

Rabbi Peter Stein, Shabbat Shmini 2019

Rabbi Charles Briskin, 2019

Rabbi Joel Abraham, Tazria 2019