September 2023 – National Council of Jewish Women

Get Out the Vote!

NCJW/Essex and National Voter Registration Day

National Voter Registration Day is a nonpartisan civic holiday celebrating our democracy. First held in 2012, National Voter Registration Day involves volunteers and organizations from all over the country hitting the streets in a single day of coordinated field, technology, and media efforts.

NCJW/Essex teamed up with the League of Women Voters and fanned out across Essex County and beyond to encourage voter registration and provide information to potential voters. Our volunteers spent the afternoon at libraries in Union, Maplewood, Millburn and Livingston and at Bloomfield College talking to voters and sharing what is at stake in the upcoming election.

According to U.S. Census data from 2020, as many as 1 in 4 eligible Americans are not registered to vote. Every year, millions of Americans find themselves unable to vote because they miss a registration deadline, don’t update their registration, or aren’t sure how to register. National Voter Registration Day efforts are designed to ensure every eligible voter has the opportunity to vote, creating broad awareness of voter registration opportunities to reach tens of thousands of voters who may not register otherwise.

National Voter Registration Day is just one of the many things NCJW/Essex does to help Get Out the Vote. The deadline to register for this November’s election is October 17, 2023. To learn more , visit our voting rights page.

Happy 130th Anniversary NCJW

Celebrating 130 Years of Service and Advocacy

In 1893, Hannah G. Solomon was invited to join the World’s Parliament of Religions as part of the World’s Fair in Chicago. When Jewish women realized that the role others had intended for them was as hostesses pouring coffee, they decided to hold their own conference instead.

The Jewish Women’s Congress was hailed in the national news as an “epoch-making event.” And on September 5, 1893, National Council of Jewish Women was born , and with it, the fight for a safer, more just world for everyone — especially women, children and families.

NCJW’s early work focused on supporting immigrants, and advocating for laws around social welfare issues like promoting public health and stopping child labor. Now, 130 years later, the organization is proud to celebrate a legacy of advocacy and action that has expanded to economic justice, reproductive freedom, voting rights, and much more.

NCJW/Essex, which was established in 1912, is proud to stand side-by-side with national and other local Sections as we celebrate our founding, history, and vision for the future.