Only when women everywhere can stand tall and strong together in peace and security can we confidently say: Once we were slaves, and now we are free.

If Congress does not act quickly after the election to pass a new Farm Bill, the money that exists for emergency food aid will run out in 2013. This could put up to 30 million hungry people at risk in the event of a crisis.

In the Jewish world, this time of year feels like kibbutz galuyot -- an ingathering of the exiles. As the Days of Awe beckon, so many of us become restless and uneasy about our Jewish selves.

This year during Shavuot, the Jewish holiday which marks the end of the harvest, I am reminded of my commitment to alleviate hunger.

Looking at these pieces of art gives me great hope that a new generation of globally conscious designers are celebrating the critical role that tzedakah plays in today's world and that the next generation of Jews will both give and talk about giving.

We now know how wealthy some of our presidential candidates are -- but what we really need to know to judge each one's character is how they give those funds away.

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I am joining Ambassador Tony Hall, David Beckmann of Bread for the World, ONE, American Jewish World Service, Meals on Wheels, Islamic Relief and a broad coalition to fast, pray and act.

Jewish sages say that if all the problems of the world were on one side of a scale, and poverty was on the other, poverty would be heavier. That idea guides us.