Rabbi Sidney Schwarz, who runs the Washington-based Panim, often bemoans the decline of social justice activism among mainstream Jewish organizations. Schwarz suggests that Jewish life swings between two poles: the Exodus model, in which survival becomes the guiding purpose, and Sinai, which calls Jews to a sacred purpose bigger than themselves.

Following a deadly summer war in Lebanon and an ominous rise in anti-Semitism disguised as anti-Zionism, it’s understandable that Jewish individuals and organizations these days tend to embrace the Exodus model. Those real threats to Jewish survival and well-being demand vigilance and unity. And yet the Jewish community is blessed with the resources and organizational strength to remember as well the message of Sinai.

That’s why it is welcome news that two Jewish advocacy groups, the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and Jewish Funds for Justice, are launching a campaign to raise support for a federal minimum wage increase. The groups are gathering signatures from rabbis and rabbinical students across the country calling on Congress to pass the Fair Minimum Wage Act.

“Just a few weeks ago, we marked the longest period without an increase in the federal minimum wage, currently a meager $5.15 per hour,” writes Mark J. Pelavin, RAC’s associate director. “As the cost of living has gone up, executive salaries have grown exponentially, and year after year congressional pay raises are awarded.… [Meanwhile,] American workers have been left behind. In January when the 110th Congress convenes, Congress has a chance to pass the Fair Minimum Wage Act and raise the minimum wage to $7.25 per hour. There is no single step that would mean more for working Americans.”

The petition builds on the momentum for living wage legislation at the state and local level, and Pelavin notes that 29 states and the District of Columbia will soon have minimum wages higher than the federal level. By allying themselves with the most vulnerable members of society, legislators and voters in those states suggest what we all can do in heeding the messages both of Exodus and Sinai.