ARZA

by Rabbi Ira Youdavin My plane landed at  Ben Gurion Airport last Wednesday evening, four days before I would be joining the Jewish Council for Public Affairs National Leadership Mission, and 72 hours before the first night of Hanukkah. The early arrival was different from my usual pattern. Normally, I speed from the airport to [...]

Sukkot is celebrated in Israel in many of the same ways we celebrate it here in the United States. The Sukkah is built, the Lulav is shaken, meals are shared and communities spend time together. See how the Reform congregations in Israel are celebrating the holiday this year!

Haggai. I danced at his wedding in the fall of 1971. He was a proud member of the IDF Tank Corps. The wedding was at Kibbutz Na’an not far from Rehovot. My first Israeli wedding. We laughed and danced. He embraced me into the “kibbutz family” into which my sister would marry in February. On [...]

Temple Beth Shalom in Santa Fe, NM and Yedid Nefesh in Carmiel, Israel have formed a twinning relationship this year through ARZA.  They are coming up with some very creative ways to get to know each other and to form a Mifgash or connection.  Their Pesach project provides all of us with a window on the practice [...]

April 27/28 has been designated Reform Israel Shabbat by the URJ, ARZA, HUC, CCAR, ACC, WRJ and MRJ. This is the first time, in recent history, that all of the arms of our Reform Movement have worked together to support and celebrate Israel. Many congregations will also be commemorating Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israeli Independence Day) on [...]

“We have gathered up human particles and combined them into the fruitful and creative nucleus of a nation revived.” This is how David Ben Gurion described the way that the State of Israel evolved in our own time. We are part of the revival. Through our liturgy and our calendar Israel is ever present. Wherever [...]

by Barbara Kavadias While we have been having a relatively warm winter in the United States, it cannot compare to what winter is like in Israel.  It is the rainy season there, the time of year that Israel greens up, with cooler temperatures and rain (which feels like a miracle every time I experience it) [...]

Sukkot is Zeman Simchatenu- “The Time of our Rejoicing.” We celebrate our bounty even while acknowledging that we are not ultimately in charge. Why else would we dwell in a flimsy booth, with a see-through roof, often times in the cold? We do so to acknowledge that only God can truly provide protection from harm. [...]

Shavuot is traditionally observed through study. Tikkun Leil Shavuot, now with many variations, is a time of learning text throughout the night in order to more fully engage with Jewish law and tradition. Shavuot is linked with Pesach as the next logical step on the path from liberation to sovereignty. That natural link is law, [...]

Chag Sameach. Today, we celebrated the newest holiday of the Jewish people- Israel Independence Day. Our efforts to re-establish a Jewish sovereign state are the culmination of nearly 2,000 years of prayers but of just over 100 years of political activism. It is Jewish/Zionist activism more than prayer that was the tipping point allowing for [...]