ARZA

Last week, Anat Hoffman, leader of Women of the Wall and Executive Director of the Israel Religious Action Center was arrested at the Western Wall. Anat was praying with more than 200 women when she was taken into custody for wearing a tallit and disturbing public order by praying out loud. Her arrest and the [...]

This letter was written by an ARZA member in response to the arrest of Anat Hoffman on Tuesday. It was sent to a member of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Amid all of the wonderful things for which we celebrate Israel, the appalling, and disgraceful treatment of Jewish women in Jerusalem and elsewhere is a [...]

On Tuesday night, Anat Hoffman, leader of Women of the Wall and Executive Director of the Israel Religious Action Center, was arrested for praying at the Western Wall. Anat was reciting the Shema with members of the women’s Zionist organization, Hadassah, who are in Israel for their centennial conference. She was detained and held overnight [...]

By Rabbi Miri Gold I’d like to take this opportunity to wish all of you Shana Tova, on behalf of Kehilat Birkat Shalom, and to bring you up to date on recent developments. As you can imagine, I’ve been interviewed numerous times since the historic decision of the Attorney General of Israel who announced at [...]

The last two weeks of June were sort of a blur of meetings and conferences in Israel. Many of our ARZA leaders participated in several of these meetings including Rabbi Bob Orkand, Didi Gilbert, Sue Fratkin, Ellie Danker, Phil Meltzer, Rabbi Stan Davids, and Bill Hess. The various meetings also included the leadership of the [...]

The following is a letter of congratulations written to Rabbi Miri Gold by Rabbi Robert Leib of Old York Road Temple-Beth Am in Abington, PA. Feel free to share your own messages to Miri in the comments below,  or on ARZA’s Facebook page! Dear Miri, On behalf of our entire congregation, most especially those who [...]

By Rabbi Miri Gold People are asking me how I feel after the landmark decision to have the Ministry of Culture and Sport pay salaries to non-Orthodox rabbis who serve communities in Israel.  I’ll always remember this momentous date, because it is my youngest son’s 23rd birthday today. I’ll also remember it as the day [...]

By Rabbi Stacey Blank A couple of days ago, I boarded the #56 bus in Ramat Shlomo – the first neighborhood in Jerusalem (really more like a close suburb) that was planned solely for Ultra-Orthodox residents – as part of the “Freedom Riders” initiative of the Reform Movement’s Israel Religious Action Center.  We were riding [...]

The News behind the News:  How did Rabbi Alona Lisitsa, a Reform Female Rabbi, become seated on the Religious Council of Mevasseret outside of Jerusalem? Hopefully you will have all learned by now that Rabbi Lisitsa has been named and seated on the Religious Council of Mevasseret, a suburb of Jerusalem.  By all reports, she [...]

By Resa Davids Our final stop on the alphabet was IRAC, the Israel Religious Action Center.  Under the direction of Anat Hoffman, more than 20 lawyers are actively involved in responding to a multitude of human rights issues that affect each and every one of the diverse communities that make up the population of Israel [...]