ARZA

By Sarah DePaolo Jerusalem is overrun with stray cats.  Most of the week they hang out on sidewalks and hide under parked cars, but on Shabbat they lounge in the middle of the street; baking in their patches of sunlight; daring you to move them or for a car to disturb their well-deserved nap. I [...]

November 19, 2012 5 Kislev 5773 Dear Members of the HUC-JIR Community, In the days since my letter from Jerusalem to you on Friday, the situation in Israel remains a serious and challenging one. As all of you surely know, a rocket fell outside Jerusalem on Friday just as Shabbat began, and the threat of [...]

Dear Friends and Family Members, First, we would like to thank you for your care and concern; we have received many emails and phone calls during Shabbat, expressing support and love.

Just one hour after they were sent to the bomb shelter as rockets targeted the Jerusalem area (the missiles struck an area near an Arab village in Gush Etzion with no casualties), Reform Jews at Tzur Hadassa celebrated Shabbat with one another, as well as with Reform Jews throughout Israel and the world, by streaming [...]

Dear Friends, I write these words from Jerusalem, Israel. I am here with Jackie, in a city very close to our hearts and in a country we regard as dearly as our own. It has been a week filled with events promising a great future for Israel set against events that mark war and conflict. [...]

It warms our hearts to know that Jews around the world care about us, and that the ARZA agenda is, as always, supportive and empathic. Our Kehillah in Gedera is on the edge of the attacked area.  We are around 35 km (21.75 miles) from the Gaza Strip.  In comparison with other areas in the [...]

Shabbat Shalom to all, This evening the bombing found me in Tel Aviv in Beit Daniel. As I was carrying on with my work and talking to people in the office, we heard a siren. You could see on everyone’s faces that no one knew if to take is seriously or not. After a few [...]

Shalom! My name is Gabriel Pablo Sasson. I am 45 years old, married and have two sons. My family and I made aliyah (immigrated) to Israel from Buenos Aires, Argentina in February 2003. At that time, my sons were eight and three years old; today they are two teenagers, 17 and 13. We are a [...]

By Rabbi Stacey Blank Last week, I was invited to speak before the “Ami-Chai” Pre-Army Preparation Course of the Zionist Council of Israel, based on Kibbutz Keramim. It is becoming more popular in Israel to delay the mandatory army service which begins at age 18 for one year and to participate in a Pre-Army Preparation [...]

On behalf of all the branches of our American Reform Movement, Chag Sameach and Shabbat Shalom. Tonight we, as a movement, celebrate Israel’s 64th Birthday.