RJ Blog

By Loree B. Resnik Yes, I admit it. I am a woman, the oldest of the baby boomers, who struggled and championed women’s rights in America. I think my adult children and their spouses might secretly like to ask me to “give it up already,” “chill” or however one says such things today. Still, I continue to struggle with women’s rights, what they mean to societal norms, and how they impact us both here in North America and, of course, in Israel. For I have two “isms” in my life-feminism and Zionism. Commenting on the parashah (weekly Torah portion) that has [...]

Tikkun Olam in Tel Aviv Jaffa has just announced the creation of a new opportunity to gain experience interning at a non-profit in Israel. Gain valuable career experience in the non-profit sector by interning for 5 or 10 months with an organization serving disadvantaged communities in south Tel Aviv and Jaffa. Participants get to work with organizations working towards Arab-Jewish coexistence; advocating for disabled and special-needs populations; and providing services to refugees from Darfur and other parts of Africa.

In a column for Jerusalem Post titled “Getting Zionism Right,” Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president emeritus of the Union for Reform Judaism, explains what he sees as the vital message of Zionism – and two major obstacles to reaching that goal. He begins, As I sat with my family and friends at our Passover sedarim this year, doing what Jews have been doing for more than 3000 years, it occurred to me that the Jewish world continues to get Zionism mostly wrong. Zionism was created in order to throw off the yoke of subjugation to which we Jews have been subjected [...]

Today is Yom Hashoah, the remembrance day for the Holocaust. This day is a very emotional and heart wrenching time for Israelis, as many have family members who were in the Holocaust or are survivors.

I have had the pleasure of sitting in David Alon’s Jewish history class in EIE at Tzuba for the past two days. As David told the class of 22 students that due to scheduling he was spending two days on the Middle Ages from the Golden Age of Spain, I forgot how much I love to sit in class and learn.

Two weeks ago, I was at the Knesset, Israel’s legislative parliament, wearing Noar Telem’s uniform, and I couldn’t feel any prouder that we are making our voice abundantly clear in front of our elected representatives.

I felt pride as an American and as a Jew in listening to President Obama’s remarkable speech to the Israeli people today. It was an historic speech, perhaps the most important in recent memory by an American president.  The powerful recognition of Israel’s right to exist was important, as well his eloquent and heartfelt recognition of the challenges and the opportunities that Israel faces as it seeks a peaceful and hopeful future. “I agree with our president that, ‘Peace is necessary…the only path to true security.’  As the leader of the largest Movement of Jews in North America, I want [...]

Awesome news! Last week, the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism (IMPJ) and ARZA, the Association for Reform Zionists of America, announced that there are now 40 Reform Jewish congregations in Israel. New Reform communities in Megiddo, Gilboa, Shoham, Kibbutz Beit HaShitta, the Arava and Caesaria have begun meeting for prayer, study and activities, as well as have chavurot in Be’er Sheva, Haifa, and the Jerusalem neighborhood of Kiryat HaYovel. Rabbi Bennett F. Miller, National Chair of ARZA, said of this development, “The fact that there are now some 40 Reform congregations in Israel represents a powerful shift in [...]

‎BBC Travel recently shone the spotlight on Israeli kibbutzim & their evolution over the years. The Reform Movement’s own Kibbutz Lotan, which celebrated its 30th birthday just last week, is highlighted as the “ultimate ‘eco-kibbutz.’” In “Kick Back on a Kibbutz,” BBC reporter Dan Savery Ray writes, The ultimate “eco-kibbutz” is Lotan, situated in the arid Arava desert, 51km north of the Red Sea resort town of Eilat. Guests can sleep in mud houses and learn about permaculture, sustainable building and geodesic domes on a four-week to four-month English-language “Green Apprenticeship”. The kibbutz, set against the backdrop of the red [...]

More than 50 days after Israelis went to the polls, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has finally formed a coalition. Despite maintaining his title as Prime Minister, he is emerging significantly weakened from the negotiations. The final coalition will include the Prime Minister’s Likud-Beiteinu, Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid (“There is a Future”), Naftali Bennet’s Habayit Hayehudi (“Jewish Home”), and Tzipi Livni’s Hatnuah (“The Movement”). With a 68 seat majority coalition in the 120 seat Knesset, Israel’s new government will remain on thin ice, as any defection would result in political impasse.

by Rabbi Ariana Silverman This past January I had the privilege of serving as the co-chair, along with Arnie Gluck, of the CCAR’s trip to Israel.  One of the foci of the trip was social justice in Israel, and as the trip approached, I grew increasingly concerned that I was about to spend a week hearing about everything that is going wrong in a land I love.  I am delighted that the feeling with which I returned was hope.  And last week, the CCAR Convention’s panel on Israel reaffirmed that hope.   While Israel’s challenges are profound, many of the people in Israel who [...]

Women of Reform Judaism (WRJ) leaders today joined Knesset and Women of the Wall (WOW) members to pray at the Jewish holy site, the Western Wall, to celebrate the start of the new Jewish month and to promote religious freedom in Israel. This monthly service, which today commemorated the month when Jews celebrate their freedom from slavery in Egypt, is held to advocate change to Orthodox rulings in Israel barring women from praying out loud at the Western Wall. According to media, today was the first time that police did not detain any participants.

by Annette Powers, Dana Stein and Jane Herman Annette:  Despite the drenching rain in New York City, it was standing room only at Town and Village Synagogue this morning, where hundreds gathered to daven Rosh Chodesh Nisan in solidarity with Women of the Wall’s mission for the rights of all people to pray freely at the Kotel. The crowd was a mix of men, women and children across the spectrum of Jewish denominations. There were students from day schools and youth groups, Jewish professionals and lay leaders, rabbis and cantors. Some women wore tallitot; some didn’t. Some women wore tefillin; [...]

by Rob Kern The Shalom TV Channel is premiering a new series that features meetings with some of Israel’s most fascinating and articulate individuals, representing a variety of viewpoints and perspectives in Israeli life. Titled “Voices Of Israel,” the first meeting is with Anat Hoffman, who is executive director of the Israel Religious Action Center, the legal and advocacy arm of the Reform Movement in Israel and also known to American Jews as the founder of Women Of The Wall, a group of women from every movement of Judaism who seek the right to pray at the women’s section of [...]