RJ Blog

Despite the fact that summer, with its hopefully slower pace, is just around the corner, the last few weeks have been packed! At the end of April, I joined 117 congregational presidents who had gathered in Atlanta for the annual Scheidt Seminar, the URJ’s unique leadership training initiative specifically designed for current and incoming presidents. During the gathering, we honored with an aliyah those participants whose parents or grandparents also had served as presidents. In a moving tribute to these former leaders, 25% of the participants stepped forward, not only to recite the Torah blessings, but also to carry on [...]

Here are just a few of the recent stories from across the webosphere that speak directly to (and about) Reform Jews. What Jewish stories have you been reading recently? Leave a comment and let us know! “Modern-Day Rabbi Must Be CEO, Teacher, and Spiritual Leader at Once,” Forward Are rabbis the new CEOs? Anne Cohen reports that “expectations have changed.” Rabbis are now required to read a spreadsheet as well as the Gemara. They need to be accessible, media-savvy public speakers; business-oriented entrepreneurs; fundraisers; program generators, and in touch with popular trends. To prepare rabbinical students for the challenges ahead, [...]

by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat I love the excited buzz in the synagogue before Shabbat morning services when one of our kids is going to be called to the Torah as b’nai mitzvah. I love the eager, nervous energy I feel emanating from the family. The parents, caught between the mundane organizational details they were worrying about yesterday and the growing awareness that today is something different, a different kind of time. The younger sibling, if there is one, rolling their eyes but also realizing that this is going to be them someday. I love standing outside in the field behind [...]

As the entire country struggles at make sense of the acts of terror that took place yesterday in Boston, the Reform Movement sends our thoughts and prayers to all of those affected by the bombing. We pray for the victims of this senseless crime and for everyone’s safety and healing. Throughout the Boston area, Reform Jewish synagogues are planning special services to allow the local Jewish community to grieve and pray together. For more information on any of the services below, click through to the congregation’s website or Facebook page for event details. Boston: Temple Israel, services at 7pm Brookline: [...]

Two thousand years ago, a rabbi recalled the breadth and depth of what his teacher had given him. Yohanan ben Zakkai remembered his teacher Hillel saying: If all the heavens were parchments and all the trees quills and all the seas were ink, it would still be impossible to write down even a part of what I learned from my teacher. (Sofrim 16:6) I am no Yochanan ben Zakkai, but these words express how I feel about Rabbi David Hartman. I would not be a rabbi if I had not studied with Rabbi David Hartman, the founder and spiritual leader [...]

by Jennifer B. Perlick Two years ago I realized, “Wow, my daughter’s bat mitzvah is coming up!” Of course, I wanted it to be special. I wanted it to be really meaningful for her – and for me and the whole family – but I wasn’t super-inspired by the b’nai mitzvah ceremonies I was attending at my synagogue. Don’t get me wrong, I love my congregation, Har HaShem in Boulder, CO. It offers the largest community of Jewish families in Boulder, its religious school is extremely well-run, and the rabbi and cantor are both young and hip. But the b’nai [...]

The New York Times published an interesting story this week on late NYC Mayor Ed Koch, a Jew. Apparently the mayor’s rabbi, Arthur Schneier of Park East Synagogue (Modern Orthodox), tried to take His Honor cemetery shopping, but Koch was bound and determined to be buried in Manhattan, and so he will spend eternity in Trinity Cemetery, surrounded by Episcopalians. Although the Times implies that Park East was where the mayor davened – when he davened – it also clearly states that he identified as a Conservative Jew. Not that he lived as one; he neither kept kosher nor was [...]

by Becky Oliver Standing on the bimah in a pitch black sanctuary filled with 250 teenagers and another 50-some adults, I whispered in the rabbi’s ear, “I don’t think we can keep them here if we have no power, but the whole neighborhood is out so we probably can’t send them back to their host—” But before I could finish the sentence—in one of those moments that makes you believe in miracles—the power, including lights, microphones, air conditioning, all came back on…and the entire room could see my hal’luyah face. If that had been the most miraculous part of the [...]

Our parashah the last week of the secular year was Va-y’chi, whose major components are Jacob’s blessings, first of Manasseh and Ephraim, and then of his own sons, but especially the concerns of both Joseph and Jacob that they not be buried in Egypt. This preoccupation with the place of burial particularly haunted me, because of an unhappy juxtaposition with circumstances in my own life. In recent weeks, my family dedicated a monument at the grave of my 100- year-old mother-in-law, and less than a month later, we were back at the cemetery, selecting a gravesite for my son Aaron, [...]

When I first joined the URJ, Gail Littman, as Chair of the North American Camping Committee (NAC), introduced me to the Twelve Principles of Governance That Power Exceptional Boards. The list included things like being mission driven, focusing on building constructive partnerships, thinking strategically, creating a culture of inquiry, and the like. I quickly learned the bullets were not clichés for Gail. She more than lived her principles. She lent her guidance, intelligence and grace to our camp and Israel programs and we benefited tremendously. It is with a heavy heart that the Reform Movement remembers Gail Littman, former Camp Newman and NAC Chair, [...]

by Harold S. Geller Just a week after the unspeakable mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, I traveled to Newtown, CT, to help organize a musical evening of remembrance and healing in support of the community. This event took place at Congregation Adath Israel, Newtown’s Conservative synagogue, and featured artists and cantors from throughout the country. More than 200 people attended. Rabbi Shaul Praver of Congregation Adath Israel started the evening with a Havdalah ceremony, offering a moving description of the elements of the service: With the candle we bring new light, and new hope, at a moment where [...]

Our prayers and hearts are with those whose lives have been so tragically altered by the school shooting today in Newtown, CT. In our tradition, immediately following a death we know that no words of comfort can yet be heard, so we offer instead our presence and our empathy as we honor and try to meet the most immediate needs of the bereaved. The circle of grief, horror, and fear is far wider than those who live in the vicinity; every one of us and every one of our children need support and care at this time. We urge people [...]

Elie Wiesel has written, “In Jewish history, a name has its own history and its own memory. It connects beings with their origins. To retrace its path is then to embark on an adventure in which the destiny of a single word becomes one with that of a community; it is to undertake a passionate and enriching quest for all those who may live in your name.”1 From the story of the Creation through the rest of Genesis, the giving of names has been a significant part of the biblical narrative. After creating the wild animals and birds, God “brought [...]

As my daughter, a junior at a local university and living at home, was approaching her 20th birthday, I tried coercing her into chanting her bat mitzvah Torah portion again. Perhaps I was having another of my helicopter parent moments or I just wanted a chance to hold on to her childhood, I’m not sure. No matter what reasoning I used, Amanda refused. She cited school work and her involvement at Hillel on Friday night where she could mingle with people her own age. How could I argue with her wanting to be studious and socialize? I acquiesced. For the [...]