RJ Blog

We want to share a few exciting updates about the URJ Biennial, happening December 11-15 in San Diego. Every day, it seems, another key piece falls into place! Registration will open in July. Keep an eye out for more information about how to register. Make sure to sign up for updates and start making your travel plans to be with us in beautiful, warm, San Diego in December! We are pleased that Jewish Life Television (JLTV) will be the official broadcast partner of the Biennial. JLTV will provide live coverage – broadcasting to 40 million homes on cable and streaming [...]

Do you want to know the worst-kept synagogue secret? It is not about politics at the pulpit or the fact that most Jews do not regularly attend Shabbat services. No, the worst-kept synagogue secret is that almost 90% of the young people who become bar or bat mitzvah in our synagogues are absent from our programs by the time they graduate high school. Elsewhere, I have written about Congregation Or Ami’s recent attempts to rethink the whole enterprise of youth engagement. We have kvelled about early indications that our efforts are raising our community’s youth engagement by 20% (and we [...]

by Ron Wolfson It’s that time of year, when Jewish institutions pull out their 2013-14 calendars and fill them with events. Many of the programs are very good, with clever names and slick marketing: Jews and Brews for young Federation leadership; L’mazeltov for expectant parents; Torah and Tacos for synagogue members who favor a certain southwestern cuisine with their Bible study. And yet, after all this well-meaning effort, membership in synagogues and JCCs is declining, federation campaigns are flat and a generation of young Jewish adults is in no hurry to affiliate. The 20th century model of programmatic engagement is [...]

As concerned as we are about economic justice, the American Jewish community has failed to understand, on a gut level, a glaring reality: Adults with disabilities in the U.S. disproportionately experience poverty. According the census bureau, about one in five Americans has a disability. That means 20% of us. Eighty percent of adults with disabilities are unemployed or under employed not because they cannot work, but because they are denied the opportunity to work at jobs they are qualified to do. Employment discrimination makes people poor! With unemployment rates consistently double that of the general population, people with disabilities experience [...]

Coming to camp has many parallels with the Exodus story. When campers get ready for that first summer at camp, they are leaving everything they know; they are leaving home for an unknown land; they have to have faith that it will all work out in the end. (And, no, I’m not saying that our lives at home are Egypt or that parents are enslaving their kids… it’s an imperfect metaphor, but still one that is valuable.)

A highlight of my trips to Kiev has been visiting the Progressive synagogue, Congregation Hatikvah. It was hardly necessary for Rabbi Alex Duchovny to explain their hope (Hatikvah): upgrade their small, shabby facilities, to help make Progressive Judaism attractive as a religious force in Ukraine, where Orthodox institutions, even if not Orthodox lifestyles, are dominant. Well, the good news is that today a new, modern, Progressive synagogue in Kiev is in process, thanks to the hopes and dreams of Rabbi Alex and his congregation and the generosity of the Beutel, Klau, and Molloy-Posner families. As Oscar Hammerstein taught, “You gotta [...]

Every congregational website should have – and post in a conspicuous place – a privacy policy that clearly states how information gathered on the site is used and how visitors may contact the congregation for further information. Your congregation’s webmaster should be able to give you the technical information that is unique to your congregation. The information that follows is for guidance only, and the Union for Reform Judaism recommends that any policy be reviewed by an attorney.

The on-line literature about how synagogues choose their names is very sparse, nor is the subject covered very often in the congregational histories that appear on the websites of many URJ congregations.  Whatever naming process the founders have followed soon gets lost in the congregation’s unrecorded history, and we have many instances where the original name has been abandoned, and then later revived. [1]

by Robin Riegelhaupt I recently went to the website of a musical revival that just opened on Broadway. When I clicked on the cast bios, I was delighted to see that not only could I learn what other shows each cast member had been in (which is typically listed in the Playbill), but I could learn fun facts about them, like what they sang for their audition. This gave me a feel for the cast’s personality and it also said something about the show: this show is about community and people connecting with people. That’s the personality reflected by the [...]

by Marv Kaminsky Okay, I’m an oddball: single, never been married, no children, live alone. I’m not even a doctor or a lawyer. My late father survived three concentration camps and went on to fight in Israel’s War of Independence. My brother’s an Orthodox rabbi. My Judaism – Reform Judaism – is the most important thing in my life. And I spent this high holiday season attending Reform services entirely online. There’s no Reform in the small city where I live; very little of any kind of Judaism. The nearest Reform congregation, 41 miles away, is ailing. I’m a member, [...]

by Natalie MillerURJ Congregational Technology Specialist The Union is currently accepting submissions for The URJ Techies, a social media and technology contest set up to recognize member congregations that are successfully utilizing and embracing social networks and technology. It will also inspire others to seek innovative ways to enrich their communities by engaging members online. Social networking and technology are extremely important tools to increase awareness about the work congregations do within a community. These tools can help leaders connect with members outside congregation walls and can create an online community that can supplement and enrich the offline community, offering [...]

by Rabbi Paul Kipnes(Originally posted on Or Am I?) Rabbi Eric Yoffie, President of the Union for Reform Judaism, gave his Shabbat morning sermon at the URJ’s 70th Biennial Convention in Toronto. Read the full text. Just after he delivered it in Toronto, I read the text of his sermon in West Hills, CA (isn’t technology wonderful?). Thoughtful, eloquent as always, Rabbi Yoffie launched two Biennial initiatives: Just Table, Green Table: Rabbi Yoffie calls for a commitment to ethical eating, asking synagogue leaders to “carefully, thoughtfully, Jewishly” formulate new eating guidelines for their communities. Embracing Technology: Reform Judaism’s opportunity to [...]