RJ Blog

Leaders of the Reform Movement issued a statement today about a recent ruling from the Jerusalem District Court that determined that recent detention of Women of the Wall members for their activities at the Western Wall was unjustified and for denying local police requests for restraining orders against the group. Haaretz has more on the ruling and its implications. URJ President Rabbi Rick Jacobs said of the ruling, We were especially pleased to hear the judge state that the Law of Holy Places, which gives visitors to the Kotel the opportunity to pray according to ‘local custom,’ does not mandate [...]

Celebrate Israel’s birthday with the Reform Movement! You’re invited to join friends from across the world for a special celebration of Israel’s 65th Birthday, broadcast live from Kehillat Yozma in Modi’in, Israel. On Monday, April 15th, ARZA and the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism will host a special online “Havdalah” ceremony to mark the conclusion of Israel’s Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of terror and begin Yom Ha’atzmaut (Independence Day) celebrations. The program, led by Rabbi Kinneret Shiryon and Rabbi Nir Barkin of Kehillat Yozma, will be done in both Hebrew and English. It will include prayers and [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

by Susan Fritsch Cohen The following poem was written by Susan Fritsch Cohen on a recent trip to Israel with Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation. Of the trip, Susan said, “Our congregational trip had a transformative effect on me – it solidified my connection with Israel and with the community I traveled with, and that inspired me to write.” She read the poem during her adult Bat Mitzvah service while in Israel.

By Rabbi Jack Alan Luxemburg Adonai spoke to Moses, saying:  “Go and tell Pharaoh, King of Egypt, to let the Israelites depart from his land.” But Moses appealed to Adonai, saying: “The Israelites would not listen to me; how then should Pharaoh heed me, a man of impeded speech!” (Exodus 6:10-12) Rabbi Samuel Mohilever (1824-1898) was a pioneer of Religious Zionism and a founder of the Hovevei Zion Movement, an important precursor to modern Zionism. His efforts to promote Jewish settlement in Israel (then under the rule of the Ottoman Turks) and reclamation of the land through agriculture, gave him an [...]

Last Friday morning, Israeli police detained four women as they prayed at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. The group of 138 men and women was organized by Women of the Wall, an organization that fights for women’s right to pray freely, while donning prayer shawls and other religious articles, at the Western Wall. Among those detained was Reform Rabbi Elyse Frishman, senior rabbi of Barnert Temple in Franklin Lakes, NJ, the oldest synagogue in New Jersey and editor of the Reform Movement’s siddur (prayer book), CCAR’s Mishkan T’filah, used in over 700 North American congregations. (Rabbi Frishman is also married [...]

By Rabbi Bennett Miller We are in the midst of one of the most powerful episodes in the Torah. The narrative reveals a continuation of the story of Joseph, his brothers, Egypt, and Jacob’s entire family. Few Biblical events have been told with greater human drama. The Joseph story is certainly a Jewish story, for we find dreamers and dreams, brothers in need of each other, the Promised Land and the land of our Dispersion. In a very real way, the story of Joseph and his brothers is the story of the Jewish people. Here’s what I mean: Like his forefathers, [...]

by Rabbi Ira Youdavin My plane landed at Ben Gurion Airport last Wednesday evening, four days before I would be joining the Jewish Council for Public Affairs National Leadership Mission, and 72 hours before the first night of Hanukkah. The early arrival was different from my usual pattern. Normally, I speed from the airport to some meeting, with a quick meal, shower and sometimes a few hours of sleep squeezed in. On this trip, I wanted to spend some quality time with friends in Jerusalem and also in Tel Aviv, a city I visit only infrequently. That whirlwind would begin [...]

Numerous news articles have come out in the Forward, New York Times, Jewish Week and Haaretz covering the vote in the UN on upgrading the status of Palestine in the world community. Statements have also been released by URJ and CCAR, with the support of ARZA and ARZA Canada, as well as controversies arising from positions that some groups have taken. At the same time, people have been contacting ARZA to find out what our “position” is.  I think this question relates to people wanting to know what ARZA is, what our role is in our American Jewish Community and [...]

Michtav M’Yerushalyim November 19th, 2012 Dear friends and family members, We begin with a word of thanks to the incredible number of you who have called and/or written – to express solidarity with Israel as well as your concern for our personal well-being.  This ‘connectedness’ means the world to us. We will in particular forever treasure a call from one of our grandchildren who said: “Saba and Savta. I checked with Mom. She said that it’s OK if you need to leave Israel for you to come and stay with us.” Another grandchild called to ask how we were doing [...]

Two nights ago, police intervened as women, including Anat Hoffman, Executive Director of the Israel Religious Action Center and chairwoman of Women of the Wall, prayed at the Western Wall in celebration of the beginning of the Jewish month of Cheshvan and the 100th anniversary of Hadassah. Hoffman was arrested and charged with the “offense” of wearing a prayer shawl and disturbing public order. She vividly described excessive use of force and mistreatment by the police. Two other women were detained the next morning. Leaders of the Reform Jewish Movement have spoken to Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren to express great [...]

How can one best participate in building the State of Israel? In the long history of the Jewish people, this is a very new question. The question of what is the best way to build or protect Israel has been, and continues to be, at the center of many debates. These debates were present in Israel before the declaration of the state. There were two groups in the land; those who worked to return the Jewish people to the land as farmers, workers, and builders, and those who wished to bring about a state based on Torah study. The chalutzim [...]

Sukkot is celebrated in Israel in many of the same ways we celebrate it here in the United States. The Sukkah is built, the lulav is shaken, meals are shared and communities spend time together. See how the Reform congregations in Israel are celebrating the holiday this year!