RJ Blog

by Rabbi Jonathan Biatch Editor’s Note:  This post is the second of two about Congregation Emet VeShalom.  Read the complementary post. The double air-kiss; you’ve gotta love it!  It is a European custom becoming more widespread in Israel, and it’s quite contagious.  You’ve seen it: once on the right side, then once on the left.  By the conclusion of my first worship service at Emet VeShalom, I had received many such kisses of warmth and friendship.  I quickly learned that the relatively small size of Emet VeShalom says nothing about its welcoming spirit, or its obvious passion, or its members’ [...]

by Sharon Mann Editor’s Note:  This post is the first of two about Congregation Emet VeShalom.  Read the complementary post. Reform Judaism and religious pluralism, which are taken for granted in the United States, are not axiomatic in Israel. As a member of Emet VeShalom—a Reform congregation in Nahariya, a peripheral area of Israel eight miles from Lebanon’s border—I know maintaining a non-Orthodox congregation is fraught with challenges. At present, one major challenge facing ours is that we do not have a rabbi serving as spiritual leader of our community. Our members are facing this challenge by stepping up and [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

by Rabbi Gilad Kariv Earlier this month, over a million Israeli Muslim citizens celebrated Eid el-Fitr – the holiday that ends the month-long Fast of Ramadan. At the same time, we began our month of mercy and forgiveness, and with it, the many preparations prior to the New Year. In less than one month’s time, on the first days of the New Year, we will read the story of the birth of Isaac and his complicated relationship with his brother Ishmael. Scholars who have dealt with the inherent difficulties of this story, have posited that after the death of Sarah, [...]

Since last summer’s tent city protests in Israel, there has been a great deal of public debate about the public subsidy for Yeshiva studies, coupled with its exemption from Israel’s Universal Draft, used almost entirely by Haredi Jews.  This topic was taken up by the Israel Courts, who found the current system unacceptable.  It was a major driving force behind the formation and downfall of the Coalition Government with Kadima.  President Emeritus of the URJ, Rabbi Eric Yoffie, wrote on this topic for The Jerusalem Post. He shares some important history and asks about a missing voice in the public [...]

The last two weeks of June were sort of a blur of meetings and conferences in Israel. Many of our ARZA leaders participated in several of these meetings including Rabbi Bob Orkand, Didi Gilbert, Sue Fratkin, Ellie Danker, Phil Meltzer, Rabbi Stan Davids, and Bill Hess. The various meetings also included the leadership of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism, including Yaron Shavit, Rabbi Gilad Kariv, Gusti Braverman, Menachem Leibovich and others. ARZA was pleased to attend with Rabbi Rick Jacobs in several of these gatherings in his first Israel visit as President of the URJ.

The following is a letter of congratulations written to Rabbi Miri Gold by Rabbi Robert Leib of Old York Road Temple-Beth Am in Abington, PA. Feel free to share your own messages to Miri in the comments below,  or on ARZA’s Facebook page! Dear Miri, On behalf of our entire congregation, most especially those who have met and heard you, personally, we extend our sincere CONGRATULATIONS to you on your long-awaited victory!! We are all so thrilled for you and the extraordinary patience, courage, strength and optimism you have displayed over the course of so many years.

Can it be that only men were at Sinai? When we read the Asseret HaDibrot this Shavuot, do they apply only to men? Is there some proof that the brain power or the moral worth of a woman is less than a man? The answer to all of these questions is a resounding no. As Jews, we are always worried about being demeaned, marginalized, or discriminated against. We work hard and spend millions of hard to raise funds to support equality within our American society and to protect the civil rights of all citizens. We, likewise, do the same for [...]

by Sharon Mann I am Israeli, a Reform Jew, and still a little American after 20 years of living in Israel. I feel that I can be me as a member of Emet VeShalom, a progressive, multi-cultural, warm and welcoming congregation in Nahariya. I joined Emet VeShalom when my son, now 18, received his Torah during a special celebration in one of the many Orthodox neighborhood synagogues – he was to begin studying Bible in the local public elementary school in second grade. At that moment, I realized that it would be important to me to raise my children as [...]

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 Course which generally combines service in the community with study and leadership training for the army.

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. We might wonder, to paraphrase the McCartney song we sang decades ago, “Does Israel still need me when she’s 64?” The truth is we, the American Jewish community, our Movement, and Israel need each other.

By Rabbi Stacey Blank In the midst of the modern State of Israel’s “High Holidays” – last week being Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) and this Wednesday being Yom HaZikaron (Memorial Day) which leads right into Yom HaAtzmaut (Independence Day), I am considering what it means to be a Zionist or a lover of Israel, what it means to be a citizen of the State of Israel, and what it means to live outside of Israel and feel a connection with this entity. I have been thinking about it in the context of my parents’ (who live in the US) [...]