RJ Blog

During his trip to Houston earlier this month, Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, sat down for an interview with Texas’s Jewish Herald-Voice. Here’s a quick excerpt: JHV: What sort of narrative, if any, drives the Reform Movement today? Jacobs: What drives our narrative is this incredible moment in Jewish history. We are currently the largest movement in Jewish life in the United States. What are we going to be as we go forward? The early founders of the movement articulated something so compelling, that there was a change and uniqueness to the Jewish narrative. It [...]

For too much of Jewish history Jewish women did not count. Consider the opening of the Book of Exodus: “Eleh sh’mot b’nai Yisrael – These are the names of the children of Israel.” (Exodus 1:1) The text then goes on to name only the male children of Israel: Reuben, Simeon and Judah… but there is no mention of the female children of Israel. There definitely were many female children of Israel who were there but the opening of Exodus doesn’t see fit to mention them. The Biblical text seems to be telling us that: “girls don’t matter. Pharaoh also believes that [...]

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 [...]

Walking into PARTY’s BART Shabbat event last Friday, I had no idea what to expect. Little did I know, I was about to witness the coming-together of seven Broward Country reform congregations in food, in song, in prayer, and in welcoming a very special guest.

URJ President Rabbi Rick Jacobs delivered a message to open Shabbat at NFTY Convention 2013 to a crowd of over 1,000 people.

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 [...]

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 [...]

This afternoon, Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the URJ, lead a conference call/webinar with more than 100 participants from across the Reform Movement, briefing listeners on his recent visit to Israel with the Conference of Presidents of American Jewish Organizations. A recording of that call is available on YouTube and below for those who were unable to join the live event. Please visit urj.org/israel for ongoing updates on Rabbi Jacobs’ trip and the situation in Israel.

Rabbi Rick Jacobs has just returned from Israel, which he visited during the Thanksgiving holiday with the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. In this video, Rabbi Jacobs meets with teenage participants in the Israeli Reform Movement’s Mechina Project, a post-high school, pre-military year of service and community. One of the participants speaks of the group’s experience in a bomb shelter in Beersheva, the largest city in Southern Israel. See photos from Rabbi Jacobs’ trip and stay tuned for additional updates. We also invite you to join us today at 3:00pm ET for a conference call/webinar with Rabbi [...]

In just a few hours, I will be leaving for Israel. As rockets continue to fall on Southern Israel, and as Hamas is targeting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, I believe it is critical that, on behalf of our entire Movement, I demonstrate our solidarity with, and commitment to, the people of Israel. I realize, of course, that Thanksgiving week is a time of travel and family gatherings for those in the United States. But, as the rockets continue to fall, I know that this week will not be “as usual” for many of us. This evening, I will be traveling [...]

Editor’s note: This is the as-prepared text of Rabbi Jacobs’ closing plenary address this afternoon at Jewish Federation of North America’s General Assembly. You can also watch his address below, courtesy of JLTV.com; he starts about two thirds of the way through the video. It’s too simple to think of the world as beginning with our families and ending with those who think, pray, and vote as we do. That isn’t how Jewish tradition views the world, and that isn’t what it means to be part of something larger, more inspiring and more challenging called the Jewish people. For 15 [...]

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 [...]

I was on the phone a few months ago with Marshall Einhorn, executive director of Brown-RISD Hillel, discussing a talk I was asked to give at Brown, where my younger son is currently a junior and of which my older son is an alumnus. As an aside, I asked Marshall who would be leading the campus Reform services for the High Holy Days. When he said he had asked a number of people but without success, I offered to help. “That would be great!” Marshall said. “Let me know if your networks surface someone interested.” “No,” I told him. “Maybe [...]

Two weeks ago, on the morning of Sept. 11, I noticed a woman wearing a traditional Muslim head covering on the packed platform of the train station in Scarsdale, N.Y. Her attention was focused on a billboard ad that announced “19,250 deadly Islamic attacks since 9/11/01” and pre-empted those who might dispute that claim with the refrain: “It’s not Islamophobia, it’s Islamorealism.” I could only imagine what she was feeling. On another morning commute to Grand Central Terminal, I sat on the train with Yawar Shah, a Muslim friend from Scarsdale whom I met years ago at my synagogue when [...]