Blog | Reform Judaism

an image of an Israeli flag wrapped around a girl overlooking hills in Israel

How the Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting and Processing Grief Led Me to Heller High – and Changed My Life

October 19, 2023

I became bat mitzvah on October 27, 2018. It was both one of the best and worst days of my life. At the same time I was on the bima at my home congregation of Temple Emanuel in Greensboro, NC, a gunman at another community in Pittsburgh walked into the Tree of Life Synagogue and killed 11 Jewish people.

an image of a woman wearing a tallit holding out her hands

Living with Disabilities

Finding Emunah Amidst Fear and Uncertainty

Emme Goldhardt

February 28, 2023

My Hebrew name is Emunah, and I have autistic spectrum disorder (ASD).

tteokguk Korean soup with beef and sliced rice cakes

Spirituality

Honoring Korean Lunar New Year (Seollal)

Shayna Han

January 28, 2022

Last year, I spent Seollal, or Korean New Year, with my family in Busan. The symbolism, the spirituality, and the elaborate order of charye remind me of Jewish holidays and rituals.

Person wearing a purple prayer shawl and holding a prayer book

Jewish Learning

The URJ Reflection Project: Go Deeper on “The Spiritual”

Rabbi Esther L. Lederman

Rabbi Leora Kaye

August 15, 2021

As part of the URJ Reflection Project, a new set of offerings and experiences for the High Holidays in a time of social distance, we’ve also developed three short essays that allow you to go deeper into the essence of Jewish wisdom that grounds these rituals.

Shot from the ground up of a group of Black men and women holding hands as if in friendship or support

Jews of Color

What is Juneteenth to a Black Jew?

C.E. Harrison

June 18, 2021

Even though the Emancipation Proclamation declared all enslaved people free on January 1, 1863, it was not fully enforced until two and a half years later.

Small silhouette of a person standing against the night sky as if to represent the enormity of the universe

Lifecycle Rituals

My Big Question: God, The Milky Way, Miracles, and More

Richard Reiss

April 7, 2021

The enormous question for me, then, has always been: Is God watching? When I began to understand computers, I realized that, yes, one thing could follow billions of people if those people were nothing more than data points on a revolving planet with polar icecaps.

Ornate gold hamsas on a black background

Spirituality

Kabbalah, Tarot, and Delving into Mystical Judaism

C.E. Harrison

February 8, 2021

Some Jews have extended their mystical journey into the world of tarot – like Heather Mendel, a Jewish mystic, author, artist, and speaker who has spent her life exploring this connection and has written extensively about it.

Sad woman sitting on a wooden floor holding her head in her hands as if in grief

Lifecycle Rituals

Distancing Closeness: A New Way of Mourning

Rabbinic Pastor/Cantor Lisa L. Levine

November 5, 2020

Gathering in grief gives us a window into the blessings of life. Jewish tradition does this so well – which makes it all the more difficult to cope with loss in the time of COVID-19.

Bright pink flower with a yellow center and a small silver Star of David resting in the middle

Transgender Inclusion

"I Will Be What I Will Be:" Finding a Jewish Path in Emerging Adulthood

Aria Caligiuri

October 13, 2020

As a Jewish autistic bisexual transgender woman, “I will be what I will be” is something I have had to tell many people throughout my life, as they have questioned, judged, mocked, and discriminated against me for who I am.

Outside of a white synagogue building with a Star of David stained glass window

B'nai Mitzvah

Finding My Way Home: How and Why I Returned to My Judaism

Dr. Gary M. Levin

October 6, 2020

Not knowing if I would be shunned or accepted, I decided to give my religion another chance. I was not prepared for the warm and welcoming atmosphere I found at temple, where being gay was as acceptable as having brown hair.

Blog Posts about Spirituality