Women of Reform Judaism

By Rabbi Marla Feldman I was blessed to have had the opportunity to become a rabbi and serve the Jewish community in a time when the doors to the rabbinate were open to women. As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Sally Priesand’s ordination, I am acutely aware that this was not always the case. Rabbi [...]

by Dana Herman, PhD Although there are many benefits to working at The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives (AJA) in Cincinnati, OH—the largest, free-standing repository dedicated to preserving the history of American Jewry—one of the most delightful has to be meeting and interacting with the visitors to our facility who conduct [...]

By Dolores Wilkenfeld The dictionary defines the word, “journey” as “travel or passage from one place to another.” Yet, journey is used increasingly these days to refer to a series of events and experiences in our lives which influence us in a particularly meaningful direction. I would suggest that both descriptions can apply to the [...]

By Marilyn Lake Neumann Women of Reform Judaism enriches each of us in many different ways. Timed to coincide with Mother’s Day, my perspective is multi-generational, based on a longstanding family involvement with NFTS/WRJ. About the time that the National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods (NFTS) was founded, the president of Congregation Gates of Prayer Sisterhood, [...]

Throughout its history, Women of Reform Judaism has supported the next generation of the Reform Movement. In celebration of WRJ’s Centennial and the significant role that WRJ has played in the life of NFTY, the current National Board members and a staff member of the North American Federation of Temple Youth share their reflections on [...]

By Rabbi Jon Adland I remember this as if it were yesterday. The year was 1966 and the season was spring.  My father secretly arranged to pick up his children, the four of us, at three different schools, and take us to Washington Hebrew Congregation’s closing Sisterhood luncheon. Though I wasn’t totally in the loop, what [...]

By Resa S. Davids WRJ-Israel came into being in Jerusalem on March 19, 2009. I had arranged a luncheon for women to be held during the WUPJ International Convention in order to strengthen the women’s track of workshops and to encourage more Israeli women to participate in the convention. Previously, I had visited 15 congregations [...]

By Rabbi Rick Jacobs 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 [...]

By Blu Greenberg In every generation, Jews have understood the significance of the Revelation of Torah in their lives. We have studied and written and taught about the meaning of Torah and its relevance to contemporary circumstances. With the publication of The Torah: A Women’s Commentary in 2008, the teachings of women scholars and Jewish professionals [...]

By Rabbi David Ellenson The history of the rapport between the Women of Reform Judaism and Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion starts with the founding of the National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods in 1913 when NFTS established a National Committee on Hebrew Union Scholarships. Through Harvest Balls, dances, raffles, card parties, rummage sales, bazaars, the [...]