The Hue and Cry at Our House: A Year Remembered
A prism on a kitchen windowsill performs the miracle of fracturing sunlight into the complete spectrum, throwing rainbows on mundane surfaces, elevating them to something celestial and rare. Benjamin Taylor, in his compact and precise memoir, The Hue and Cry at Our House: A Year Remembered (Penguin, 2017), performs the same miracle. His last year of childhood in Forth Worth, TX, explodes into multicolored fragments, illuminating intersecting themes from the Kennedy assassination to Taylor’s homosexuality and eventual diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome.
The Netanyahu Years
On November 21, 2016, Benjamin Netanyahu surpassed David Ben Gurion’s record of longest continuous service as prime minister of Israel. Though Netanyahu’s years in power have been marked by scandal and political intrigue, his popularity with the Israeli electorate over the past seven years has grown, allowing him to do practically anything he wants.
The Shoah Through Muslim Eyes
A Pakistan-born Muslim woman with a Ph.D. from a South African university who directs the Holocaust, Genocide and Interfaith Education Center at Manhattan College, a New York City Catholic school, has written a pioneering and courageous book about the Shoah (Holocaust).
Reform Movement Leader on UNESCO's Hebron Resolution
Rabbi Rick Jacobs: It’s hard to fathom how UNESCO can, once again, vote to delegitimize what is demonstrated Jewish history at an ancient holy site. The place where Judaism’s patriarchs and matriarchs rest must not become a political pawn.
URJ Grants Support Innovative Outreach Programs
Court Decision Overturns DOMA, Welcome Step Toward Equality
Pelavin: "Today's decision is a vital, overdue, and very welcome step toward marriage equality and a more just society."
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Jewish Leader Testifies in Support of Carbon Standards
Barbara Weinstein: "If we fail to preserve and protect this world _ our only world - by failing to address rising levels of carbon pollution, we betray our responsibility to one another and to future generations."
Reform Leader Condemns Attacks on African Refugees in Israel
Saperstein: Such violence has no place in any civilized society, much less Israel, the nation state of the Jewish people who have throughout history known similar horrors rooted in ethnic and religious differences.
Rabbi Saperstein Welcomes Public School Guidelines on Harassment, Bullying, and Free Expression
Saperstein: "This document, along with existing state laws and policies and the 2010 guidance issued by the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, will help administrators and teachers respond appropriately when challenges arise concerning speech and harassm
Reform Movement Hails President's Endorsement of Marriage Equality
Rabbi David Saperstein: Today's statement is an important expression of solidarity with same-sex couples who wish to have their marriages recognized, and LGBT teens, who deserve the support of their government.