Displaying 1 - 10 of 333
A Year of Strategic Change, Reckoning, and Gratitude
HUC-JIR has taken many steps this year to move our College-Institute towards a vibrant and sustainable future, and many more will soon follow. Together with our partners across the Reform Movement and the North American Jewish communities, we are embarking on our next chapter with hope and big dreams for our shared future.
Becoming BMitzvah
I love seeing how our students at Temple Shalom of Newton transform throughout the process of becoming BMitzvah. It's the end of my first year coordinating the BMitzvah program and my colleague Allison Lobron, an experienced leader in inclusion and social emotional learning, and I are hosting an end of year celebration for our BMitzvah students.
Finding Hope
Thursday night's passage of a bi-partisan gun bill filled me with hope, even as the Supreme Court ruled against New York, which forces some states to actually loosen their gun regulations.
Six Ways to Make Your Digital Content More Accessible (and Why You Should Care)
If you're one of the many people creating digital content - whether you write for a blog, deliver PowerPoint presentations, manage a website, share your videos on YouTube, or simply send emails to communicate with people in your community - it is important to learn about what accessible content is, and how to create it.
Enough is enough: What you can do to help stop American gun violence
Buffalo, Uvalde, Tulsa, and other recent incidents of gun violence highlight the fact that the U.S. has been locked in a cycle of apathetic “thoughts and prayers,” while little federal action has been taken on this public safety and public health issue. We must end the helpless, apathetic cycle of “thoughts and prayers.” Enough is enough. To stand idly by and do nothing in the face of such senseless slaughter is unconscionable and antithetical to our Jewish values and beliefs. To paraphrase Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, we will pray with our marching feet and voices.
Shalom LinkED: Online Jewish Values Learning
What if your congregation’s students learn about Jewish values and living online with Shalom LinkED once a week for 18 weeks next year and celebrate, build relationships, and learn Hebrew together during the remaining weeks? How might your congregation’s educators focus and deepen their work if some planning and teaching is taken care of by leaders in the field?
The Susan Zukrow Mackevich Seeds of Compassion Fellowship Grows Connection between Early Jewish Education and Camp
Sometimes an outsider’s perspective yields a beautiful question. Susan Zukrow Mackevich, whose second yahrzeit was April 27, provided that kind of perspective for us at the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), Early Childhood Educators of Reform Judaism (ECE-RJ), and Chicago-area early childhood Jewish educators.
URJ Helps Rabbis and Students Navigate Jewish Journeys Online
The URJ's Introduction to Judaism is an online course for adults interested in exploring Jewish life through a Reform lens. We make every effort to connect students to their local congregations, but if their local congregations do not offer an Intro to Judaism course, these students can sign up for online classes.
Pulse Plus+: Taking Data and Information to the Next Level
This summer, the URJ will be launching the Pulse Plus+ Survey (Pulse+). On July 18, 2022, all Presidents, Rabbis, and Executive Directors will receive a login link to an extended survey.
Rabbi Rick Jacobs’ Remarks on Reform LGBTQ+ Inclusion
Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), recently attended the 50th anniversary celebration of Beth Chayim Chadashim in Los Angeles, California, the world's first LGBTQ+ congregation. This is a excerpt taken from his remarks at the event.