Rabbi Saperstein Confirmed as Ambassador for International Religious Freedom
December 12, 2014, Washington, D.C.- In response to today's Senate vote to confirm Rabbi David Saperstein as Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President of the Union for Reform Judaism released the following statement:
URJ Announces Two New Vice Presidents as 2020 Vision Takes Shape
DECEMBER 12, SAN ANTONIO, TX – At the organization’s North American board meeting today, Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) President Rabbi Rick Jacobs introduced two new vice presidents who will work with him to implement the Union’s 2020 Vision.
New Online Learning Center to Enhance Inclusion of People with Disabilities in Congregations
December 15, 2014, New York, NY -- The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) and the Ruderman Family Foundation this week launched the URJ Ruderman Disabilities Inclusion Learning Center, an innovative and interactive online resource center.
Reform Movement Mourns Slain NYPD Officers and Prays for Healing
Washington, D.C., December 22, 2014 - In response to the murders of two New York City police officers on Saturday afternoon, Union for Reform Judaism President, Rabbi Rick Jacobs, delivered the following statement:
Union for Reform Judaism Invests in LGBTQIA+ Leadership Development
URJ Stands with Israel and the Residents of the South
URJ's Rabbi Rick Jacobs Welcomes Rabbi Hara Person as CCAR Chief Executive
Following today's announcement that Rabbi Hara Person will become the next Chief Executive of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), stated: "I could not be more excited to welcome my friend and colleague Rabbi Hara Person to her new, and richly deserved, position as Chief Executive of the Central Conference of American Rabbis."
Rabbi Rick Jacobs: Israeli Ministers Must Stop Their Hate Speech
Union for Reform Judaism Establishes Presidential Fellowship on Millennial Engagement
The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) is launching a new high-level fellowship to strengthen its engagement with millennials. The first Fellow will be Evan Traylor, 21, of Edmond, Oklahoma. Traylor, who will graduate from the University of Kansas in May, will work alongside URJ President Rabbi Rick Jacobs and leaders of the Reform Movement to develop a toolkit for engaging millennials as partners in creating a more just, whole, and compassionate world.
Rabbi Rick Jacobs: Ultra-Orthodox MKs Must Learn the Torah of Respect
Statement by Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ):
MK Israel Eichler’s comments yesterday are yet another example of the extreme intolerance of the ultra-Orthodox religious establishment. Clearly they feel a seismic shift in their decades-old monopoly on Judaism in Israel. Their stranglehold on Judaism is being loosened, and their response is desperate and pathetic.
It is hard to imagine what twisted Torah MK Eichler studies when he characterizes the largest Movement in Jewish life as “mentally ill.” Our Torah teaches us the values of pluralism and of tolerance - and it teaches us not to use phrases like “mentally ill” as an epithet.