URJ Biennial, North America's Largest Jewish Gathering, Begins in Chicago
December 11, 2019; Chicago, IL – The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) has gathered more than 5,000 Reform Jewish leaders and community members at the 75th
Jennifer Brodkey Kaufman Elected to Serve as Chair of the Union for Reform Judaism's Board
Jennifer Brodkey Kaufman, of Sacramento, CA, has been elected to serve as the next chair of the North American Board of Trustees of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ). The role is the top lay leadership position in the URJ, which represents North America’s largest and most diverse movement in Jewish life.
Torah Scroll Rescued from the Holocaust To Be Returned Home To New Czech Republic Congregation
A Torah scroll that miraculously survived destruction during the Holocaust and was cherished for decades by generations of North American Reform Jewish youth leaders at URJ Kutz Camp will be returned home as a symbol of the rebirth of Jewish life in Central Europe. Reform Jewish Movement leaders chanted from this remarkable Torah scroll during Shabbat worship services at the URJ Biennial, the largest Jewish gathering in North America, and then the symbolic transfer announcement of this Torah was made.
JCC Association of North America and The Union for Reform Judaism Launch Unprecedented Partnership to Strengthen Field of Jewish Early Childhood Education
JCC Association of North America and the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) announced a major new partnership to address immediate challenges facing the field of Jewish early childhood education and family engagement. This marks the first time JCC Association and the URJ, the two largest providers of Jewish early childhood education in North America, are partnering on a joint initiative of this scale. Their work together impacts more than 65,000 children from 50,000 families and 10,000 educators across 475 early childhood centers in the United States and Canada.
URJ President Rabbi Rick Jacobs On Charlottesville
URJ President Rabbi Rick Jacobs on Charlottesville: We Condemn Neo-Nazi hate speech and call for an end to violence; but “Moral Equivalence of violence and hate “on many sides” is troubling. We commend the opening of President Trump’s statement condemning the “egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence” but are deeply troubled by the moral equivalence evident in President Trump’s statement today.
David Grossman, Award-Winning Israeli Author And Activist, To Receive Union For Reform Judaism’s Highest Honor
vid Grossman, the Israeli author and activist, whose books, essays and public advocacy have inspired a generation, will receive Reform Judaism’s highest honor, the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) 2017 Maurice N. Eisendrath Bearer of Light Award. The award will be presented at the 74th URJ Biennial in Boston in December 2017.
Outraged Reform Jewish Leaders to Israeli PM: Denounce Degrading Body Searches of Female Rabbinic Students at Kotel
Senior leadership of the Reform Movement, the largest movement in Jewish life, sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in response to unnecessary and demeaning body searches imposed on female rabbinic students at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:
Dear Prime Minister Netanyahu,
We are writing to express our outrage and dismay about the humiliation of a cohort of Reform rabbinic students, all of whom are the future leadership of the Jewish people, at the entrance to the Kotel on August 23rd, Rosh Hodesh Elul.
Two of our female rabbinic students, who are spending their first year of studies in Israel, were stopped at the entrance to the Kotel. After they passed through a metal detector (which clearly indicated that they were not posing any security threat), they were asked to lift their skirts and shirts in a demeaning way, an action that completely defied the decisions the Supreme Court reached on this matter.
Rabbi Rick Jacobs: Important Statement From Israeli Supreme Court Reminding Prime Minister's Government To Abide By Rule Of Law
Today, the Israeli Supreme Court made an important statement by signaling that they are fed up with the Netanyahu government’s decision to “freeze” its own governmental decision forged in compromise with our Reform Movement and our allies. The court gave the Israeli government two weeks to come back with a counter argument to the court, an extremely short window that seems to imply great impatience with the government’s behavior.