Executive Order on Gun Violence is a Historic Step Toward Preventing Future Tragedies
WASHINGTON, D.C., January 5, 2016 — In response to the executive order announced today by President Obama to address gun violence, Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, issued the following statement:
Reform Leader Commends LGBTQ Task Force for Reversing Decision to Cancel Reception with Israeli Group
Dear Rea:
On behalf of the Union for Reform Judaism, whose more than 900 congregations across North America encompass 1.5 million Reform Jews, and the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), whose membership includes more than 2,000 Reform rabbis, I write to commend you for your renewed commitment to holding a reception sponsored by A Wider Bridge and featuring the Jerusalem Open House at your convention this week.
Reform Movement and GreenFaith Announce New Partnership
WASHINGTON, D.C. and HIGHLAND PARK, NJ, January 20, 2016 — Continuing a long history of collaboration the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and GreenFaith have announced a major joint initiative to promote energy savings and greenhouse gas emissions reductions, environmental leadership training, advocacy, and strengthened inter-congregational learning among Reform congregations nationwide. The collaboration will engage more Reform congregations than ever before in environmental work, and with greater environmental impact.
RAC Leader Condemns Protests at LGBT Conference
Washington, D.C., January 25, 2016 – In response to hateful protests at a pro-Israel LGBT event...
RAC Leader Commends Executive Order on Solitary Confinement
Washington, D.C., January 26, 2016 – In response to President Obama’s executive order to limit the use of solitary confinement in federal prisons...
Reform Jewish Movement Responds to School Shooting in South Florida
Reform Jewish Movement Decries House Passage of ADA Education and Reform Act
Jewish Organizations Send Letter to Department of Commerce on Addition of Citizenship Question to 2020 Census
Rabbi Julie Saxe-Taller to Join Religious Action Center Staff as Senior California Organizer
Beyond the Noise
The Revelation on Mt. Sinai . . . the giving of the Ten Commandments . . . our Torah portion, Yitro, describes the scene with great fanfare. The text has given cinematographers plenty of good material: thunder and lightning, smoke rising up into the sky, the whole mountain shaking violently, and the loud blaring of a horn, sometimes specifically called a shofar. Miraculous? Inspiring? Awesome? Yes, our Sages teach, but it was also really, really noisy.
When the medieval rabbis read about Sinai, they focus our attention on that seemingly unimportant detail of just how loud it all must have been. One medieval commentator, the French rabbi known as Rashbam, teaches that the description of God answering Moses "in thunder" is really a metaphor about the volume of God's voice—God had to shout to be heard over all of the other noise at Sinai! (see Rashbam on Exodus 19:19). And God was shouting for good reason. "The blast [of the shofar] was louder than any sound that had ever been heard before," Rashbam's contemporary, the Spanish sage Ibn Ezra writes on Exodus 19:16.