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).
Statement of Union for Reform Judaism President Rabbi Rick Jacobs Responding to the Mass Shooting in El Paso, TX
URJ President Rabbi Rick Jacobs: “Israel’s Decision To Bar U.S. Representatives Is Wrong. Democracies Do Not Hide.”
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 President Rabbi Rick Jacobs: We Condemn President Abbas' Recent Statements
Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President of the Union for Reform Judaism, responds to recent statements by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas: We condemn unequivocally President Abbas’ recent statements rejecting the Jewish people’s connections with Israel, denying the legitimacy of a Jewish State of Israel, and promulgating conspiracy theories about the creation of the State of Israel.
Reform Jewish Movement Statement on Expulsion of Asylum Seekers from Israel
Organizations of the Reform Jewish Movement, the largest movement in Jewish life, issued a statement strongly urging the Israeli government to reverse its decision and recognize the legitimate status of the 37,885 asylum seekers in the country.
Rabbi Rick Jacobs’ Podcast “On the Other Hand: Ten Minutes of Torah” on ReformJudaism.org Celebrates Third Anniversary with First Live Studio Audience Recording
ReformJudaism.org, the flagship website of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) reaching 3.2 million visitors annually, is celebrating the third anniversary of the On the Other Hand: Ten Minutes of Torah podcast featuring Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the President of the URJ with its first episode recorded before a live audience. The special anniversary episode, “Courageous Leadership,” focusing on parashat Yitro, was recorded at the sold-out URJ Biennial convention in Boston last month.
URJ’s Rabbi Rick Jacobs: Statement on Polish Government’s Proposed Holocaust Law
Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President of the Union for Reform Judaism, issued the statement below in response to the Polish government's approval of a new law barring discussion of Polish responsibility during the Holocaust:
We were deeply disheartened by the Polish government’s approval of a new law that not only bars reference to “Polish death camps” but to discussion of the responsibility of Polish citizens during the Holocaust.