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Reform Jewish Leader Reacts to 2018 U.S. Midterm Elections
"Today, we proudly celebrate the work of Reform Jews who contributed to ballot initiative victories in Florida, to restore voting rights to 1.4 million citizens; in Massachusetts, to protect transgender rights; in Washington State, to establish new gun violence prevention measures; and in California, to secure affordable housing."
Reform Movement Decries Department of Education’s New Title IX Guidelines
“The Department of Education’s proposed changes to Title IX under the pretense of ‘restoring due process’ is likely to return schools to a time when rape, assault, and harassment were swept under the rug."
Reform Movement Applauds House Passage of Voting Rights Legislation
“Today represents an important step forward in our years-long work to restore the historic Voting Rights Act and protect voting rights. We commend the House for its leadership and urge the Senate to follow suit by passing the Voting Rights Advancement Act immediately."
RAC-IL Applauds Gov. Pritzker's Decision to Welcome Refugees in Illinois
“As Reform Jews, both our values and our communal history compel us to support refugee settlement in the United States. We are heartened that Gov. Pritzker has acted to protect the refugee settlement program in Illinois and extend our thanks to the governor and his administration."
Reform Jewish Movement Denounces Decision Weakening the Affordable Care Act
“Yesterday’s decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals invalidating the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate moves our country one step closer to a health care disaster. Although the law remains intact while judicial review continues, this ongoing assault on the ACA is a shameful disservice to Americans in every state, sowing fear that essential health care will be taken away or become simply unaffordable."
Stories We Tell: How Do You Use It
Have you ever had a great idea that wasn’t useful until you applied it? This week, join Rabbi Phyllis Sommer of Am Shalom in Glencoe, IL, as she tells the story of a rabbi and a soap maker who explore this idea and realize their professions have more in common than they might have thought.
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Stories We Tell: Zoo Seder
On this special Passover episode of Stories We Tell, Rabbi Mark Kaiserman, Rabbi of the Reform Temple of Forest Hills, tells the story of a little girl who’s excited for a very different Passover seder her family is planning and how a little imagination might be what we all need right now.
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Stories We Tell: My Havdalah Set
Have you ever seen yourself as the “most” important? Have you felt your contributions mattered more than others, only to find out it actually took a group effort to accomplish your goal? This week, we’re treated to an original story by Alice Myers, actress and daughter of Rabbi Lisa Grushcow, who talks about this idea from the perspective of a havdalah set.
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Stories We Tell: The Perfect Seder
What is the real meaning of Passover? Is it ritualizing the seder and reading the Haggadah, or is there something more? This week, Rabbi Esther Lederman, the Union for Reform Judaism’s Director of Congregational Innovation, tells a story about a rabbi, a water carrier, and the prophet Elijah, and asks what it means to truly celebrate this sacred festival.
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On the Other Hand: Ten Minutes of Torah - Acharei Mot and Kedoshim - "Loving the Stranger" Isn't Always Intuitive
Let's talk about love: Torah talks about three kinds of love - and in fact, the phrase “love the stranger” appears in the Torah 36 times. Why is it written so often? Who is "the stranger," anyway? And who might be the strangers in our own lives? In this episode, which originally aired in April 2017, Rabbi Rick Jacobs talks about what it means to move from strangeness to equality to, finally, closeness and love.
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