Barbara Weinstein

Barbara Weinstein (she/her) is the associate director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, where she directs legislative policy. She is also the director of the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism.

K'doshim

Finding Holiness

D'Var Torah By: Barbara Weinstein

April 18, 2022

I have never made a molten God, practiced divination, or let my cattle mate with a different species. (Full disclosure: I've never owned cattle.) At the same time, I'm sure I've put on clothes made from a mixture of two kinds of material, a fashion faux pas and a biblical transgression found in this week's Torah portion, K'doshim.

View of the Washington Monument through the columns of the Lincoln Memorial

Current Events

Democracy Is a Promise We Renew Every Day

Barbara Weinstein

January 8, 2021

Democracy is, indeed, a promise we renew not just on election day, but every day. Democracy does not exist independent of our contributions to it. Citizens and immigrants, voters, and presidents – all of us build democracy.

Hand holding a sticker that says I VOTED TODAY

Quality, Affordable Health Care

What Participation Looks Like – and What Comes Next

Barbara Weinstein

November 16, 2020

Democracy doesn’t happen every four years at the ballot box; democracy needs to be affirmed daily by each of us. That happens when we commit to engaging with one another, rather than tuning each other out.

Pile of red white and blue ephemera in the shapes of stars and quetsion marks

Social Justice

After the U.S. Elections: What We Know, What We Don't, and What Reform Jews Can Do

Barbara Weinstein

November 4, 2020

So while we don’t yet know which candidate won the White House or which party will control the Senate, we do know this: Democracy is strongest when every voice is heard. State officials must take – and be allowed – the time they need to count every vote.

Closeup of a hand affixing a red white and blue 2020 button to a denim jacket

Jewish Values

Act Now: 3 Vital Ways You Can Help Protect Our Democracy

Barbara Weinstein

September 24, 2020

Deuteronomy 16:20 directs us: “Tzedek tzedek tirdof” – Justice, justice shall you pursue. The words remind us of the importance of ensuring justice itself is achieved through just means.