Jewish Holidays

Three years before the COVID-19 pandemic response sheltered millions of people at home and drove us to do all things virtual, the URJ was crafting online communities of learners as they journeyed together through our 21 sessions of Introduction to Judaism Online.   

Today we celebrate Yom Yerushalayim, the anniversary of that fateful day in 1967 when the Israeli paratroopers reached the Western Wall and announced: "הר הבית בידנו" -- “The Temple Mount is in our Hands.” That moment ushered in the the promise for Jews everywhere, after years of dreaming and longing, to come and pray before this sacred space. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted so much of how we engage Jewishly, but Shavuot is a fantastic holiday for families to celebrate from the safety of their homes. Here are a few ways you and your family can observe this rich, festive Jewish holiday this year.

My mother’s answer to hate is love. When I asked her what she wishes for herself and for the world, she said, “For myself good health, so I can be good to others. For the world, peace not war. No bad person wins in the end. What did Hitler achieve?”

As Yom HaZikaron and Yom HaAtzmaut approach during this continued period of social distancing, you're invited to join the Reform Movement and our partners for any and all of the following online events in observance of the two holidays. 

the path that we now follow / is the Exodus our ancestors never chose / flooding with pain they died not to swallow / the past spills into the river and flows

Counting is never more important than between Passover and Shavuot; we call this ritual counting the Omer. Each day we recite a blessing marking that this period of time is meant to be one time of reflection, revelation, and change.

The author of "The (unofficial) Hogwarts Haggadah" and "The (unofficial) Muggle Megillah" has delivered another work of art combining fanservice and prescient Jewish learning in his newly released "The Superhero Haggadah: A Story of Signs and Marvels."