URJ President to Spend Night at Synagogue Homeless Shelter He Founded 30 Years Ago
Brooklyn, NY, January 14, 2014 – In 1983, when Rabbi Rick Jacobs was the rabbi at Brooklyn Heights Synagogue (BHS), he had a vision to start a shelter to address the growing problem of homelessness in New York City.
Reform Jewish Movement Welcomes New House Resolution on Anti-Semitism, Anti-Muslim Discrimination and Bigotry
Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, issued the following statement on behalf of the Union for Reform Judaism, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and the wider Reform Movement institutions:
“We welcome today’s House resolution condemning anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim bigotry and other forms of hate. Importantly, the resolution makes clear that these hatreds, though centuries old, feed on and legitimize each other, inflamed in our time by forces on the left and right. There is no place for these, or any form of hate in our society, no matter the source.
Statement of Union for Reform Judaism President Rabbi Rick Jacobs in Response to the Attacks on the Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand
Following the attacks on the Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, Union for Reform Judaism President Rabbi Rick Jacobs issued the following statement: Yet again the world is shaken by extremist violence against innocent people at prayer, targeted in deadly acts of hatred. Too often we have been sickened that sacred places of worship have become sites of slaughter. A few months ago the massacre happened in a synagogue on a Saturday in Pittsburgh, this time in mosques on a Friday in New Zealand.
Dear Bibi, We're Concerned
URJ Leadership Statement About New York Times Article
URJ Grants Support Innovative Outreach Programs
URJ President on United Methodist Church Rejecting BDS
This week’s clear decision by the United Methodist Church rejecting the efforts of those who misguidedly sought to draw the Church into the boycott, divestment, sanctions campaign to delegitimize Israel is a welcome step in support of peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
URJ Launches JewV’Nation Fellowship: An Interfaith Outreach Incubator for Emerging Jewish Leaders
Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) today launched the JewV’Nation Fellowship, an innovative year-long project incubator and leadership development program supporting emerging Jewish leaders and creative interfaith outreach initiatives. The program, which will begin in early 2017, is supported in part with a Jewish Funders Network grant from Avenues to Jewish Engagement for Intermarried Couples and their Families, in honor of 2015 Genesis Prize Laureate Michael Douglas.
The JewV’Nation (pronounced “juvination”) Fellowship program will be led by April Baskin, URJ’s Vice President of Audacious Hospitality, and seeks to engage a new generation of leadership by valuing the perspectives and insights of the younger members of the community and supporting them with resources and strategies to bring their best ideas to life. The fellows themselves will define and create exciting and contemporarily relevant Jewish programming.
Reform Jewish Movement Comments on State of the Union Speech
Saperstein: Inspired by the words of Pirke Avot "Do not separate yourself from the community" (2:5) that remind us of our obligation to others, we will continue to work with President Obama and Congress to meet the needs of all Americans.
Extreme Anti-Choice Bill Violates Jewish Teachings
Rabbi Saperstein: "As Reform Jews committed to the sanctity of a woman's life and personal dignity, and as Americans committed to core Constitutional principles, we are extremely disappointed by the passage of this bill, which would result in greater government interference