Reform Movement Leader Statement on the Deaths of Terence Crutcher, Keith Scott and Justin Carr
Contact: Max Rosenblum or Graham Roth
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URJ to Launch New Specialty Jewish Summer Camp Dedicated to Creative Arts, URJ 6 Points Creative Arts Academy
The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) announced today the creation of the premier non-profit Jewish specialty camp for creative arts. The new URJ camp, called URJ 6 Points Creative Arts Academy, will open in the summer of 2018 in the mid-Atlantic region, and serve several hundred campers in grades 4-11.
Outraged Reform Jewish Leaders to Israeli PM: Denounce Degrading Body Searches of Female Rabbinic Students at Kotel
Senior leadership of the Reform Movement, the largest movement in Jewish life, sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in response to unnecessary and demeaning body searches imposed on female rabbinic students at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:
Dear Prime Minister Netanyahu,
We are writing to express our outrage and dismay about the humiliation of a cohort of Reform rabbinic students, all of whom are the future leadership of the Jewish people, at the entrance to the Kotel on August 23rd, Rosh Hodesh Elul.
Two of our female rabbinic students, who are spending their first year of studies in Israel, were stopped at the entrance to the Kotel. After they passed through a metal detector (which clearly indicated that they were not posing any security threat), they were asked to lift their skirts and shirts in a demeaning way, an action that completely defied the decisions the Supreme Court reached on this matter.
Citing "Deep Disappointments and Concerns," Western Wall Negotiating Team Tells PM Netanyahu: Legal Action Is At Hand
The following letter was sent yesterday to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from the negotiating team supporting implementation of the agreement to create an egalitarian prayer space at the Kotel (Western Wall in Jerusalem) - Yizhar Hess, Masorti Movement; Anat Hoffman, Women of the Wall; Rabbi Rick Jacobs, Union for Reform Judaism; Batya Kallus, Women of the Wall; Rabbi Gilad Kariv, Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism; Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, The Rabbinic Assembly; and Rabbi Steve Wernick, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.
Reform Movement Leader Mourns Loss of Life in Nice
Washington, D.C., July 15, 2016 – In response to a deadly attack on French citizens yesterday in the town of Nice, France, Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, issued the following statement:
Statement Of URJ President Rabbi Rick Jacobs On The Death Of Shimon Peres
Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), released the following statement after learning of the death of former Israeli President Shimon Peres:
Shimon Peres understood that the greatness of Israel lies in its embrace of our better selves, and he spent his life challenging himself and others to reach for the impossible. Often, he achieved it.
Statement Of URJ President Rabbi Rick Jacobs On The Death Of Shimon Peres
Contact: Lauren Theodore at 212-650-4154