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.
Nation's Rabbis Call on Congress to Pass Immigration Reform Now
Rabbis: From Abraham's journey to Canaan, to our Exodus from Egypt, to today, we are a people that has over millennia continuously been expelled, been rejected, been freed, and been welcomed.
Reform Jewish Movement Mourns the Loss of Stephon Clark, Calls for Justice
Central Conference of American Rabbis Statement on Syria
September 12, 2013 - The Central Conference of American Rabbis has issued the following statement concerning Syria. The Union for Reform Judaism board has not made a decision on the use of force, but supports all diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis.
Joint Reform Jewish Movement Statement On The 70th Anniversary Of The Establishment Of The State Of Israel
We join with our Israeli brothers and sisters, the worldwide family of the Jewish people, and friends of Israel everywhere, to mark with joy the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the State of Israel.