Debra L. Goetz

A woman with brown and grey hair smiling

Debra L. Goetz, in addition to being a member of WRJ’s inaugural Climate Steering Committee, currently serves on the WRJ Board and is First Vice President of WRJ's Southwest District. Debra lives in McAllen, Texas, where she serves on the boards of Temple Emanuel and its Sisterhood. She is a lawyer in private practice and has three amazing children, one of whom has custody of her dog, and three cats, who are glad the dog is with their big brother. 

photo of Debra Goetz wearing red long sleeve shirt and smiling

Climate Action Is In Our Wheelhouse

Debra L. Goetz

So, before reading this issue of Advocacy Matters, did you know that Women of Reform Judaism (WRJ) has a Climate Steering Committee? You do now!

It was over a year ago that Sara Charney, then-president of WRJ, invited me to serve on the inaugural Climate

hand holding a megaphone, voting buttons, and hands raised

Get Out the Vote on November 8th!

Abigail Fisher
Debra L. Goetz
Shoshana Dweck
Over the past several years, it seems that so many of the things about which we, as Reform Jews, care have been under attack. Gun violence is still the norm; Roe v. Wade has been overturned; and People of Color and immigrants are still under attack. All that is not to mention the attacks on the very fabric of our democracy. What do all these things have in common? The best way to “fix” them; to move forward toward the sort of world we might actually like to have, is to vote.

Parashat Noach

Debra L. Goetz
While the rainbow is a sign from the Eternal as to the covenant not to flood the Earth, we can also take it as a beautiful reminder that we are to act on our values. In whatever way we can, we can act against corruption and for justice. Tzedek, tzedek tirdof, justice, justice you shall pursue (Deuteronomy 16:18.) For me, the social justice work of Women of Reform Judaism is a way to bring this concept into my own life, working on issues from racial justice to reproductive health and so many others.

Voices of WRJ: Pinchas

Debra L. Goetz

In some ways, Parshat Pinchas has a little bit of everything: from Pinchas being rewarded for killing an Israelite and a Midianite, to a census, to Joshua being chosen as Moses’s successor, and ending with the description of the sacrificial ritual for festival

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