Dr. Madelyn Katz

Madelyn Katz Headshot
WRJ Executive Committee, Member at Large
Women of Reform Judaism

Dr. Madelyn Katz is a Member At Large of the WRJ Executive Committee. As a “child” of the Reform Movement, Madelyn has spent her entire life involved in the Reform Movement. She chose a career in Jewish education to shape the lives of Reform Jewish children as so many others had done for her. As a Reform Jewish Educator, she has done extensive work in the field of leadership, working with Reform Jewish youth, camp staff, and Counselors-in-Training at URJ summer camps, rabbinic students preparing for their rabbinate, and synagogue boards in shaping their leadership. One of the most significant highlights of her career was when she facilitated the development and implementation of the first WRJ Wilkenfeld International Women's Leadership Seminar in London in 2016. Along with the WRJ leadership, she led twenty women from fifteen progressive Jewish communities throughout the world in a two-day seminar that highlighted personal reflection as Reform Jewish women, community-building, and developing action plans for their communities. Madelyn credits this as the springboard for her ongoing commitment to and involvement in WRJ.

Parashat T’tzaveh

Dr. Madelyn Katz
Parashat T’tzaveh is not terribly well-known and is filled with details about which most people have little interest. It is a portion that requires a lot of slow, careful reading, which ultimately leads to some fascinating and fulfilling insights. But one must read carefully to find those insights and see their connection to our lives as Reform Jews.

Parashat B'midbar

Dr. Madelyn Katz
Parashat B’midbar is the first Torah portion in the book of “Numbers” and is referred to as “Numbers”, based on the census that takes place among the Israelites. However, the word literally means “In the desert” (or wilderness). In the end, we see how both of those translations are important and very telling about where the Israelites were at this point in their existence.