Rabbi Marla J. Feldman

Marla Feldman
Executive Director Emerita
Women of Reform Judaism
http://wrj.org

Rabbi Marla J. Feldman was the Executive Director of WRJ from 2012 tp June of 2023, having previously served as the Director of Development for the URJ and Director of the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism. Feldman is a Reform rabbi (HUC-JIR, New York) and lawyer (JD, Univ. of Fla). Previously, Rabbi Feldman worked in the Jewish community relations field in Detroit and Delaware and served Reform congregations in Sarasota and Orlando, Florida. Feldman has authored Reform Movement action manuals and published modern midrash, and her articles have appeared in numerous publications and newspapers. She is the author of “Biblical Women Speak: Hearing Their Voices through New and Ancient Midrash” (JPS, 2023).

From Suffrage to Hobby Lobby: Jewish Women's Advocacy

Rabbi Marla J. Feldman

[Adapted from ‘Why Advocacy is Central to Reform Judaism’ published by the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism, 2007] “We are a fellowship of women, religiously motivated… dedicated to the service of Jewish and humanitarian causes through the centrality of Judaism, the religion through which we translate our beliefs into deed for the benefit of K’lal Israel (the whole of the household of Israel) and mankind.” So wrote Dr. Jane Evans, first Executive Director of the National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods (NFTS, now WRJ) in a 1949 statement on the philosophy of our organization. For Dr. Evans, the two bedrock principles of WRJ were, first, the centrality of our Jewish faith, and, second, our devotion to social justice. For her, a belief in Judaism inevitably led to a passion for justice–and the demand that we act collectively to make the dream of a better world a reality.

Global Sisterhood

Rabbi Marla J. Feldman

During our recent mission to Israel, WRJ President Blair C. Marks, WRJ Immediate Past President Lynn Magid Lazar, and I had a chance to visit with numerous women’s groups that have joined WRJ-Israel in recent years. My major take away from those meetings is how much they long for connections and support from their North American sisters. They are all new and struggling to find their way, and every suggestion and new insight they receive is appreciated. They soak up each program idea like sponges. The relationships that form are deeply meaningful and they find comfort in knowing that their challenges are just like the challenges faced by women’s groups around the world.

Shalom from Jerusalem

Rabbi Marla J. Feldman
Hard to believe that the WRJ leadership has been here in Israel just a week–we've packed in so much that it feels like a month! The weather has been glorious and our meetings have been very fruitful.Most of this first week was spent doing WRJ business. We visited with about half a dozen of our women's groups in Israel and shared best practices with them from our experience in North America. We participated in the annual meeting of WRJ-Israel and did leadership training for the women who attended, representing a large number of our 27 Israeli women's groups. We also visited some of our grantees to learn how our YES Fund dollars are making a difference, particularly with the mother-daughter Bat Mitzvah project. And of course, we found some time to support the Israeli economy!

Executive Director's Report: Week of March 10

Rabbi Marla J. Feldman

Last week was a particularly interesting week for me, with a major focus on WRJ’s Israel relations. First I had lunch with Menachem Leibovitz, Vice Chairman of the Jewish National Fund in Israel (KKL), whose bona fides include being married to one of the first women rabbis in Israel, Rabbi Maya Leibovitz of Kehilat Mevasseret Zion. I had the opportunity to join Menachem along with leaders of ARZA to discuss the importance of the upcoming WZO elections (January-March 2015), about which we will all be hearing a great deal in the coming months. Menachem rose to prominence in that important organization in large measure due to the influence garnered by the Reform/Progressive Movement after previous WZO elections. All of us who care about expanding and strengthening Progressive Judaism in Israel have a role to play, and it’s rather simple: when the time comes we will be asked to go online, register, and vote. It’s not too early to begin planning ways to educate our sisterhoods and women’s groups, our congregations, our friends, and our family members about Progressive Judaism in Israel. We should be laying the foundation now, so by the time elections open in 2015 we will be ready. If each of our 65,000 women votes, Progressive Judaism in Israel and around the world will be the big winner!

Love is Not a Crime

Rabbi Marla J. Feldman

Monday mornings are often difficult–especially on a frigid, dreary morning, with snow-covered sidewalks and slushy streets. That was certainly true this week, but for a different reason. I began my work week braving the cold and the wind with a group of other rabbis and activists convened by the American Jewish World Service (AJWS) outside of the Ugandan mission. There we sought to deliver a letter signed by hundreds of rabbis urging the Ugandan president to reject legislation that would criminalize homosexuality and threaten gay men and lesbians with prison, torture, or even death.