What were you doing this morning at 7:00 am? You were possibly getting up, getting ready for work, or leaving for work. You may have been heading somewhere for Shacharit services, in which case you were in luck, as today we welcomed Rosh Chodesh Adar. Thirty-one WRJ women were very fortunate this morning to be arriving at the Kotel in Jerusalem by 7:00 am to participate in the monthly Rosh Chodesh service led by Women of the Wall. A few members of our group have participated in previous years in this special service. People always ask me if the atmosphere was tense (somewhat); did we get... Read More
The first few days of the WRJ 2020 Israel mission have been full of new and interesting visits. We spent Erev Shabbat with the community of Beit Daniel in Tel Aviv, where we were welcomed like old friends, and in fact, many of us saw old friends there. Beit Daniel is the hub of Reform Movement activity in Tel Aviv, and we were delighted to learn about their inspiring programs over Shabbat dinner with Rabbi Meir Azari and Rabbi Galia Sadan. Shabbat morning began with a beautiful worship service led by our special guest, Rabbi Lisa Silverstein. We had a bit of time to explore the center of... Read More
As we are approaching the conclusion of our 2017 Women's Journey to Israel, we are all asking one another 'what was your 'wow' moment of the trip? That's always a risk, as each day brought new 'wow' moments to add to the list and some of us still have several days to go. For some it was the first day, as we sat in Independence Hall in the very place where Israel was declared a state. For many it was the inspirational Rosh Chodesh worship with Women of the Wall (WOW), and the beauty of being together in prayer, despite the distraction of those heckling and attempting to disrupt our prayers. I'... Read More
As supporters of the YES Fund, it was wonderful to get to see first-hand just how WRJ changes lives through its philanthropic efforts. The WRJ Women’s Journey to Israel gave each of us a great opportunity to see our work in action. We began by meeting with several female Rabbis who have benefited from YES Fund Grants while attending Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem. With our help, these amazing women are having an impact on Progressive Judaism through their work with conversion programs, bar/bat mitzvah programs and interfaith dialogues. We were... Read More
Imagine a desert oasis so lush that it kicked my allergies into high season! That's what we discovered when we headed down a dry road deep in the Arava, tight up against the Jordanian border, and were warmly greeted at Kibbutz Lotan. Our friend, Alex Cicelsky, along with other Reform youth movement grads, established Lotan in the early 1980s as an eco-Jewish collective based on a creative approach to egalitarian Judaism and a deep commitment to environmental protection. Where once was a solitary acacia tree, there is now a thriving community of a couple hundred people, partnered with other... Read More