Our Partnerships
By Rabbi Naamah Kelman , 8/21/2018
This past November, our beloved President Rabbi Aaron Panken (of blessed memory) ordained the 100th Israeli Reform/Progressive rabbi. It would be his last ordination. No one was more excited than he was to celebrate this milestone. The Israeli rabbinic program that started so small in the late 1970’s and grew over time is the program that launched and established what is now a thriving Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism (IMPJ). Many of our graduates have spread all over Israel and indeed the Jewish world, establishing and serving congregations, founding key institutions, and... Read More
By Lauren Stock, 7/26/2018
It’s one thing to be standing in front of a room when you know more than everyone else; it’s entirely different to be educating a group of people who know as much, if not more, than you do. It is scary, your heart is racing, and you feel like you could never possibly be equipped to handle whatever you’ve been tasked with. But the room is filled with energy and passion, and people know as much as you do because they care as much as you do. And so they ask questions and answer questions. They help each other talk things through and figure things out. In this room, I can be okay with not... Read More
By Jane Taves, 7/19/2018
I recently had the opportunity to visit Israel as part of the 2018 WRJ Wilkenfeld International Women’s Leadership Seminar. Following the seminar, a number of us attended the Israeli Movement for Progressive Judaism Biennial on a kibbutz outside of Tel Aviv. Each of these two amazing events has been described in detail by other WRJ women who attended, and I recommend their articles to you. The experience I want to share here is a day that I spent visiting the West Bank. While our WRJ group was in Israel, a group from ARZA (Association of Reform Zionists of America) was touring there... Read More
By Karen Goldberg, 5/15/2018
A pivotal moment in my social justice journey happened last May on my first trip to Israel with the Women of Reform Judaism. Celebrating Rosh Chodesh with Women of the Wall, I experienced first-hand the shocking level of intolerance aimed against Reform Jewish women like me for simply wanting to sing and chant Torah. When I returned to California, I felt compelled to speak out against this injustice as well as other injustices at home. Fast forward a year. I'm headed to Washington, DC, for my first meeting as a WRJ representative on the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism. With... Read More
By Maya Weinstein, 5/25/2017
On June 2, National Gun Violence Awareness Day, people around the country will Wear Orange to bring attention to the epidemic of gun violence that kills 90 Americans each day. One of those lives lost was Hadiya Pendleton. On January 21, 2013, Hadiya Pendleton – a majorette and high school student from the South Side of Chicago – marched in President Obama’s Second Inaugural Parade. One week later, after finishing final exams, Hadiya was shot and killed in a park near her school, at the age of 15. In the wake of this tragedy, her friends and family wore orange to honor her life... Read More
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