Religious Freedom
By Sara Charney, 2/26/2020
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
By Leslie Brier, 9/12/2019
Women of Reform Judaism, under the umbrella of World Union of Progressive Judaism, addressed the international community in collaboration with Ani Zonneveld, President of Muslims for Progressive Values, and Martha Gallahue, the United Nations Representative of United Religions Initiative at the 68th United Nations Civil Society Conference held on August 26-28, 2019. Each year, the United Nations holds a conference for representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for the purpose of furthering the mission of the United Nations. This year’s theme was based on the sustainable... Read More
By Chaya Schneider, 3/20/2019
As a young child, I walked to shul with my father every Shabbat morning and watched the service intently as I hid beneath the fringes of his tallit. I especially relished hearing the weekly Torah portion and was intrigued by the colorful cantillation styles. One Shabbat, when I was nine years old, I had apparently talked too animatedly to the Torah reader (a teenage boy) about various tropes and was banished to the women’s section. What a shock! Not only could I no longer see the service, I couldn’t hear it either. Nevertheless, I continued attending services because prayer helped me connect... Read More
By Sandy Abramson , 2/06/2019
The United Nations 2019 Holocaust Remembrance Week focused on demanding and defending human rights around the world. Sandy Abramson serves as one of the WRJ representatives to the United Nations. She represents the organization in coalition and caucus meetings centered around our high priority social justice issues. The following piece is a recap of a UN event during the remembrance week. I attended a moving UN briefing, where I learned about something totally new and astonishing! Jews who were living in Albania, and those from other countries in Europe who ended up there by some stroke of... Read More
By Susannah Cohen & Jacob Greenblatt , 9/20/2018
From September 4-7, the Senate Judiciary Committee held its confirmation hearing on the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh for Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. As explained in the Reform Jewish Movement’s statement of opposition, Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation would threaten to roll back critical social justice advances for which, inspired by our Jewish values, we have fought so hard to achieve. The stakes are high; Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation has the potential to impact the United States for generations to come. In advance of the hearing, we ... Read More
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