Voices of WRJ: Parashat M'tzora
Double Booked: Perspectives from the President of WRJ
This piece originally appeared on March 25, 2014 for the RACblog's special Double Booked series. With a demanding professional career managing the ethics and compliance training, communications and external engagement for a Fortune 500 company, some people think I am crazy for having agreed to serve as the President of Women of Reform Judaism. Sometimes I would have to agree, but mostly I prefer to think that I am incredibly lucky. It’s true that I don’t end up with much down time, but WRJ brought my life into balance when I worked in a male-dominated profession, and continues to give me a perspective on our world that I would never have otherwise achieved.
Voices of WRJ: Parashat Tazria
Reform Leaders Weigh in on Hobby Lobby, Conestoga Cases at Supreme Court
As rabbis deeply committed to religious liberty as well as to reproductive rights, we are proud that our organizations have joined an amicus brief in Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. and Conestoga Wood Specialties, Corp. v. Sebelius, defending both the Affordable Care Act's contraception mandate and the right of all people to live according to the teachings of their faith. Alongside over 25 of our faith partners, we argued in that brief for a vigorous interpretation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) - a law we played a key role in crafting the 1990s - that protects individuals' right to religious freedom. The United States has long modeled religious freedom, and maintaining the current framework of religious free exercise protections ensures a standard of liberty unparalleled in the world. It is due to this understanding of the separation of church and state and religious freedom that Jews and other members of religious minorities have been able to thrive in this country.
WRJ Funds Grants to Encourage Female Enrollment at URJ Sci-Tech Academy
Voices of WRJ: Parashat Sh'mini
Encouraging One Girl (Me!) to Embrace Science & Technology Makes All the Difference!
I didn’t know any engineers growing up; in fact I had no idea what they did. But I loved solving puzzles–geometric proofs, science projects, finding chemical unknowns in the lab, calculus problems. My parents encouraged me in this… although I must admit that my mother (an English teacher extraordinaire!) was not entirely sold on it as offering much of future. Even when I was studying ceramic engineering at Georgia Tech, mom suggested that I joint enroll at Georgia State University and get a teaching dual degree because, after all, who would hire a woman engineer?
Religious Liberty and Reproductive Rights: Understanding the Issues in Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby
This blog is part of a WRJ blog series commemorating Women's History Month.
In less than a week, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby and Conestoga v. Sebelius. These cases have been getting a fair amount of coverage in the press and attention in the advocacy community over the past few weeks. If you are new to these cases, or if you’re excited (like me) to see what will happen before the nine justices on March 25th, here’s a rundown of the basic arguments, the stakes, the position of the Reform Movement, and some suggestions for further reading in anticipation of oral argument.
Let’s go all the way back to the beginning of the story to understand the questions before the Court.
Executive Director's Report: Week of March 10
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!