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This Tishah B'Av, Act as if There is No God
Tishah B'Av is a day of mourning, commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples. In recent years, it's also a day to mourn other tragedies that have darkened Jewish history - the Romans putting down the Bar Kochba revolt, mass murders of Jewish communities during the Crusades, expulsions from England, France, and Spain in the Middle Ages, and the Holocaust.
13 Jewish Stories about Moms for Mother’s Day
This Mother’s Day, we’ve rounded up a few of our favorite stories about moms to share with you. We hope you’ll read them, enjoy them, relate to them, comment on them, and maybe share stories of your own mothers. Happy Mother’s Day!
Ghetto: A Poem
the path that we now follow / is the Exodus our ancestors never chose / flooding with pain they died not to swallow / the past spills into the river and flows
Traliant Compliance Training Classes Now Available
As part of our ongoing efforts to create safe, respectful, and equitable workplaces, the URJ requires all staff to regularly participate in sexual harassment prevention training classes, provided by Traliant Compliance Training. Now, through the Reform Movement Marketplace, the URJ is making Traliant Compliance Training classes available to our affiliated congregations at a reduced cost.
What a Trip to Israel Taught Two Faithful Progressives
Last week, we traveled together to Israel and the Palestinian territories with a remarkable group of Black civil rights leaders and Reform Jewish leaders, including those who sit at the intersection of being Black and Jewish. We imagined that there would likely be bumps along the way, and there were. However, our group knew one another from our ongoing social justice and racial equity work in the United States, so there was a reservoir of goodwill and commonality that served us well.
Important Message on Ethics Accountability
In recent weeks, there have been several public reports of leaders in our Reform Jewish Movement who have engaged in abuse, misconduct, and sexual assault. The pain endured by the victims is heartbreaking. We hope the reports of these brave victims will empower others who have suffered in silence to come forward so that there can be both accountability and healing. We commit without hesitation that the Union for Reform Judaism (the URJ) will address all reports of misconduct appropriately and transparently, centering the survivors as we move forward.
Resilience of the Soul Breaks Ground in Adolescent Mental Health
SAN DIEGO, CA—To help families and congregations offer teens a safe place to mature into adulthood, the Union’s Department of Jewish Family Concerns has published Resilience of the Soul – Developing Emotional and Spiritual Resilience in Adolescents and Their Families, A Resourc
Reform Jewish Leader Celebrates the American Families Plan
"After months of extreme hardship caused by the pandemic and years of underinvestment, we welcome the significant investments proposed in the American Families Plan to improve access to education, health care, and economic security for workers and families across the United States."
For George Floyd’s Family
After a moment of joy and relief at the guilty verdicts in the murder of George Floyd, my overwhelming emotion is sorrow in my heart for a daughter without her father and a brother without his brother. This is a prayer for justice and healing. My anger and indignation were already expressed in “Strangled by Police: Psalm of Protest 17” which is added here to create a two-prayer liturgy. Both pieces refer to Amos 5:24, envisioning a time when justice will flow as water.
America Needs a Just and Equitable Immigration Policy: If Not Now, When?
It is difficult to imagine anyone not moved by the scenes of children seeking asylum at our southern border.