Reform Movement Responds to President’s Budget
In response to President Obama’s proposed Fiscal Year 2013 budget, Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, issued the following statement yesterday: The annual release of the President’s budget provides an opportunity to consider how our nation’s values
President's Budget Proposal Reflects Tough Choices; Pleases and Disappoints
Saperstein: In crafting his budget, President Obama has made many difficult choices, reflecting the trying times of our day. Not surprisingly, we are pleased by some of the choices and disappointed by others.
January Hate Crimes Watch: Real Violence, Real Victims
Discussions of hate crimes often revolve around statistics and numbers, sometimes making it easy to lose sight of the human cost and the horrific nature of many of these attacks.
LGBT Youth Suicides Are No “Rash”
Galilee Diary: The Neighbors
Whoever saves one life in Israel [i.e., of a Jew] is as if he had saved an entire world.
– Mishnah, Sanhedrin 4:5
Whoever saves one life is as if he had saved an entire world.
Ki Teitzei: When You Go Out as a Warrior
Parashat Ki Teitzei includes a rich and varied collection of directives that serve as a partial blueprint for behaviors and norms to create the emerging covenantal culture. As Professor Adele Berlin notes, “Issues pertaining to women are prominent in this parashah. . . .
How Tikkun Olam and Pikuah Nefesh Will Help Me Prepare: A #BlogElul Post
Last week I had lunch with a rabbi friend who told me he’s in the midst of preparing four different sermons for the upcoming High Holidays.
For California Students, a Frightening "Debate" About the Holocaust
My mother is a survivor of Auschwitz. She lost her entire family there. The Holocaust is a tragedy that has been a major factor in my life, one that has driven my push for social justice.
Reform Movement Responds to Abductions of Nigerian Schoolgirls
Rabbi Saperstein: "The depravity of the recent mass abduction, and the public claims made by Boko Harams leader that the girls will be sold, reaches new depths of inhumanity.
Iran Unveils Nuclear Progress
Iran unveiled another component of its nuclear program as it loaded nuclear fuel rods into its Tehran research reactor in a public ceremony on Wednesday.