Killing a King: Revisiting the Lessons from Rabin’s Assassination
The publication of Dan Ephron’s Killing a King: The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and the Remaking of Israel is timely, coinciding with both the 20th anniversary of Rabin’s assassina
Sports vs. Values: What are We Teaching Our Children?
What do we teach our children when we seek entertainment in the spectacle of two human beings each trying to maim the other or render her senseless? And yet, should we be surprised? After all, we live in a country where mass murder occurs on a regular basis.
Vaccinate Us: A Prayer for Healing from Hate
As our world suffers,
sickened by this virus - we pray:
Our Neighbor’s Blood Calls to Us From the Ground
This statement was written by Rabbi Jocee Hudson from Temple Israel of Hollywood. More than sixty Reform Jewish clergy have signed on to the statement.
My Father’s Journey on a Freedom Ride Bus
Jewish activism in the 1960s civil rights movement gained momentum when four Reform rabbis participated in the first Interfaith Freedom Ride on a Greyhound bus traveling from Washington, DC, through South Carolina, to Tallahassee from June 13-16, 1961. Freedom rides tested interstate public transportation hubs for racial segregation. The rabbis, Israel Dresner, Martin Freedman, Allan Levine, and my father Walter H. Plaut, were joined by eight white Protestant ministers, including prominent theologian Robert McAfee Brown, and six AME black ministers and NAACP activists.
MLK Day: It's On Us to Heal the Wounds of Time
Rather than waiting in vain for time to heal all wounds, let us resolve to heal the wounds of time. May we heed what Dr. King called “the urgency of now.” And may we go from celebrating Dr. King’s legacy today to working for it tomorrow.
Deciding the Future of Tribal Sovereignty
What do an American Indian tribe, a multi-billion dollar corporation and the U.S. Supreme Court all have in common? These three bodies are all embroiled in a case that could have wide implications for one of the most complicated aspects of our legal system: tribal sovereignty.
The Black Jews Are Tired
As fulfilling as it was to engage in Shavuot programs, a lot weighs on me. With COVID-19 continuing to ravage Black communities and racist violence all over the news, I almost feel like it’s Yom Kippur instead – the time when Jews are supposed to be most aware of their own mortality.
Ways Reform Jews Can Act Now for Racial Justice
Here are eight ways that white Reform Jews, especially, can act now in pursuit of social justice, both directly on a systemic level. These includes advocacy for policy change and for confronting racism within our own communities, and are guided by contributions and feedback from Jews of Color.