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.
Moving Social Justice to the Center of Synagogue Life
A new URJ Community of Practice, “Moving Justice to the Center of Your Congregation,” will bring together clergy and lay leaders from 12 Reform synagogues to do what Or Ami did: to use the tools of community organizing to bring together your synagogue community to make the world more just.
On the Shores of the Sea: Passover Lessons from the Beach
No matter how we choose to observe the seder – on the shores of the sea, in the sands walked by our ancestors, or seated around our dining room tables – we are celebrating and learning together. Each seder provides a new opportunity for soul-cleansing, reflecting on what the story means to us in today’s world, and building meaningful connections and memories.
To Gov. Bryant: Veto Mississippi's HB 1523
Is Religion Blind to Its Own Flaws?
Hardly a week goes by without news of religious extremists committing atrocities against people of other faiths in the name of God or some other holy cause. As a result, “religion” itself has been put on trial. Is religion to blame for the moral failures of the world, as some charge, or is it humankind’s best hope for peace?
Why I Am a Zionist for Black Lives Matter
As an Israeli citizen and white citizen of the United States, I believe that Black Lives Matter – and that no American of good conscience can simply opt out of engaging with the pervasive issue of racism in America. If we will it, it is no dream.
Sheltering in Place: Tents and Torah
My boys are making forts using all the pillows in the house. They strong-armed my husband into setting up our camping tent outside, and they sit there as the day grows hot. They are slinging blankets over couches, pulling mattresses off the frames: they are sheltering in place...
Promised Land Delayed: Meet the Jewish Suffragist Who Changed History
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in the United States this year, Rabbi Carole Balin, Ph.D., is sharing eight chapters of an "alternative Book of Numbers” designed to tell the stories of Jewish women who combined civic engagement with Jewish values in a 40-year