Suicide Prevention and Awareness Is Our Communal Responsibility
Elul is upon us. The sound of the shofar reminds us that this silent epidemic must be addressed. Its cries echo those left in the depths of sorrow, feeling alone, believing that those who love them most would be better off without them. Our fear of mental illness must be replaced with a resolve to educate ourselves and others.
Meet the 2016-2017 Eisendrath Legislative Assistants
The beginning of the program year is always an exciting time at the RAC, as we begin a new cycle of tikkun olam work.
Reform Leader: Hamas to Blame for Deadly Escalation of Violence in Gaza
Our Questions about Judge Brett Kavanaugh's Record
On August 22, 2018, we sent a list of questions to Congress regarding the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.
5 Last Minute Ways to Make Civic Engagement Part of Your High Holidays
The High Holidays invite us to initiate both personal and communal change. During the ten Days of Awe between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we reflect on our own choices as well as the actions of our broader community.
How URJ Kutz Camp Exemplifies the Best of the Future of Our Movement
It is not often I get to visit one place that holds all the best parts of what the Reform Movement has to offer – but Kutz is certainly such a place.
Learning to Appreciate the Value of Nonpartisanship Through My Summer Internship
As a Political Science major, whose best friends are Political Science majors, who spends her time watching The West Wing and who finds fascination in the game and strategy of electoral and personal politics, I cannot separate my politics from my identity.
The External War and the Internal War
This week's Torah portion is called Ki Teitzei — meaning literally, "When you go out." It is a reference to violence and war. "When you take the field [literally, "When you go out"] against your enemies, and the Eternal your God delivers them into your power and you take some of them captive ... " (Deuteronomy 21:10).
This sentence is but a tiny portion of more than a thousand verses in the Tanach that deal with war. Our Holy Scriptures came into history in a world in which fighting was a normal and often necessary activity. The ancient communities of the Middle East were governed according to tribal custom and law, and each ethnic community was in a combative relationship with its neighbor. There was no United Nations in those days, no European Union designed to administer diverse people according to collective rules and laws. Some tribal federations such as the twelve tribes of Israel pooled their resources, but that was for protection rather than for advancing peaceful relations with the rest of the world. The harsh social-economic and political reality of the ancient world often triggered violent and deadly conflicts between communities and peoples, and it is rare that we read a comment such as is found in Judges 3:11: " ... and the land had peace for forty years."
A Year Later, Charlottesville's Lasting Impact on American Jewry
American Jewry is safe from actual attack, yes, but the Nazi chant of “You will not replace us” lives on in ongoing immigration policy, in public discourse, and in international movements