Domestic Violence Awareness Month: Relationship Between Domestic Violence and Gun Violence
It sometimes feels that we’re constantly in the aftermath of another instance of gun violence. In October, Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we have an opportunity to shed light on a population that is particularly vulnerable gun violence.
Domestic Violence: No More Family Secrets
Despite the long-held belief that there is no domestic violence in Jewish families, rates of abuse in the Jewish community mirror those in the general public.
Coming Together Against Anti-Semitism: What Will You "Go to the Wall" For?
More than 300 residents, clergy, law enforcement, civil servants, and community dignitaries joined at cemetery of Temple Beth Shalom, which was desecrated with signs of hate – swastikas and rhetoric embraced by Nazis
It’s Who You Know: An Interview with Miriam Chilton, Vice President, Youth
Miriam Chilton discusses her experience working with a variety of teen-based youth programs for the Reform Movement and what it was like to leave the corporate sector for a career as a Jewish professional.
A Bite into Reproductive Health
The Zika virus is not only an officially-declared Public Health Emergency of International Concern
Learning Lessons From and With God
In many ways, Parashat Noach is filled with as many theological problems as answers. Chief among them is why after creating the world and all living things, God destroys "all that lives under the heavens" (Genesis 6:17). The reason that God gives is the "violence" or "lawlessness" (chamas) of humankind. Yet what about such godly virtues as patience, love, and forgiveness? Apparently, God possesses less of them than one might wish. Does saving Noah, his family, and a male and female of all living species in order to ensure continued reproduction make up for God's actions? Is saving them a sign of mercy or of pragmatism?
Children are Children, Even Within the Criminal Justice System
When I was six years old, I celebrated the beginning of my Jewish education with a consecration ceremony. Standing nervously with my class, I recited the sh'ma in front of my family and, eagerly taking my chocolate bar, officially entered the Jewish community.
Does God Command Going to War?
In Parashat D’varim, Moses recalls that a military encounter with the Amorites was a response to a divine command. But in the Book of Numbers, a passage about the same encounter does not mention God. What accounts for this difference?
Rabbi Saperstein's Tribute to Rep. Frank Wolf
Statement of Rabbi David Saperstein
Former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom
Tribute to former Rep. Frank Wolf
July 19, 2017
Kennedy Caucus Room
Russell Senate Office Building
Why I’m Fasting on Tishah B’Av, and Why Now: A Reform Perspective
As a Reform Jew, I never felt called to fast on Tishah B’Av - until this year. Here's what changed my mind.