Rosh HaShanah is almost here. As we enter the month of Elul and lead up to the Days of Awe, keep visiting our holiday pages to find the latest resources for welcoming 5771.
for three exciting days of learning and networking, this fall and next spring, in locations across North America. Save the dates and learn more about the workshops, presentations, entertainment, and Shabbat celebrations we have planned.
Learn what's new in our ongoing efforts to promote sh'mirat ha-adamah - protection and renewal of the world. Join the Greening RJ liststerv, download programs, respond to action alerts, and more...
Five jam-packed days filled with the best of NFTY worship, music and programming! Teens in grades 9 to 12 will sing, laugh, learn, pray and have the time of their life. Scholarship opportunities are available. Registration is
going on now!
We're busy planning three exciting days of learning and networking, this fall and next spring, in each of our four districts across North America. Save the dates and sign up to learn details about the workshops, presentations, entertainment, Shabbat celebrations, and more.
This year we celebrate the arrival of 5771 at sunset on Wednesday, September 8th. Find recipes, synagogue programs, S'lichot study guides, family activities, social action programs, and everything you need to enjoy a meaningful holiday.
Traditionally we dedicate the month of Elul to study and reflection, in preparation for the coming High Holy Days. Subscribing to Jewels of Elul is a great way to help you accomplish that. Sign up and get a-Jewel-a-day delivered right to your inbox.
When I hear about religious people being put on trial, as in the case of Rev. Jane Spahr, or religious schools rejecting children because their parents are gay or lesbian, it makes the death last week of Rabbi Lawrence Jackofsky so much sadder because we need religious allies.
Rabbi Lawrence "Jake" Jackofsky was beloved during his time as founding director of URJ Greene Family Camp, and his 27 years as Southwest regional leader the URJ, home to some of the largest and smallest congregations within the Reform Movement.
By Rabbi David Saperstein: The most effective response America can give to the 9/11 terrorist attacks is to affirm our nation's core values of freedom and liberty for all--including the religious tolerance, freedom, and equality that the perpetrators so vividly repudiated.
Yoffie and Saperstein: "The principle of religious freedom on which the United States was founded has demonstrated that our nation is strengthened by the faith of its citizens and the houses of worship in which they gather."
As a leader of a liberal religious movement, I spend much of my time fighting the forces of religious fundamentalism in my own tradition. An epic battle between fundamentalist religion and progressive religion is raging in America and throughout the world; it is found in Christianity, Islam and Judaism. In the last few months in particular I have been consumed with a struggle, played out on many fronts, with those in the Jewish community who oppose modernity, resist reason, and reject as inauthentic the progressive religious values that I espouse.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will speak of conceding territory and sharing the land with the Palestinian people when talks are formally launched.
President Obama pledged his support of Israel's security and called the shooting deaths of four Israelis at the hands of Palestinians a "senseless slaughter."
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