The administration’s regretful and wrong-headed, although not unprecedented, decision to abstain rather than veto a deeply problematic Security Council resolution affected the way most American Jews and Israelis heard Kerry’s speech.
In his essay, “The Legacy of the Maccabees,” Dr. Shaye Cohen writes: “From the perspective of world history and Jewish history, the Hasmonean (Maccabean) revolt was epoch making.
There is no more joyous time than the winter holiday season, but this year, the combined Hanukkah/Christmas calendar also marks the end of one of the most difficult years in our nation in recent memory. We are floating in uncharted waters as we enter 2017.
The URJ stands for an open and inclusive Judaism– and we believe there is more than one authentic way to be Jewish.
As we celebrate Sukkot this year, our world is experiencing a fierce progression of refugees and migrants who are wandering and homeless, nationless, and destitute, encased in fear and uncertainty, fleeing the ills of civil war, natural disaster, poverty, and political insurrection. Indeed, for massive numbers of people in our world, wandering and the impermanence of temporary shelter are all they have.