The first wedding at which I officiated as a newly ordained rabbi was on the island of Maui. The couple planned their ceremony in a location that rarely received significant rainfall.

We at the URJ are working with you, our congregations, to instill a love of Israel, make it central to the identity of Reform Jews, and advance efforts toward ensuring that it is a nation of equality, tolerance, pluralism, and justice.

As the STEM educator and director of education, respectively, at Temple Shir Tikva in Wayland, MA, we’re sharing reflections on introducing STEM to Jewish learners in our building pre-COVID and in our online learning community.

Last Passover began the urgent quest to reinvent much of Jewish life, highlighting that some of the ways we “do” Judaism needed to be updated. This year has been a powerful catalyst to shifts in how we perform our holy work.

This year's conference will cover topics that address the need to balance maintaining a strong congregation for today while leading change for the future, plus the dilemma of dealing with the urgency of the pandemic and long-term challenges to congregations.

Judaism’s foremost physician made clear that providing healthcare to the community is fundamentally connected to the spiritual and moral health of society. Nine centuries later, with COVID-19 raging all around us, the urgent relevance of the Rambam’s words could not be clearer. 

Tthere are critical tasks to be done to ensure congregational safety and security both now and as we reopen. The results of the URJ’s synagogue security survey points to six things you should be doing to make sure you're prepared.

Those of us on the margins are not exceptions to a “normal” Jewish community; we are an integral part of the community itself, and we want to know that you know: We all belong here.

Though the terrain may be uncertain, we are guided by our deep commitments to justice, learning, and action. As we walk hand-in-hand into 2021, let us make this year one filled with purpose, joy, nourishment, and a renewed sense of hope.