Jewish tradition teaches that if we return to God halfway, God will meet us in the middle – and I believe this is how we are currently being summoned as congregational leaders.
As you begin to emerge from the rush of the High Holiday season, start off 5781 by setting an agenda for change in partnership with the URJ. Here are a few ways that you can connect to the URJ.
Congregants – our partners in this sacred work – want to be in conversation with their congregational leadership. In this isolating time, they want to feel seen and directly involved in their spiritual practice.
Deuteronomy 16:20 directs us: “Tzedek tzedek tirdof” – Justice, justice shall you pursue. The words remind us of the importance of ensuring justice itself is achieved through just means.
In addition to the creative, original content that you already know and love, our new sites also offer various upgrades in the way of user experience, accessibility, technology, and more.
Although the pandemic has not altered the overall mission of our sacred work – to engage the next generation of families with young children on their Jewish journey – it has further amplified our sense of urgency and is helping to redefine and clarify our goals and priorities.
Ninety-three percent of respondents from Reform synagogue members would recommend their synagogue to a friend - even during the COVID-19 pandemic, while synagogue programming isn't physically happening in the building.
The URJ endorses With Malice Toward None, an initiative inspired by President Lincoln’s exhortation, at a time when the nation was enduring its most significant divisions, that Americans act “with malice toward none, with charity for all…”
This summer was unlike any in our lifetime. While we’re incredibly thankful that Jewish youth were able to experience camp from home, we're thrilled to announce plans for in-person programming in summer 2021.
We recently introduced the URJ Reflection Project, a tool for the High Holidays that can be found at reflect.reformjudaism.org. Here, we share suggestions of how to use its many ideas with your congregation.