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This post was written by RAC Legislative Assistant Molly Benoit as part of the Union for Reform Judaism's "Ten Minutes of Torah" series. As a child of the 90’s I learned the Chanukah story in many contexts, from the traditional religious school recounting of the miraculous oil to the mem

The history of Hanukkah squeezes us between two competing narratives: one of idealization

It was over brunch on our fourth date when I told him, "This can't go anywhere...I’m Jewish and you’re not." After years of Jewish camp, Hebrew school and lectures from my parents, I was fairly certain that the eleventh commandment was “Thou shalt meet a nice Jewish boy, get married and have beau

Learn how one congregation with geographically dispersed members maximized its reach in a world with increasing competition for people’s time and energy.

Israel is the new frontier of Reform Judaism. Since the 1990s the number of Progressive/Reform congregations and minyanim has doubled from 15 to 30, many of them served by native Israeli rabbis ordained at our Movement seminary in Jerusalem. Five thousand families send their children to Reform-affiliated schools, and last year a record 50,000 Israelis attended Progressive High Holy Day services throughout the country.

“So, how many children do you want?”  Not an unusual question for a man to ask his girlfriend when he is beginning to think about a future with her.  However, when I heard this question, it came from the cute, industrious Israeli I had been dating for about six months and I actually laughed.  “Yo