Dangerous Conversion Bill and Attack on Religious Pluralism in Israel

Separation of Church and State in Israel has never been achieved, and more than ever before, religious pluralism is under attack.   

CONVERSION BILL: Leaders of the Reform Movement have been rigorously lobbying in Israel, to stop proposed legislation to turn all Jewish conversion authority over to the Chief Rabbinate (orthodox) in Israel.  This week, Prime Minister Netanyahu opposed the bill and the Kenesset delayed the vote.  The Reform Mvmt urges us to email Netanyahu and to acknowledge and push for more of his support.  Conversion bill update and link to Netanyahu’s email.  

WOMEN OF THE WALL: The arrest of Anat Hoffman, for the crime of carrying a Torah scroll at the Western Wall, was another in a series of attacks on progressive Judaism, feminism and democracy. 

For a reflection on the state of pluralism, read Rabbi David Ellenson’s (president of the Reform Movement’s seminary, Hebrew Union College; Ellenson will speak at RS this fall) Jerusalem Post column, “A Call for State-Sanctioned Tolerance.”

Supplementary Security Income & Today’s Economy

By Rabbi Michael Holzman

Every year when our elected officials have to pay the bills they make choices.  In a year when tax revenues are way down, they must wrestle with their decisions.  In Pennsylvania, this year, the choices were brutal, and the budget process drawn out.  What finally emerged was grim:  a substantial cut in the state contribution towards Supplemental Security Income. Monica Yant-Kinney reported this on January 24, 2010.  So, in case you are keeping score, in the same year that President Obama is cutting 47% of the federal contribution towards unemployment and 25% towards child support, the state of Pennsylvania is cutting their share by 20-25% as well.  All of this in a down economy, which means these funds are more necessary than ever before.Continue reading

Tu B’shvat and a World Tour of Sustainability

by Rabbi Jill Maderer

Tonight and tomorrow, we celebrate Tu B’shvat.  This Jewish new year for the trees functions as Jewish Earth Day. As you taste the fruits of the holiday (dates, almonds…) and contemplate what you can do to reduce your carbon footprint, check out what our members Amy and Keith Sutter are up to!  Amy and Keith are spending the year traveling around the world and documenting sustainability; keep up with their discovery of sustainability worldwide, on their blog: Green Around the Globe.

The Women of the Wall’s Struggle for Religious Liberty in Israel

by Rabbi Jill Maderer

When I prayed with Women of the Wall (WOW) in 1996, I never imagined that in 2010, women would still be prohibited from raising their voices in prayer at the Kotel—the Western Wall, the remaining wall from the ancient Temple in Jerusalem. Yet, as much as ever before, the religious extremism of ultra-orthodoxy continues to hold authority and power over all Jews in the State of Israel–from school funding to liberal rabbinic recognition– and over all activity at the Kotel.  In November, WOW member Nofrat Frankel was arrested for wearing a tallit (prayer shawl) and for holding a Torah scroll. Two weeks ago, WOW leader Anat Hoffman (who spoke at RS a few years ago at our Joseph W. Rosenbluth Shabbat), executive director of the Reform Movement’s Israel Religious Action Center, was interrogated and fingerprinted by police. Her crime? Wearing a tallit, not at the Wall, but at a previously designated alternative overlooking the wall, where WOW has been holding services for years.Continue reading

(Another Reason) Why I love what I do.

Boy is it cold out there.  For me, a Miami boy, this is skin-peeling cold.  I know because I just walked four blocks up Broad Street in this wind.  I was walking to visit my friend Josh at the Red Shield Shelter.  Josh is the Business Manager at the shelter, a residence for homeless families, and he is responsible for tracking the residents’ savings.  Each resident is working towards finding an apartment or home of their own, and as they search, they are required to save part of their income (whether that income is from actual labor, or from disability, veterans or other sorts of social welfare benefits).  Residents therefore have a savings goal.  This goal is one of the keys to their future independence.

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Fasting for Darfur

On my door I have a “Stop the Genocide” sticker. It’s been there for over three years now, and the war in Darfur drags on. So why am I fasting on what seems like a random day in August 2009 for this cause? Why not let it simmer on the back burner where it has been since a group of us traveled to DC for the Save Darfur rally?

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