URJ Press Releases

Read this week's news from the Reform Movement and Jewish news from around the world online - or subscribe to receive it as an e-mail each Friday.

As the holiday of Tu b'Shevat approaches, congregations and families prepare to look at the natural world with wonder and celebrate the abundance of earth's incredible resources. At many of our celebrations, we will read from Ecclesiastes 1:4: "One generation goes, another comes, but the earth remains the same forever."

I am saddened and dismayed by recent events at the Western Wall. These events are a tragedy -- a blow to the State of Israel and to the unity of the Jewish people.

Each year on Yom Kippur, Rudolph Dana locks himself in his Pétionville, Haiti, home -- protected by guard dogs and security personnel -- and passes the Day of Atonement fasting, praying and reciting the traditional liturgy of repentance and forgiveness.

Israel has to change the way it treats its Arab citizens and the haredim, allocating resources more equitably to the former and having the latter "go back to work," Knesset member Avishay Braverman, Israel's minister of minority affairs, said at the opening evening plenary of the Reform Judaism's (URJ) 70th biennial convention last week.

Remember the old refrain, "You are what you eat?" Some in the Jewish community have taken that message to heart, and are pushing to redefine the boundaries of kashrut.

The November 4-8 biennial event for the Union of Reform Judaism (URJ), serving Reform congregations in North America, ended with nine resolutions, three of which pertained to the Middle East.

Today's new resolutions address climate change, Israeli-Arabs, special needs camping, and the Progressive Association for Reform Day Schools

The Internet and cyberspace are changing all the rules of Jewish interaction, and we need to be at the forefront of these changes.

New Initiative � Shulhan Yarok, Schulhan Tzedek -- calls for More Communal Meals in Congregations, Increased Focus on Sustainability and Health

In a unanimous vote today, the Board of Trustees of the Union for Reform Judaism endorsed the Affordable Health Care for America Act, the bill currently being considered by the U.S. House of Representatives.

Speakers, workshops and entertainment will highlight the importance of fostering mutual respect and cooperation between religious communities.

Green is the color of choice for the Union of Reform Judaism's 70th Biennial Convention, which will take place November 4�8 in Toronto. In an effort to make the 2009 Biennial the most sustainable yet, the Reform Movement is taking steps to reduce energy, water, and paper use, increase recycling and use of recycled materials, and incorporate environmentally conscious themes into the convention programming.

Ambassador Michael Oren, Israeli Minister of Minority Affairs Avishay Braverman and Jordan's King Abdullah to speak to largest gathering of Jews in North America