Growing up in a traditional Jewish household, Joan Cubell didn’t really know much about Reform Judaism.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled plans to speak in person to the biennial meeting of the Union for Reform Judaism.
President Barack Obama won several standing ovations at the URJ biennial. He pledged to support Israel and touted the social justice values at the core of the Reform movement.
Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak chatted with President Barack Obama at the Reform movement’s meeting. Barak also offered an olive branch to liberal American Jews.
Republican congressional leader Eric Cantor got a polite, if less than enthusiastic, reception at the Union for Reform Judaism’s biennial conference.