Police are investigating a swastika that was discovered Tuesday morning scrawled at the entrance to Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, one of the foundational institutions of Reform Judaism. “I think the placing of a swastika on a street sign, when we compare the events going on around the world, makes our little sign quite a…
Los Angeles police are searching for two Jewish brothers who disappeared nearly two weeks ago and are believed to have been abducted by their Taiwanese-American mother. The children’s parents are divorced and live in different cities. The two brothers, Sage Cook, 14, and Isaac Cook, 9, flew on Aug. 28 from their father’s home in…
Hebrew Union College’s School of Jewish Nonprofit Management will be renamed in honor of Marcie and Howard Zelikow after the couple provided a multi-million dollar donation. The Zelikows provided a $5 million endowment along with a $1 million commitment for current operations to the Los Angeles school, HUC announced Sunday. The official dedication of the…
The good people at Pew Research have come up with a brief, fascinating addendum to their recent survey of Jewish Americans, aiming to clear up some of the furor the survey touched off over the closely related questions of intermarriage, religious identity and overall Jewish population numbers. Some quick background, in case you just got…
If you want to lead a major Reform Jewish organization, here’s a piece of advice: Go to the Westchester Reform Temple. With this week’s announcement that Rabbi Aaron Panken will be the new president of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, the temple in suburban New York now has produced two major Reform leaders in…
Rabbi Aaron Panken was elected president of The Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion by its board of governors. HUC, the international university and seminary for Reform Judaism, made the announcement on Wednesday. Panken, 49, of Mamaroneck, N.Y., has taught rabbinic and Second Temple literature at HUC-JIR in New York since 1995. He has served…
An open letter to the board of governors of Hebrew Union College — Jewish Institute of Religion: I am writing to urge you to reconsider the HUC-JIR requirement that all prospective rabbinical students sign an agreement that “any student engaged, married, or partnered/committed to a person who is not Jewish by birth or conversion will…
Creating an art exhibit that captures the complexity of changes in how gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex people are viewed is no small challenge. Especially when it is displayed at a rabbinical seminary, where there is a stricter definition of what is considered appropriate than there would be at, say, a Cheslea gallery….
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