Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of Reform Judaism, a major liberal Jewish denomination.
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News Reform Movement, Seeking To Stem Decline, Eyes Religious Pluralism in Israel
When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke from Jerusalem recently to Reform Judaism’s large biennial conference via Jumbotron, the 5,000 Jews gathered here offered only pro forma applause as he restated his commitment to a two-state solution for Israel’s 46-year occupation of the West Bank. But then, Netanyahu turned to the issue of religious pluralism…
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Opinion Why I Am Making ‘Aliyah’ to Reform Jewry
(JTA) — I grew up Jewish. Simply Jewish. My late father, Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, raised us in an observant Orthodox household. Our lives were filled with beautiful ritual and we celebrated the wonder of a familial spiritual connection. That said, we also danced along the fine line of progressive Judaism. My father’s Torah was an…
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News Reform Movement Seeks New Direction Amid Concerns
(JTA) — What do you get when you bring together 5,000 of the Reform movement’s faithful for a conference in sunny San Diego in mid-December? Four days of singing, learning, schmoozing and worrying at a gathering that seemed equal parts pep rally and intervention session. For pep, there were the spirited prayer services, the morning-till-night…
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News Reform Rabbis Announce Head-Shaving Tribute to Superman Sam
(JTA) In March, dozens of rabbis will shave their heads at the Reform movement’s Central Conference of American Rabbis conference in Chicago. But the 8-year-old boy whose struggle with cancer inspired the rabbis’ campaign will not be there to witness their act of solidarity. Samuel Asher Sommer, the son of Rabbis Phyllis and Michael Sommer,…
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Breaking News Reform Movement Sells Half of Headquarters to Invest $1M in Youth Programs
The Union for Reform Judaism has sold off half of its headquarters in New York and is investing $1 million from the proceeds to overhaul its youth programming. The sale of one of the union’s two floors at its midtown Manhattan headquarters closed on Wednesday; Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the movement’s president, announced the sale in…
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Opinion A Trailblazing Cantor
In many ways, Mark Goldman’s a traditional cantor. He serves a 900-member Reform congregation, in Plantation, Florida. He’s performed around the world, including a historic group gig at the Vatican. And he loves to chant the “haunting, yet familiar” Kol Nidre. But this year, the UK expat became a trailblazer. After nearly two decades as…
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Breaking News Benjamin Netanyahu Cancels Live Speech at Reform Biennal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled plans to speak in person to the biennial meeting of the Union for Reform Judaism. The announcement was made Tuesday, a day before the start of the conference, which is scheduled to run through Dec. 15 in San Diego, Haaretz reported. Netanyahu will address the closing plenary of the…
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News Synagogues Turning to Consultants To Better Understand Communities
(JTA) — Before Sacha Litman shares his data analysis with his synagogue clients, he likes to have the board members and staff guess the contents. Which programs are most expensive and most popular? How many Hebrew school parents would recommend the congregation to a friend? Eighty percent of the time, Litman says, the assumptions of synagogue…
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