This is the Forward’s coverage of Reform Judaism, a major liberal Jewish denomination.
Reform Judaism
The Latest
-
Opinion Should Rabbis Marry Outside the Faith?
A rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College, the Reform movement’s central rabbinical school, set off a revealing internal spat when he wrote an op-ed questioning the school’s policy on rabbis and intermarriage. Officially no student at the school is allowed to date or marry a non-Jewish partner. The debate illuminated the Reform movement’s tricky balance:…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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,…
-
Fast Forward 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…
-
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…
-
Fast Forward 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…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Expelled Oberlin Chabad rabbi says he ‘made a mistake’ with explicit social media chats
- 2
Culture Louis Theroux’s Netflix documentary on the manosphere takes a detour into antisemitism
- 3
Fast Forward Illinois primary pits Jewish candidate with deep Israel ties against AIPAC spending
- 4
News Joe Kent, Trump official with white supremacist ties, resigns over Iran war and blames Israel
In Case You Missed It
-
Yiddish World How our Yiddish group uses the Forverts podcast to learn the language
-
Fast Forward CA Gov. Newsom says he regrets apartheid comment, ‘reveres’ Israel in new interview
-
Yiddish װער מעג שפּילן אַ ייִד? אַ סיכסוך אין דײַטשלאַנדWho can play a Jew — A debate in Germany
אין בערלין דעבאַטירט מען פּאָליטישע ענינים דװקא אין טעאַטער — און דאָס הײַפֿל ייִדן אין לאַנד געפֿינט זיך אין צענטער
-
Books In 3 centuries of Southern Jewish life in the Big Easy, no easy way to be Jewish
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
