This is the Forward’s coverage of Reform Judaism, a major liberal Jewish denomination.
Reform Judaism
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News Angela Buchdahl, First Asian-American Rabbi, Vies for Role at Central Synagogue
When Cantor Angela Buchdahl walks among the pews, greeting congregants before Friday night services at Manhattan’s venerable Central Synagogue, she encounters a mélange of Jewish faces, including blacks, Asians and Hispanics. It’s a diversity that reflects the emergence of an American Jewry of unprecedented ethnic breadth, and a diversity that Buchdahl — born to an…
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Fast Forward Women Blow Shofar and Raise Torah Scroll at Western Wall Prayer Protest
Women of the Wall blew a shofar at the back of the Western Wall Plaza and raised a Torah scroll at the plaza’s gate as they completed their service under a heavy police barricade. Women of the Wall gathers at the beginning of each Jewish month for a women’s Rosh Chodesh prayer service at the…
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News Welcoming Intermarried Couples Is New Priority for Jewish Institutions
When the nation’s largest Jewish federation convened its first-ever conference recently on engaging interfaith families, perhaps the most notable thing about it was the utter lack of controversy that greeted the event. There was a time when the stereotypical Jewish approach to intermarriage was to shun the offender and sit shiva. A generation ago, the…
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Fast Forward Aaron Panken, New HUC Chief, Is Second Reform Leader From Westchester Temple
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…
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Fast Forward Aaron Panken Named President of Hebrew Union College
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…
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Fast Forward Ultra-Orthodox Block Women From Praying at Western Wall
Several thousand ultra-Orthodox protesters effectively blocked Jewish women activists campaigning for equal worship rights at the Western Wall from holding a monthly prayer session on Monday at the holy site. Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said members and supporters of the Women of the Wall group were escorted by police to a spot a short…
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Fast Forward Camper Ethan Kadish Still Critical After Being Hit By Lightning
Ethan Kadish, the only one of three campers still hospitalized after being struck by lightning Saturday at a Jewish camp in Indiana, remains in critical but stable condition. The 12-year-old from Cincinnati requires help with his breathing and needs his chest cleared, according to his family, who set up a website, Caringbridge.org/visit/ethankadish, to provide updates…
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News Jews Unite Behind Push for Immigration Reform
Rabbi Mark Diamond stood on the border with Mexico on a brisk February day, alongside the Rev. Alexei Smith of the Catholic Archdiocese, the Rev. Mary Glasspool of the Episcopal Diocese and a host of clergy from Presbyterian, Methodist and United Church of Christ ministries. All of them peered through the corrugated steel wall at…
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