This is the Forward’s coverage of Reform Judaism, a major liberal Jewish denomination.
Reform Judaism
The Latest
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News Synagogues Merge Across Denominations To Survive
The Jews of Corpus Christi knew a decade ago they had to act fast to save their two synagogues. With at most 1,000 Jews left in the Texas town and only 60 families making up its membership, the 60-year-old Conservative synagogue was in shaky financial shape. So in 2005, B’nai Israel Synagogue merged with Temple…
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Fast Forward The Day Women of Wall Gained Legitimacy in Jewish World
The Women of the Wall left the site feeling elated. Two human chains of policemen opened paths on the left and on the right, surrounded by an ocean of Haredi men and women. As they walked, the women, wrapped in prayer shawls, sang Ozi v’Zimrat Yah Vayahi li lishuah, a song marking the Sivan Rosh…
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Opinion Kotel Ball Is in Tzipi Livni’s Court
Could Tzipi Livni be sweetening feminists before dropping a bombshell? As discussed earlier on Forward Thinking, Justice Minister Livni has just announced that she is working on legislation to criminalize the exclusion of women from the public sphere. The timing is interesting — just as she could find herself in a very awkward position on…
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Fast Forward Reform and Conservative Leaders Demand Probe Into Violence at Western Wall
The heads of the Reform and Conservative movements will demand that Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein investigate the involvement of rabbis on the government payroll in Friday’s violent demonstrations at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Thousands of ultra-Orthodox demonstrators showed up at the Western Wall on Friday morning to protest against Women of the Wall, a…
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Fast Forward Women of Wall Brace for Confrontation at Monthly Western Wall Protest
Anticipating provocations by ultra-Orthodox individuals and groups at their monthly prayer service at the Western Wall on Friday, Women of the Wall have instructed supporters and activists planning to participate in the event not to “engage in conflict – verbal or physical” with any of the protesters. Ultra-Orthodox protesters have made a practice in recent…
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Fast Forward Reform Leader Rick Jacobs Backs Compromise Prayer Plan for Western Wall
The head of the Reform movement endorsed a plan for egalitarian prayer at the Western Wall. “At this moment I believe our path forward and our path is to support the bold, audacious proposals by Natan Sharansky,” Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, said Friday at Connections 2013, the 36th International…
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Fast Forward Women Plan To Read From Torah Scrolls in Western Wall Push
Women seeking equal prayer rights at the Western Wall are planning a further challenge to Jewish Orthodox tradition at the site after a court ruling bolstered their cause, an activist said on Sunday. The Women of the Wall movement hopes to have its members read from a Torah (holy scriptures) scroll at the Jerusalem site,…
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Fast Forward Kotel Rabbi Questions Natan Sharansky’s Plan for Egalitarian Prayer
Shmuel Rabinowitz, the rabbi of the Western Wall, said rabbis must weigh whether to oppose a compromise proposal over egalitarian prayer at Judaism’s holiest site. In a statement Thursday, Rabinowitz vowed to fight against “the slightest deviation” from customary practice at the Western Wall. However, he left unclear whether the compromise forged by Jewish Agency…
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