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Life Why Are American Synagogues Of Different Denominations Merging?
For Kathy Jacobs, the decision to join Agudas Achim Congregation wasn’t really much of a decision. The Coralville, Iowa synagogue was the only one within miles of Iowa City when Jacobs and her late husband moved to the area in 1998. This also meant that it wasn’t necessarily her decision to join a synagogue that…
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Breaking News Reform Congregation Wins Fight To Build Synagogue In Central Israel
JERUSALEM (JTA) — A Reform congregation has won a legal battle to build a synagogue building in the central Israeli city of Hod Hasharon. Kehillat Yonatan was founded in 2001 as an independent Progressive congregation. It is named after the son of its spiritual leader, Rabbi Michael Boyden, who moved with his family to Israel…
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Fast Forward Rabbi Accused Of Sexual Misconduct Is Suspended By Reform Rabbinical Association
The Reform movement’s rabbinical association has suspended a rabbi accused of sexual and emotional exploitation by a woman who regularly worshipped at his synagogue. Rabbi Larry Bach, a well-known religious leader in Durham, North Carolina, was the subject of a several-months-long investigation by the Ethics Committee of the Central Conference of American Rabbis. The suspension…
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Letters I Was The First Woman Ordained In Israel. Of Course Israel Needs Liberal Judaism
In 1992, when I was the first woman ordained in the State of Israel, I was an oddity at best. This year, we ordained our 100th Israeli Reform rabbi, and they are serving communities and institutions all over Israel. Over 25 years later, my daughter, a native born Israeli, great granddaughter of the founders of…
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News Liberal Rabbis Increasingly Support Officiating Weddings With Non-Jewish Clergy
Rabbi Lev Baesh has co-officiated a wedding with a Native American chief on the shores of Lake Michigan. He conducted Paris’ first Catholic-Jewish ceremony. One time, he stood under the chuppah with a Hindu pandit; another, with a Shiite cleric. Things finally got tricky with an evangelical preacher — who’d been asked by the Jewish…
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Opinion Stop Trying To Bring Liberal Judaism To Israel. We Already Have Too Much Religion
Several years ago, I (Einat) had the honor of speaking at a Conservative Synagogue in NYC. I was asked why, as a proud Israeli feminist, I am not mobilized for the cause of the Women of the Wall. I admitted that while I am a feminist I am also a devout Atheist, and the importance…
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News What Jewish Camps Taught Your Kids About Israel This Summer
One of the most ubiquitous programs at Jewish summer camp used to be the mock IDF boot camp. Israeli counselors would take their charges into an open field, or maybe an obstacle course, and make them respond to commands in Hebrew. Campers would be ordered to stand still at attention, or to march in formation,…
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Community Rabbi Rick Jacobs: Israel Turning Away BDS Supporter Ariel Gold Was ‘Disgraceful’
Dear Elijah, I enjoyed sitting and speaking with you and your fellow URJ Eisner Camp Machon campers just a few days ago. As you note in your well-argued essay, we talked seriously and thoughtfully about exactly the issues you raise. In our conversation we discussed a variety of critical issues, including having a frank conversation…
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