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Opinion Intermarriage Will Shape a New American Judaism
When Rabbi Seymour Rosenbloom, a retired rabbi from Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, performed an intermarriage ceremony for his stepdaughter and her fiancé in 2014 more than a glass got shattered at the end of the wedding ceremony. Rabbi Rosenbloom’s membership in the Rabbinical Assembly wound up in pieces as well. In December 2016, the rabbinical body…
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Breaking News Jewish Groups Split on Kerry’s Israel Speech
(JTA) — Jewish organizations split along ideological lines in their reactions to Secretary of State John Kerry’s speech criticizing Israeli settlement growth and laying out principles to achieve a two-state solution. Centrist groups were measured in their reactions, criticizing the American decision to abstain last week on a U.N. vote rebuking the settlements while praising Kerry’s commitment…
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Community How an Orthodox Rabbi Became A Reform Jewish Educator
In 1979, I was ordained as a rabbi by a prominent yeshiva. My training prepared me to become a modern Orthodox rabbi, presumably in a congregation. I previously served as a Jewish youth educator in the Chicago region of NCSY and as a visiting staff member for other regions around the Midwest. So, when the…
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Israel News New Jersey Family to Pay Rabbis Shunned by Israeli Rabbinate
(Ha’aretz) — If the state of Israel won’t pay the salaries of rabbis of certain denominations, then we will. That, in a nutshell, is how one family from Livingston, New Jersey, hopes to foment a religious revolution in Israel. By providing a living wage to rabbis who are not eligible for state funding – and…
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Breaking News Israeli Minister Derides Reform Judaism as ‘Imitation’ Faith
JERUSALEM ( — Israel’s interior minister, Aryeh Deri of the Sephardic Orthodox Shas party, called Reform Judaism an “imitation” and said he “can do without that Judaism.” Deri, the Shas leader, reportedly made the comments on Monday during a question-and-answer session in the Knesset. “I want the original, not the imitation” of Judaism, Deri said in response…
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Breaking News Top Reform Rabbi Blasts Donald Trump for ‘Anti-Semitic’ Rhetoric
WASHINGTON — A top Reform movement rabbi said it “defies belief” that Donald Trump is unaware of anti-Semitic associations in his campaign rhetoric. Rabbi Jonah Pesner, who directs the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center, released his statement Friday, Oct. 14, a day after the Republican presidential nominee delivered a speech in West Palm Beach, Florida,…
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Israel News Reform Jews Kick Off Letter-Writing Campaign on Western Wall Prayer
The Union for Reform Judaism has kicked off a letter writing campaign to the Israeli government to pressure it to implement its plan for an egalitarian prayer space at the Western Wall Jewish holy site. Timed with the Jewish New Year, the organization is urging supporters to email a pre-written letter to Israeli Prime Minister…
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Breaking News Top Reform Rabbi Slams Donald Trump for Singling Out Non-Christians at Rally
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s joke at a rally, in which he singled out people who were not Christian conservatives, was “unacceptable,” said a top Reform rabbi. “Raise your hand if you’re not a Christian conservative,” Trump said at a Sept. 28 rally in Council Bluffs, Iowa, after assessing that the crowd was overwhelmingly Christian conservative….
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Culture Why saying ‘L’shana Tova’ on Rosh Hashanah may not be the correct phrase
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Culture A Jewish prophet of the 1980s would be horrified to see that we didn’t heed his warnings
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Opinion With killing of Hezbollah’s chief, Israel occupies the inarguable moral high ground
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Opinion This is the most disorienting Rosh Hashanah in memory
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Fast Forward Antisemitism hits record high in the U.S.; new report shows most-ever incidents in single year
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Culture He founded the Harlem Globetrotters and is the shortest man in the basketball hall of fame. A new book tells his story.
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Oct. 7: One Year Later One year after Oct. 7, a Yom Kippur ritual of communal mourning takes on fresh meaning
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