On September 19, while visiting New York to speak at the United Nations, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, accused the Reform and Conservative movements in Israel of using their partnership in the Western Wall agreement as a clandestine way to gain recognition. The World Union, along with its regional affiliates, responded to his charges with the following statement.
The World Union’s Beit Shmuel Conference Center in Jerusalem was recently scheduled to host a conference by Israel’s Ministry of Health. Within 24 hours of the conference’s scheduled opening, MK Yaakov Litzman, Minister of Health and member of the Ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, cancelled the conference because of its association with Reform Judaism. The […]
Death and Life Are In the Power of The Tongue (Proverbs 18:20)
“These are the words that Moses spoke to all of Israel(1:1)….”
Thus opens the fifth book of Torah, with Moses exhorting the people: where they have been, where they are now and ….towards where are they going. For a moment let us return to the outset of Moses’ mission: God’s summons him, empowering him to redeem the People of Israel.
“Let this land be given to your servants as a heritage; do not take us across the Jordan.”(Bamidbar 32,5b). This is what two and a half tribes ask of Moses as the people of Israel are getting ready to cross over the Jordan River and conquer the promised land. Why would they ask to stay on the eastern side of the Jordan valley? They have the explanation in the first phrases of the portion Matot:
26 June 2017 Jerusalem, Israel We are profoundly disappointed in the decision of the Government of Israel to deny the Jewishness of Israeli citizens not converted under the authority of the chief rabbinate, and its refusal to honor its commitment to uphold the right of Jews to pray at the Kotel as they do in their […]
The idea came to us last year during a discussion with Ruth Bohm, a representative of Women for Reform Judaism (WRJ) in Latin America. We were talking about ways to connect Jewish women from our region, with diverse backgrounds, in a new and exciting way. That’s when it dawned on us: the most special rite […]
A Shnat Netzer participant from RSY Netzer in the UK, Emma recently wrote this blog post for the Times of Israel following her experiences attending prayers at the Kotel with Women of the Wall on February 27, 2017, which was Rosh Chodesh Adar. “Today one of the holiest sites in Jerusalem was engulfed in protest. […]
