WUPJ Library

by Rabbi Ferenc Raj, PhD, Rabbi Emeritus, Congregation Beth El , Berkeley, CA, USA, and founding Rabbi, Congregation Bet Orim , Budapest, Hungary Perhaps the most recognized part of the Torah portion Ki Tavo is the long list of divine blessings and the even longer list of curses, or using the traditionally accepted term for […]

Recent Issues By: Rabbi Rene Pfertzel, The Liberal Jewish Synagogue , London, UK While we were reading the commandment to honour one’s parents in the Decalogue, a Bar-Mitzvah boy told me: “I have a problem with this text. I am not sure if I love my parents”. A teenager’s love for parents is somehow complicated, […]

by Rabbi Burt E. Schuman, Senior Rabbi, Beit Warszawa , Warszawa Our Torah portion for this week, Parashat Ki Tavo, begins with two rituals incumbent upon the Israelites when they have settled in the land of Israel, rituals of Thanksgiving and of tithing described in Chapter 26, Verses 1-19. These rituals that reflect not only […]

Recent Issues By: Rabbi Neal I Borovitz, Rabbi Emeritus Temple Avodat Shalom , River Edge, NJ This week’s Torah reading is called Ki Teitzei. It begins the verse ” When you go out to war ” and speaks of the limitations of conquest, but goes on to include according to Maimonides, the great Medieval Torah […]

by Rabbi Aaron C. Meyer, Assistant Rabbi, Temple De Hirsch Sinai , Seattle, WA “We must begin with our in-laws,” he announced to a lecture hall packed with a broad cross-section of the Seattle, Washington Jewish community. Jews in felt kippot and long dresses sat beside those who were bare-headed and wearing tank tops in […]

By Rabbi Josh Jacobs-Velde, Rabbi of Congregation Ohev Tzedek , Youngstown, OH A recent experience got me thinking about the connections between the mitzvot of food justice from parashat Ki Tetzei and my own life. First, a little background: my family and I are part of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) in Youngstown, OH.  For […]

by Rabbi Stanley M. Davids, Rabbi Emeritus, Temple Emanu-El , Atlanta, Georgia, and immediate past President of ARZA “ If, along the road, you chance upon a bird’s nest, in any tree or on the ground, with fledglings or eggs and the mother sitting over the fledglings or on the eggs, do not take the […]

by Rabbi Rich Kirschen, Director, The Anita Saltz International Education Center of  the World Union for Progressive Judaism Last week I wrote about my concern that Chelsea Clinton’s wedding represented (if you will) the danger for Jews when we live in a society that loves us too much. However in the end of this week’s […]

Recent Issues By: Rabbi Grisha Abramovich, Rabbi of the Union for Progressive Judaism in the Republic of Belarus and the Sandra Breslauer “ Beit Simcha ” center in Minsk. Communal Responsibility Our chapter starts with the commandment “You shall appoint magistrates and officials and they will govern the people with true justice”. We have the […]

Recent Issues Parashat Shoftim (Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9) By: Rabbi Jeffrey Kamins, Emanuel Synagogue , Woollahra, Australia ON AUTHORITY AND AUTONOMY The tension between authority and autonomy lies at the heart of Shoftim, a parasha which contains around 50 mitzvot, many of them dealing with forms of government – the power of the judge, prophet and king, […]

by Rabbin Pauline Bebe, Communauté juive libérale – Ile de France , Paris, France, Ce n’est pas juste! Qui n’a pas prononcé ces mots une fois dans sa vie? Enfant, adolescent, adulte, la conscience de l’injustice, la révolte qu’elle inspire nous donne un sentiment aïgu d’humanité. Nous existons à ce moment parce que précisément notre […]

Recent Issues by Rabbi Ferenc Raj, PhD, Rabbi Emeritus, Congregation Beth El,  Berkeley, CA, USA; Founding Rabbi, Congregation Bet Orim, Budapest, Hungary Like many Yiddish words that are part and parcel of the vocabulary of American Jews, “bashert” is hard to translate. Most often “bashert” and “basherte,” are used to describe one’s soulmate, though we […]