WUPJ Library

by Rabbi Joel D. Oseran, Vice President, International Development, World Union for Progressive Judaism , Jerusalem Our weekly Torah reading from the Book of Numbers focuses our attention on the infamous act of rebellion by Korach, who along with Dathan, Abiram, On and another 250 heads of the Israelite community set out to challenge the […]

by Rabbi Ann B. Folb, Pretoria Progressive Jewish Congregation – Bet Menorah Parshat Korach contains two of the many challenges to the authority of Moses and Aaron which appear in the Torah, and in this case the punishment is quite severe. The earth literally opens up and swallows Korach and his followers. You may well […]

Recent Issues By: Rabbi Fred Morgan , Temple Beth Israel , Melbourne, Australia Sometimes it’s valuable to remember where we came from and how far we’ve travelled.  When I was a child, the synagogue I grew up in was what we today call classical Reform. Head coverings were no-where to be seen, and the only […]

Recent Issues Parashat Shelach-Lecha – How we see ourselves By: Rabbi Danny Burkeman Whenever I look in the mirror, I’m always a little bit surprised at the face looking back at me. It’s not that I don’t know what I look like, it’s just that in my mind I think I still look the same […]

by Rabbi Pauline Bebe, Centre Maayan, Communauté Juive Libérale , Paris (for the French version, please click here or scroll down) What draws us to explore strange lands? Is it the desire to conquer one’s self? The other? A country? A promised land? We embark into an elsewhere which is inevitably filled with promise: “And […]

by Rabbi Fred Davidow, Chaplain, Glendale Uptown Home, Philadelphia, PA Blue has been a distinctive color of Judaism since Biblical times. In the Torah, God commands the Israelites to wear a garment with fringes at each corner and to attach a blue thread to the fringes (Numbers 15:37-38). The blue dye used to color the […]

by Rabbi Gary M. Bretton-Granatoor, Vice President, Philanthropy, World Union for Progressive Judaism Perhaps the greatest human tragedy is our inability to deal with a plague that has surfaced over and over again, from generation to generation. It is a disease that prevents human beings from ever achieving their highest goals: from societies that aspire […]

By Rabbi Dr. Charles Middleburgh, Cardiff Reform Synagogue , Wales It has often been said that you can find anything you wish to find on the Internet, and although I cannot assert that this statement is true I know from my own experience that for one reason or another, people have put up in the […]

by Rabbi Rich Kirschen, Director, The Anita Saltz International Education Center of the World Union for Progressive Judaism Noam Chomsky (who I cannot stand), Elvis Costello (whose music I still like), and now shooting missiles into the Flotilla… What exactly is Israel thinking these days? We need a far more sophisticated response to our detractors… So […]

Recent Issues By: Rabbi Grisha Abramovich, head Rabbi of the Religious Union for Progressive Judaism in the Republic of Belarus Stop Just Complaining and Do Something Question – What technology, instrument or human resources do we need to run a Jewish community, its programs, services and events? There are many books, instructions, lessons and ideas […]

Recent Issues This Shabbat we will read Parashat “Beha’alotcha”, the third portion in the book of Bamidbar (Numbers). “Beha’alotcha” is the 36th portion in the Torah (which contains 54 Portions), from Numbers 8:1 to 12:16. It has 136 verses, 7,055 Hebrew letters, 1,840 Hebrew words, and about 240 lines in a regular Torah Scroll. Our […]

Recent Issues By Rabbi Uri Lam, 44, Sociedade Israelita da Bahia ( SIB – Jewish Congregation of Bahia ), Salvador, Bahia St., Brazil “El Na Refa Na La” (God, please, heal her, please) Five words. From one moment to the next, Moses – the only man who saw God face to face – humbles himself […]