WUPJ Library

Recent Issues By: Rabbi Melanie Aron, Congregation Shir Hadash , Los Gatos, California, USA Responding to the Stranger Who is in Our Midst Lemah hadavar domeh – To what is this similar? That is the question I remember best from when I was a young student learning the Talmud. It’s a helpful way of looking […]

Recent Issues By: Rabbi Naamah Kelman, the Dean of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem Recently I participated on a panel discussing Intermarriage. This was for an Israeli audience and for many of them; the very issue of Intermarriage is just another indication of the decline of Jewry outside of Israel. It was […]

In the Mechilta, an early collection of Midrash on the Book of Exodus, we are taught that this law to return your enemy’s livestock is connected to the precepts of justice found earlier in the Parasha. We Jews, this Midrash teaches, must not treat others in an injurious, unethical or immoral fashion just because they have treated us in such a manner. The Mechilta reminds us that our enemies do not cease to be human beings just because they act immorally or inhumanely toward us. For the sake of our own humanity –not theirs – we must act justly toward our enemies.

By Rabbi Josh Jacobs-Velde, Ohev Tzedek-Shaarei Torah , Ohio, USA The Jewish-American poet Marge Piercy has written an achingly beautiful poem called “Nishmat,” which appears in the Reconstructionist Kol Haneshamah siddur as an interpretation of the traditional Nishmat Kol Chai prayer of Shabbat morning. Here is an excerpt: “…Every day we find a new sky […]

by Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon, Senior Rabbi, Temple Emanu-El of Tucson, Arizona, USA, and host, “The Too Jewish Radio Show with Rabbi Sam Cohon and Friends” The great 60’s comedian, Alan Sherman wrote a book about restrictions on human behavior. He decided to invent a new religion, which would have only one commandment: “Thou shalt […]

by Rabbi Burt Schuman, Beit Warszawa , Warsaw, Poland One of the ongoing challenges we face within our world Jewish community in general, and in the Progressive Jewish community in particular, is that of finding the right balance between lay and rabbinic leadership. On one hand I, and many of my colleagues, must contend what are […]

by Rabbi Mark Goldsmith North Western Reform Synagogue , Alyth Gardens, London This Shabbat my family celebrates the Bat Mitzvah of our eldest daughter Alice. In her D’var Torah on Parashat Mishpatim Alice talks about her journey of learning during the year: from feeling that her portion was, in her words, “a series of rules […]

Recent Issues By: Rabbi Neal Borovitz, Rabbi Emeritus Temple Avodat Shalom , River Edge, New Jersey, USA The Torah portion for this week is called Yitro and is named after Moses’ father-in-law. The high point of this parasha and the climax of the entire Torah is Exodus 20, which is the conclusion of this week’s […]

Recent Issues By: Rabbi Danny Burkeman, Rabbi at the Community Synagogue in Port Washington, New York, USA. He is a former Board member of the World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ) Empowering the People When I think back to my time in RSY-Netzer (the Reform Jewish Youth movement in Britain) I find it hard to […]

Recent Issues By Rabbi Dr. Walter Rothschild. Landesrabbiner of Schleswig-Holstein. This sidra is famous for the encounter between God and Israel – through Moses – on the Mountain in Sinai – known as ‘Matan Torah’, the Revelation and Giving of the Teachings. What does this mean? We can distinguish in the Torah between two specific […]

by Rabbi Sheryl Nosan-Lantzke, Jewish Spirituality Australia (in Perth, and Worldwide at nefeshproject.wordpress.com ) This week’s parasha, Yitro, brings us to revelation at Sinai, but doesn’t reveal tablets of “The Ten Commandments.” We hear God’s instructions (including direction to worship only God, sanctify Shabbat and honour parents as well as prohibitions against murder, theft and […]

by Rabbi Mark L. Winer, Ph.D., D.D. The Arab Spring arouses both hope and fear. Within the last couple of years, upheaval in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and most of all Syria has seized the world’s attention.  Emerging Arab leaders espouse Western democratic values. But democratic elections following the collapse of dictatorships sometimes produce extremist Islamist Arab leadership. Indeed, […]