WUPJ Library

By: Rabbi Roberto Feldmann The Deliverance from the Bowels of Chile’s Mother Earth A few years ago, some experts decided to degrade a planet which mythologically ruled the underworld, and reduced its dignity to a mere asteroid. Why? Because its orbit was erratic, a bit shifted and more elliptical than its other celestial brethren. Chile […]

Recent Issues By: Rabbi Nir Barkin and Smadar Bilik, DOMIM – aLike Israel-Diaspora Project, a joint initiative of the Diaspora Ministry of the Israel Government and the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism (IMPJ) The story of the Tower of Babel , which appears toward the end of this Torah portion, marks the end […]

Recent Issues By: Rabbi Danny Burkeman , Rabbi at The Community Synagogue in Port Washington, NY. He is a previous member of the WUPJ Board and was formerly one of the Rabbis at West London Synagogue . He has a weekly Torah commentary “Two Minutes of Torah” available on iTunes and you can read more […]

By: Rabbinical Student Rene Pfertzel (Leo Baeck College, London), Student Rabbi Finchley Progressive , UK, and Congregation Keren Or , Lyon, France Hope for the Middle-East? We are all dismayed and appalled by the bad news coming out of Syria. Assad’s regime has most likely gassed its own people using Sarin gas. Its chemical formula […]

By: Rabbi Michael Dolgin, Senior Rabbi of Temple Sinai Congregation , Toronto “Torah around the world” should be the name of this week’s Parashah, rather than simply calling it Noah. The colour and creativity of the story of Noah often overshadows the later elements of the portion which describe the settlement of the world by […]

By: Tirzah Ben-David, visiting Rabbi to Shir Hatzafon Progressive Community, Copenhagen, Denmark “Adrift” Parashat Noach tells us two stories that have haunted the Western imagination for over two thousand years, and remain chillingly relevant now. The images are iconic. Noach rides the flood with the entire gene pool of the planet huddled in the darkness […]

By: Rabbi Joan Glazer Farber, R.J.E., Adult Learning Specialist for the Union for Reform Judaism , New York “L’Takein Et Ha’Olam” — Repairing our World The United Nations General Assembly has just completed its annual meeting in New York. It should be seen as a time when people come together to speak about common goals and peace. […]

Recent Issues By: Rabbi Stephen Lewis Fuchs, former President of World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ) and Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation Beth Israel , West Hartford, Connecticut, USA. Cain and Abel: “The Symbol Story of the Human Soul” No story in literature teaches us more about what God is—and what God is not—than Cain and […]

Recent Issues WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF GOD? By Rabbi Ferenc Raj, PhD, Rabbi Emeritus, Congregation Beth El , Berkeley, CA, USA & Founding Rabbi, Congregation Bet Orim , Budapest, Hungary Still fresh in our minds is our celebration of Rosh Hashanah, the holiday that commemorates the beginning of […]

By Rabbi Tirzah Ben-David, Shir Hatzafon Progressive Jewish Community , Copenhagen, Denmark “In the beginning”… the ancient Israelite account of creation presents us with a vision of infinite possibility. It pinpoints the unrepeatable, and unsustainable, instant when everything is potential, because nothing yet exists.  All artists know this moment, and they also know, with a […]

By Rabbi Haim Shalom, rabbi of Menorah Synagogue , Cheshire Reform Congregation, Manchester, England – a community eager to welcome all Looking at Parashat Bereishit, there are so many themes which could jump out at us to look at. One could choose to look at the Theological meaning of the creation story. One could choose […]

by Rabbi Gary M. Bretton-Granatoor, Vice President, Philanthropy WUPJ This has been a particularly interesting time for me, as my wife and I bid farewell to our youngest child who went off to college.  We are now empty-nesters – and frankly, for the most part, enjoying the blissful quietude.  Yet, there are moments when I […]