WUPJ News

For three weeks, approximately 160 of us –campers, staff and rabbis– lived together as a community in the south west of France. Although we came from several different countries; we ate prayed, played and learned together.   Imagine rolling hills filled with vineyards and fields overflowing with sunflowers. Can you hear voices singing and praying in […]

The Nation-State basic law passed by the Knesset this week comes dangerously close to declaring Jewish superiority.  We are grateful to those who lobbied the members of the Knesset, and are relieved by some of the amendments to the original drafts of the law; but we remain concerned that the bill gives special rights to Jews that are not guaranteed to all citizens of the State of Israel. 

Liberal Judaism members from all around the UK and beyond took part in an inspirational Biennial Weekend at the end of June. Discussions focused on the next steps in liturgy, theology, policy, outreach work and shared values that will drive Progressive Judaism forward both in Britain and around the world. For the first time in its history, the Biennial weekend was completely […]

Are you aware of the many opportunities that our global Reform Movement provides for all of us?  Because your congregation is part of the larger Reform Community, you belong to the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) here in North America or a similar national organization and to the World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ) connecting Jews around the world.  Our new Find a Community app – currently in app stores for iPhone and Android users – gives you all the information you need to find a Reform Congregation anywhere from Wheeling, West Virginia here in the USA to Warsaw Poland, or even from Buenos Aires to Budapest.

We are always excited to say hello and welcome bogrim, or graduates, who are traveling through Israel. But from time to time, we find ourselves gearing up for a special kind of welcome: opening our doors and hearts to Netzernikim who have made Aliyah. We see them in our Jerusalem offices and when we run […]

Recently, I was privileged to participate in the WUPJ – WRJ Wilkenfeld International Women’s Leadership Seminar at Beit Shmuel, headquarters of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, in Jerusalem. This intense and intimate learning experience, conceived of and endowed by WRJ Past President Dolores Wilkenfeld, brings together Reform and Progressive Jewish women from different parts […]

Just a few days after the much-vaunted Trump-Kim Summit in Singapore, the latest Asia Progressive Judaism Shabbaton was held in the South Korean capital, Seoul. All the overseas participants were keen to hear from the locals their view on what had just happened, and the latter did not hold back. The Shabbaton began with a […]

        FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ARZENU, representing Reform and Progressive Religious Zionists around the world and in Israel, congratulates longtime friend of our Movement Isaac Herzog on his unanimous election to the post of Chairman of the Jewish Agency of Israel. Mr. Herzog’s appointment reflects the deep concern of the Jewish Zionist leadership […]

“Glad you’re here. We thought the world had forgotten us,” said Cacique José Barcelos, from the Botocudos tribe, in Vila do Areal, Espírito Santo. Cacique’s village was others destroyed in the environmental disaster which hit the entire Rio Doce in 2015. He tells the group of young adults who have come to restore and repair […]

Led in partnership with the Women of Reform Judaism (WRJ), the Wilkenfeld International Women’s Leadership Seminar is a leadership training program for women in Reform/Progressive congregations around the world who have been identified as potential emerging leaders. This year, 21 participants from 15 countries, representing a variety of the WUPJ regions, came to Jerusalem for […]