As they await entry into Israel, youth movement members from South Africa, who were expecting to be at Machon in Jerusalem these days for their Shnat 2021 program, came together to run multiple seminars in South Africa as a kick off their gap year experience which was to have begun on March 1st in the Crags in South Africa.
For several months now, in response to the distress of the COVID pandemic in an area already distressed, Beit Emanuel Progressive Shul and Temple Israel Hillbrow have been handing out sandwiches and fruit to those in need in Hillbrow. Every Thursday morning, Rabbi Sa’ar Shaked heads to Hillbrow in the Beit Emanuel shul-mobile, filled with […]
What if everyone we knew stood up against the spread of hate? This year, in honor of Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah) on May 1, we are asking our leaders, congregations, and youth movement members and graduates worldwide – and everyone who stands against the prevalence of hatred and incitement online – to report six incidents of hatred on social media.
Over 160 members of The United Jewish Congregation of Hong Kong (UJC) rolled up their sleeves for “hands-on Tikkun Olam” during the “UJC Make a Miracle Mitzvah Day” on December 9. The day began with breakfast at the Hong Kong Jewish Community Centre to awaken spirits with shakshuka and songs. Congregants then ventured out to locations around Hong Kong to volunteer at charities and non-profit organizations.
During the holiday celebrations of Chanukah, as if inspired by the light brought into our dark, winter evenings, students from the Former Soviet Union who are participating in a MASA leadership program, participated in a meaningful and purposeful evening.
The World Union was honored to host and sponsor a festive evening honoring the volunteers from Project Yadayim “Hands-On” on October 7, 2018 at Beit Shmuel.
“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 […]
The March 24 March for Our Lives coincided with the annual international Netzer Leaders Assemby (Veida), sponsored by ARZENU, KKL and WZO, where teen delegates from over 14 countries gathered to discuss the future of the Progressive Youth Movement. This year’s conference focused on Tikkun olam: As Reform Jews, does it require action or is […]
I have just returned from an amazing trip to the Caribbean with the World Union for Progressive Judaism. We visited congregations in San Juan, St. Thomas, Curacao, and Aruba, some of the oldest congregations in the Western hemisphere. We shared our stories, our music, and our prayers with each of these communities. As you know, […]
[On February 14th] the town of Parkland, Florida made the news because of a school shooting that left 17 people dead—most of them teenagers. There are now about 5 such shootings each month in America. Since 20 first graders were killed in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012, there have been some 239 school shootings, taking 138 innocent lives, injuring and traumatising countless more. That is, since I’ve been with you here in Sydney, 240 school shootings have taken place in America, and many more at large public venues, like music concerts and night clubs.