All Blog Posts Tagged 'Judaism' (31)

On Sunday, July 22, ARZENU could once again welcome a new member to our growing community of worldwide constituents. The launch of ARZA NZ took place at an event in Auckland with participants from New Zealand, Australia and Dalya Levy, director of ARZENU, online from Israel.

Below you can read the official statement from Udi Dvorkin, Formal Education and Community Shaliach in New Zealand.

Shalom…

ARZENU and the Israel Reform Movement has helped secure Kibbutz Lotan a NIS 3.7m grant from the JNF/KK"L for the construction of a bird-watching park as well as other eco-projects.

Read the full story below in a letter from Executive Director at Kibbutz Lotan, Mike Nitzan.…

In a letter to the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism (IMPJ), Minister of Defense, Ehud Barak and Minister of Trade, Industry and Commerce, Shalom Simchon congratulate the movement on "its historic accomplishment of the State's recognition of Reform and Conservative Rabbis".

In addition, both Ministers offer their support in IMPJ's further struggle to end discrimination of non-Orthodox streams of Judaism in…

Last week’s historical decision to recognize non-Orthodox rabbis in Israel has resulted in both congratulations, press coverage in both Israel and abroad and of course a feeling of renewed drive among people fighting tirelessly for the rights of egalitarian Jews in Israel to be able to live a religious Jewish life in accordance with their customs and beliefs.

Yesterday, Gilad Kariv, rabbi and Director of the Israel Movement for Progressive…

Starting on Monday June 18th, the leadership of ARZENU the International Federation of Reform and Progressive Zionists together with participants from the World Union for Progressive Judaism and the IMPJ (Israel Reform Movement) will be gathering in Jerusalem to participate in the annual World Zionist Organization's Va’ad Hapoel (…

On May 5, Anat Hoffman, Executive Director of Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC), appeared on CNN’s show Amanpour. to talk about her struggle to fight the ultra-Orthodoxs’ increasing influence on both public and religious life  in Israel and to secure equal rights of Israeli women.…

Negotiations Stalemate; Supreme Court schedules new hearing regarding the status of non-Orthodox rabbis and their rights to state funding.

The Supreme Court has set May 9 as the date when they will hear arguments regarding the status of non-Orthodox rabbis and their rights to state funding. The original petition was brought by the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC) which is the legal arm of the Israel…

A letter was sent out by the South African Centre for Religious Equality and Diversity (SACRED) earlier this week letting people know about the South African Orthodox Jewish community's move to ban women from singing at celebratory events.

Included in this letter is a link to a video that was produced in opposition to this discriminatory practice. In addition, an article was published in …

Last week, ARZA Canada held a week-long program for members, which included remembering Israel's fallen soldiers on Yom HaZikaron and celebrating Israel's 64th birthday during Yom Ha'atzmaut. 

As part of the program, the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism (IMPJ) produced a video to thank ARZA Canada for its support over the years. Click …

In March, Gusti Yehoshua Braverman, Co-Chair of the department for Diaspora activities at the World Zionist Organization (WZO) and former Associate Director of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism (IMPJ), went on a work trip to the United States to lay out the 5773 activities of the WZO’s department for Diaspora activities in North America.

The main objectives…

This week, Anat Hoffman, executive director of the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC), celebrated her 10-year anniversary with the organization. Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center (RAC) of Reform Judaism in the US, and Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), offered…

The ARZENU family joins the Reform movement in mourning the passing of Rabbi W. Gunther Plaut in Canada last week.

Rabbi Plaut, who died at 99, published a volume of commentary on the Torah and Haftarah, which has become the standard Chumash used by the Reform movement world-wide.

“God is not the author of the text,” Rabbi Plaut wrote in the volume’s introduction, “the people are; but God’s voice may be heard through theirs if we listen with…

This year, in honour of Israel Independence Day, ARZA Canada – in conjunction with the newly-formed ARZA Canada Rabbinic Council – will launch the first-ever ARZA Canada Week across Canada from April 22 to 28, 2012. 

The aim of ARZA Canada Week is to produce programmes and activities that will enable this week to become a highlight of ARZA Canada’s calendar each year. This year, both Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut…

The Union for Progressive Judaism in collaboration with ARZA and Emanuel Synagogue will host a memorable experience for Australian Progressive Jews immediately after Pesach

Join the Union for Progressive Judaism on a journey of heritage and hope from Sunday 15 April to Wednesday 2 May 2012. We will visit the sites of the Holocaust in Poland from 16 to 23 April and celebrate our Jewish homeland from 24 to 30 April.

Led by…

On Wednesday last week, the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism (IMPJ) and the Council of Progressive Rabbis (CPR) in Israel issued a statement on the social protests that are currently taking place on the streets of all Israeli major cities.

The people’s voice is as God’s voice

This year, the period of “Between the Straits” (bein ha-meitzarim) has seen an outpouring of protests throughout Israel. Citizens have…

Rabbi Richard G. Hirsch’s new book, For the Sake of Zion, Reform Zionism: A Personal Mission, was launched in Jerusalem on Monday, June 27. Gil Troy, a professor of history at McGill University in Montreal and the author of numerous books, who currently lives in Israel, wrote an article for The Jewish Week about Rabbi Hirsch and his latest book.

At a time when we read constantly about the crises of Liberal Zionism and Reform Zionism, Rabbi Hirsch, at…

Anat Hoffman of IRAC and Rabbi Gilad Kariv of the IMPJ, joined forces for the latest IRAC newsletter to speak about the current protests being held in all major cities in Israel.

Dear Friends of IRAC

Over the last two weeks, it has been obvious that Israeli democracy is as strong and vibrant as it has ever been. The dissatisfaction of the Israeli middle class over the basic costs of living, be it food, housing, or education, has…

Rabbis Eric Yoffie, Gilad Kariv and Danny Allen, Arzenu’s Joan Garson and IRAC’s Anat Hoffman join together in opposing dangerous new legislation passed in Israel

In response to legislation passed Tuesday by the Knesset, which will allow for civil proceedings against individuals or organizations found to be instigators of anti-Israel boycotts and bars companies from bidding for Israeli government tenders if they participate in boycotts, including in the West…

On June 16, 14 young adults between 18 and 35 from Canada, Australia, South Africa, UK, France, Denmark, Germany, Czech Republic and Israel met in Jerusalem for a five-day seminar on Reform Zionism sponsored by the WUPJ, Arzenu and TaMaR, and with the support of the World Zionist Organization. The focus of the seminar was to discuss and define the challenges facing Reform Zionism today in Israel, the Diaspora and among young people. …

I read with great sadness and considerable anger the editorial in the May 4 Jewish Ledger by Carol Greenwald, Ph.D., about the selection of Rabbi Richard Jacobs as President of the …