Religion matters: Beware the American Cultural Jew

Ha’aretz, October 9th, 2013 When being culturally ‘Jew-ish’ in America means little more than lox and bagels and a vague duty to repair the world, Israel should also be worried. The recent Pew Study revealed that 22 percent of American Jews describe themselves as having “no religion” (up from just 7 percent a decade ago). … Read more

Op-Ed: Reform Judaism must move beyond ‘personal choice’

SAG HARBOR, N.Y. (JTA) — Change is afoot in American Reform Judaism. A new president of the Union for Reform Judaism has been selected. The movement has launched a series of nationwide public forums to discuss its future. Hundreds of Reform rabbis have endorsed a plan toward achieving greater efficiency in the movement’s institutions. Rethinking … Read more

The New Prayer Book

There has been a new development in the Reform movement of Judaism, the largest and most liberal branch of Judaism in the U.S. There’s a new prayer book out, and it has been designed to be useful to everyone, with more Hebrew for those who want that, and also more sensitivity to women and to contemporary values.

Watch this report featuring Rabbi Leon Morris here.  You can also read the transcript below.

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Reinventing ‘religion’ in America

BY SCOTT M. KORB AND LEON A. MORRIS In the Book of Exodus, after hearing God’s voice and with Moses on Mount Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments, the ancient Israelites create and worship a golden calf, proclaiming, “This is our God.” An angry Moses breaks the stone tablets when he descends to the foot of … Read more