June 26, 2024

In brief, Reform Jewish rabbinate argues against thinly veiled charges of religious insincerity made by the State of Indiana against Reform Jews

Indianapolis, IN – Two years after the Supreme Court gutted abortion access in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Central Conference of American Rabbis filed an amicus brief in Indiana as the state Supreme Court considers a case challenging the state’s abortion ban.

Crucially, the CCAR argues against assertions made by the State of Indiana and other amici, including the Indiana Catholic Conference, that Reform Jews are acting insincerely in their opposition to the abortion ban, using their religion as a front for “personal, philosophical, or political objections to Indiana’s law.”

The brief reads:

“The CCAR addresses the issue before the Court because of its commitment to securing for those within the American Jewish community the freedom to make reproductive health care decisions according to their religious commitments. The CCAR’s members are guided by Jewish tradition, which teaches that health care, including, as understood by the CCAR, reproductive health care, is an essential form of service that every community should provide and make available to all. The CCAR also understands access to abortion to be an issue of religious liberty, which the Jewish community has greatly valued and supported as a freedom of fundamental importance in American society.”

READ THE FULL AMICUS BRIEF HERE

“Frankly, it’s rare for CCAR to issue an amicus brief on our own. But the assertions made by the defense that only Ultra-Orthodox Jews should enjoy the protections of the First Amendment, and not all Jews, are wildly odious and offensive, and we needed to step in. Neither the State, nor those religious organizations defending these bans, may determine the authenticity of who is a Jew, or of any person of faith. Further, Reform Jews sincerely consult and reflect on Jewish moral tradition when making decisions, and Jewish moral and rabbinic tradition permits, supports, even mandates tradition in certain circumstances. Every person of every faith deserves the freedom to make their own decisions that align with their own traditions,” said Central Conference of American Rabbis CEO Rabbi Hara Person.

The CCAR has a long history of affirming people’s right to control their own body, including their right to access a safe and legal abortion, having consistently gone on record with its support since 1967. In May 2022, reacting to the leak of the Supreme Court’s eventual Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, CCAR CEO Rabbi Hara Person wrote, “We are proud that Jewish tradition regards abortion as essential health care, not only permitting the termination of pregnancy, but even requiring it when the life of the pregnant person is in danger. Restricting access to reproductive health care impedes the freedom of religion granted by the First Amendment, including a Jewish person’s ability to make decisions in accordance with their religious beliefs.”

The Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) is the Reform Rabbinic leadership organization. The CCAR strengthens the Jewish community by providing religious, spiritual, ethical and intellectual leadership and wisdom. CCAR and its members lead the Reform Movement on important spiritual, social, cultural and human rights issues, as it has done since 1889. CCAR also is the center for lifelong rabbinic learning, professional development, and resources for the more than 2,100 rabbis who serve more than 2 million Reform Jews throughout North America, Israel and the world. Since its founding, the CCAR has also served as the primary publisher of the Reform Movement through CCAR Press and its imprint Reform Judaism Publishing.

Contact: Marissa Solomon, 734-330-0807, marissa@pythiapublic.com

June 25, 2024

Reform Jewish rabbinate passes two resolutions pushing back against religiously-motivated attacks to reproductive and fertility care

New York, NY — Amid extremist attacks against freedom of religion across the country, the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), the rabbinate of the Reform Movement, passed two resolutions affirming its commitment to reproductive, sexual, and fertility care. Political and judicial decisions in states across the country that deny these crucial types of care put the narrow restrictions of one faith over the religious teachings of others, including Judaism.

“Religious extremists are waging campaigns to force parenthood on many by outlawing abortion, and to take the opportunity to parent away from many who desperately want it, including LGBTQ and single parents, with attempts to outlaw IVF. It’s a complete violation of religious freedom. Modern halachists argue that an embryo outside the womb cannot be considered a fetus, and even the rabbis of the Talmud distinguish between a fetus in the womb and one in the process of being born. 

During Pride Month, we reaffirm our commitment to protecting access to fertility care for everyone who wants or needs it. People of all religions must be allowed to make their own choices for their own bodies and families, without interference or limitations from religious traditions that they don’t adhere to,” said Central Conference of American Rabbis CEO Rabbi Hara Person.

“It’s appropriate to be disheartened at this moment in time as we witness essential rights under threat. However, as a movement, our voices are mobilized and strong, countering darkness with light. All the more so during this month of Pride when we celebrate our diverse identities. United we stand in support of inclusion, fertility rights for all and against government interference in the workings of our bodies,” said Rabbi Daniel Mikelberg, CCAR Board Member and spiritual leader of Temple Israel in Ottawa, Ontario.

“I have worked with hundreds of clients seeking to have children and need medical assistance to make that possible. It is horrifying to them to think that the American legal system is able to override their religious beliefs and practices regarding their attempts to have children. Any legislation that forbids access to any reproductive healthcare is in direct violation of the practice and beliefs of Judaism and therefore is not in keeping with the American practice of the separation of church and state,” said Rabbi Idit Solomon, CCAR member and founder of Hasidah, an organization that raises awareness of infertility, provides emotional and spiritual care, and reduces financial barriers to treatment in the Jewish community.

RESOLUTION ON THE STATUS OF THE HUMAN EMBRYO AND PROTECTING ACCESS TO FERTILITY CARE

CCAR issued this resolution following the egregious decision by the Alabama Supreme Court declaring embryos created via in vitro fertilization and stored in a medical facility to be “persons” under the law. They write,

“The Alabama case that sparked consideration of this current resolution alarms us as Reform rabbis, precisely because it threatens access to fertility treatments and harms those seeking to fulfill the mitzvah of p’ru ur’vu, be fruitful and multiply. The Judge granted a ruling of ‘wrongful death of a minor’ in a situation where existing American legal precedents might have better indicated a ruling of ‘breach of contract.’”

The resolution calls on CCAR members to demand that people be permitted to make their own fertility choices, support employees who seek fertility treatment, teach traditional and contemporary Jewish legal approaches to abortion and the status of embryos and fetuses, and more. Read the full resolution here.

RESOLUTION AFFIRMING OUR COMMITMENT TO BROAD, ACCESSIBLE REPRODUCTIVE & SEXUAL HEALTH CARE

CCAR issued this resolution with the Women’s Rabbinic Network (WRN) as a clarion call to reaffirm their commitment to reproductive and sexual health care as a matter of church-state separation. They write, 

“Above all, Reform Judaism affirms moral agency. God gives each of us the capacity to make informed Jewish decisions that set the course of our lives. As opposed to anti-abortion religious leaders and politicians who broadly seek to impose their religious restrictions into the private lives of pregnant people, we uphold and seek to protect decisions about whether, when, and how to become a parent as a private, personal decision between the child bearer and their health care provider, and anyone else that person seeks into include in their deliberation, such as their friends, family, and their clergy. The government must not enter these personal deliberations, except to protect safety.”

The resolution calls on CCAR and WRN members to continually affirm the legal rights of pregnant people to make their own informed decisions, advocate for medically accurate and religiously unbiased laws and policies, destigmatize abortion by sharing stories and empowering others to share stories, and more. Read the full resolution here.

ABOUT CCAR RESOLUTION: The CCAR applies Jewish thought and texts to current events through the creation of Resolutions. Resolutions are created by the CCAR Resolutions Committee and voted upon by the CCAR Board of Trustees, and inform CCAR policies.

Contact: Marissa Solomon, 734-330-0807, marissa@pythiapublic.com

March 2024

Drawing from classical halachic literature, Reform religious culture, and modern secular legal theory, this critical new volume demonstrates the history and influence of Jewish law on the Reform Movement’s practice and values.

New York, NY – CCAR Press, a division of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), is pleased to announce the publication of Reading Reform Responsa: Jewish Tradition, Reform Rabbis, and Today’s Issues, a new volume on the Reform Movement’s relationship with Jewish law by Rabbi Mark Washofsky, PhD.

The responsa literature, in which rabbis answer questions about halachah (Jewish law), is a vast treasury reaching back nearly fifteen centuries; Reform rabbis have been writing responsa since the 1800s. In Reading Reform Responsa, Rabbi Washofsky presents a deep dive into this literature, boldly arguing that Reform Judaism is indeed a movement fundamentally based on halachah. By inviting and guiding readers to understand Reform responsa with a critical eye, he demonstrates that the Reform Movement has always been informed by Jewish law as well as by the movement’s history. A teacher and mentor of generations of students at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion, Rabbi Washofsky gives us a peek inside his classroom, making Reform responsa—and their history, framing, and context—engaging and accessible for all.

“Rabbi Washofsky gifts us with a series of informed and sensitive discussions of how Reform Jews should think about and act on specific moral and ritual issues,” said Rabbi Elliot Dorff, PhD, past chair of the Rabbinical Assembly’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards. “In doing so, he graphically demonstrates that Reform Judaism’s emphasis on personal autonomy is complemented by its insistence that Jewish tradition must play a role in individuals’ choices if these decisions are to be not just one’s own opinion, but also a recognizably Jewish one.”

Rabbi Amy Scheinerman, author of The Talmud of Relationships said, “Rabbi Mark Washofsky offers us a fascinating entry into and analysis of the Reform Movement’s engagement with Jewish law, practice, and values. Where responsa analyze the issues and concerns implicit in a question of immediate practicality posed to a Jewish legal authority, Washofsky analyzes the body of over 1,300 Reform responsa promulgated since the early nineteenth century, pointing out the intellectual and ethical approaches employed, as well as the traditional, philosophical, and scientific resources marshalled to arrive at a persuasive answer. A wonderful read in its own right, this book provides an insider’s look at modern liberal Jewish religious thought in action.”

“Drawing on his deep mastery of classical halachic literature, Reform religious culture, and modern secular legal theory, Mark Washofsky offers insightful and compelling analyses of some of the Reform Movement’s most important responsa,” says Rabbi A. Brian Stoller, senior rabbi of Temple Beth-El of Great Neck, NY. “Washofsky’s special ability to combine rigorous scholarship with his characteristic dry humor, engaging storytelling, and accessible writing style makes Reading Reform Responsa an essential study companion for anyone—clergy, academics, and laypeople alike—who is interested in learning or teaching Reform Judaism’s rich tradition of halachic discourse. By inviting the reader to be not just an observer but also a participant in the reasoning and argumentation of responsa, Washofsky teaches us what it means to think halachically in a uniquely Reform way.”

Rabbi Washofsky is an emeritus professor of Jewish Law and Practice at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, the former chair of the Responsa Committee for the CCAR, and the current chair of the Solomon B. Freehof Institute of Progressive Halakhah. Rabbi Joan S. Friedman, PhD, Lincoln Professor of Religion and Professor of History at the College of Wooster, contributed the foreword to the volume.

Reading Reform Responsa is available at responsa.ccarpress.org

December 2023

Reform Jewish publisher launches book and musical nigunim to reinvigorate the traditional practice of reciting daily psalms.

New York, NY: CCAR Press, a division of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, is honored to announce the release of New Each Day: A Spiritual Practice for Reading Psalms, by Rabbi Debra J. Robbins of Dallas’s Temple Emanu-El. New Each Day includes a foreword by Rabbi Andrea L. Weiss, PhD, Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Provost and Associate Professor of Bible at the Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR). New Each Day is published by CCAR Press’s Reform Judaism Publishing imprint.

Every day of the year, Jewish liturgy includes the Shir Shel Yom, a psalm to mark the day of the
week. New Each Day reframes this ancient practice, inviting us to engage with psalms in a fresh, inspiring way. Daily “Reflections for Focus” offer unique insights on each psalm, with a structure for meditation and writing that encourages the reader to develop their own personal routine. Reflections for each month, based on the psalm for Rosh Chodesh, provide a full year of spiritual practice.

New Each Day is enhanced by a musical supplement developed by Cantor Richard Cohn, the former director and current senior advisor for the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music at HUC-JIR. Cantor Cohn wrote and recorded seven nigunim to complement the psalm for each day. The music can be streamed and/or downloaded from the CCAR Press website; sheet music is also available.

New Each Day is Rabbi Robbins’s second book with CCAR Press, following Opening Your Heart with Psalm 27: A Spiritual Practice for the Jewish New Year, published in 2019. Opening Your Heart focuses on helping readers access the deeper meanings of Psalm 27, recited during the month of Elul and the High Holy Day and Festival season. New Each Day applies a similar reflective practice to the entire calendar year, guiding readers with intention and meaning.

Rabbi Jill Hammer, PhD, author of The Jewish Book of Days: A Companion for All Seasons, said, “A perennial struggle of spiritual seekers is how to creatively engage with daily practice, week in and week out. New Each Day breathes life into the Jewish tradition of saying a psalm every day, by exploring the form, language, story, ethic and feeling of the seven psalms of the week and the psalm for the new moon. Those who yearn for a meaningful daily practice can find inspiration here in the form of poetic translations, reflections, and writing exercises, all engaging with this ancient ritual.”

“I’m so grateful to Rabbi Debra Robbins for creating this rich, accessible, and eminently useful book of reflections and practices on one of the Jewish people’s oldest prayer practices—the liturgical recitation of psalms,” says Rabbi Josh Feigelson, PhD, president and CEO of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. “With intelligence, care, boldness, and creativity, Rabbi Robbins invites and guides us on a journey of spiritual discovery.”

“With New Each Day, Rabbi Debra Robbins reenergizes and reframes the ancient practice of reciting a daily psalm for our modern context,” says Elana Arian, composer, prayer leader, and recording artist. “Through thoughtful teachings, reflections, and interpretations, she helps us connect across time and space to generations of our ancestors who engaged in this very same practice, linking us to the infinite chain of our tradition while giving a fresh perspective for our time.”

New Each Day is available at neweachday.ccarpress.org.

December 4, 2023 

Isaac Herzog, President of the State of Israel, says Rabbi Dalia Marx, PhD’s work is “greatly enriching the ongoing and vital conversation that is our Jewish heritage with Jews around the world.”

New York, NY: CCAR Press, a division of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, is pleased to announce the publication of From Time to Time: Journeys in the Jewish Calendar by Rabbi Dalia Marx, PhD, the Rabbi Aaron D. Panken Professor of Liturgy at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) in Jerusalem. From Time to Time was first published in Israel in 2018 as Bazman and has been translated into German, Spanish, and now English. This bookincludes a foreword by Rabbi David Ellenson, PhD, chancellor emeritus of HUC-JIR and professor emeritus at Brandeis University. Rabbi Peretz A. Rodman, a prolific scholar and teacher based in Jerusalem, translated the volume. From Time to Time is published by CCAR Press’s Reform Judaism Publishing imprint.

Time is fundamental to the human experience, and in Judaism it is even more—time is sanctified. Understanding the Jewish calendar is thus essential for fully comprehending Judaism. In From Time to Time, Rabbi Marx presents a fascinating exploration of the treasures of the Jewish year. The book artfully blends traditional and contemporary perspectives on each Hebrew month and its holidays, both secular and religious. Rabbi Marx explores the likes of Passover and Yom HaAtzma-ut (Israeli Independence Day), but also lesser-known holidays including Sigd (celebrated by Ethiopian Jewry) and Rosh Chodesh Tevet’s Festival of the Women (celebrated by those from North Africa).

From Time to Time features a diverse selection of poetry, prayers, and songs from wide-ranging Jewish sources, including the work of Lea Goldberg, Shaul Tchernichowsky, Natan Alterman, Abba Kovner, and Yoram Taharlev. To help readers maximize their learning experience, a study guide and a playlist of featured songs are also available as resources on the CCAR Press website. Taking a distinctively Israeli, feminist, and progressive approach, From Time to Time is a comprehensive, indispensable companion you will want to return to each season.

Rabbi Dalia Marx, PhD, is dedicated to promoting liberal Judaism, religious pluralism, and interfaith understanding. A tenth-generation Jerusalemite, Rabbi Marx earned her doctorate at the Hebrew University and her rabbinic ordination at HUC-JIR in Jerusalem and Cincinnati. She is the author of several books, including A Feminist Commentary on the Babylonian Talmud: Tractates Tamid, Middot, and Qinnim (Mohr Siebeck, 2013). She is the chief editor of T’filat HaAdam, the Israeli Reform prayer book (MaRaM, 2020), and the coeditor of several other volumes.

Isaac Herzog, president of the State of Israel said, “I have no doubt that this new book will contribute a great deal to the global Jewish cultural field, offering Dalia Marx’s evocative and singular voice of insight and wisdom to the interpretation of our Jewish calendar.”

Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl, senior rabbi of New York City’s Central Synagogue said, “Dalia Marx’s brilliant book From Time to Time offers extraordinary new ways of understanding Jewish time. With poetry, ancient and modern texts, ritual suggestions, and historical reflections, Marx illuminates traditional holidays, features lesser-known celebrations such as Moroccan Mimouna and Ethiopian Sigd, and brings an evolved scholarship that includes feminist, pluralist, and gender-fluid perspectives. This rich tapestry allows us not only to learn more about the expanded Israeli calendar, but about Jewish views of time across the world and the centuries. This indispensable volume will help every one of us make our time more meaningful and sacred.”

Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, PhD, professor emeritus at HUC-JIR said, “This is, quite simply, a genius of a book, not just the best of its kind but the only thing of its kind: a moving combination of scholarly depth and mastery of Jewish tradition—served up with personal anecdote, poetic sensitivity, and an uncanny ability to make the seasons, the holidays, and even ordinary time come alive with meaning.”

From Time to Time: Journeys in the Jewish Calendar is available at time.ccarpress.org.

November 7, 2023

Reform Jewish publisher offers a fun, creative, and engaging look at Jewish tradition’s most celebrated bread, presented alongside insightful Torah commentary.

New York, NY: CCAR Press, a division of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, is pleased to announce the publication of Loaves of Torah: Exploring the Jewish Year through Challah by Rabbi Vanessa M. Harper, a sumptuously illustrated journey through Jewish tradition through the art of challah. The volume includes a foreword by Rabbi Michael Marmur, PhD, Associate Professor of Jewish Theology at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem.

Braided and spiral loaves of challah have long been a delicious centerpiece of the Jewish table, but with a few extra twists, the beloved Shabbat bread can become a work of art that teaches Torah. Loaves of Torah emerged from Rabbi Harper’s hit Instagram education project—@lechlechallah—where she first began to use challah as an artistic medium for interpreting and teaching Torah. Loaves of Torah is a natural extension of this project, offering a look at interpretive challot for each weekly Torah portion and Jewish holiday, this time with extended commentary, in-depth questions for reflection and discussion, and beautiful kavanot.

Loaves of Torah includes gorgeous color photographs, blessings, recipes, and tips for baking your own creative challot. Rabbi Harper’s work takes on unique and sometimes unexpected shapes, delighting readers with loaves inspired by Joseph’s colorful tunic, a flock of birds, a bundle of wheat, a shofar, and many other meaningful symbols. Rabbi Harper’s instructions are never prescriptive; she encourages readers to carefully contemplate what meanings they personally derive from the Torah to use as inspiration for their own challah designs. A fresh, contemporary commentary on our holiest texts and holidays, Loaves of Torah will inspire you to think outside the braid and take Torah into your own hands.

Loaves of Torah reflects Rabbi Vanessa Harper’s passion for shaping creative, joyful, and meaningful Jewish learning and living experiences for people of all ages. She is Assistant Rabbi at Temple Beth Elohim in Wellesley, Massachusetts, and Reform Rabbi-in-Residence at Gann Academy. Ordained in 2021 by the Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion, Rabbi Harper was recognized as a Wexner Graduate Fellow/Davidson Scholar, a UJA-Federation Graduate Scholar, a Be Wise Jewish Entrepreneurial Fellow, and one of the New York Jewish Week‘s “36 Under 36.” She began the @lechlechallah project in 2017, which evolved into kinetic midrash classes that she taught all over the country, and then into this book.

Rabbi Andrea L. Weiss, PhD, Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Provost of Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion and co-editor of The Torah: A Women’s Commentary, said, “With its in-depth introduction to the history and rituals of challah, gorgeous photos of exquisitely made challot, and fascinating commentary, this insightful and inspiring book will be a valuable resource for anyone who loves to study Torah, teach, bake, and/or connect to Jewish time and texts in creative and meaningful ways. Loaves of Torah will whet both your appetite and imagination!”

“Jewish learning that stays with us is deeply experiential—it can enter us through our sense of taste or the choreography of braiding, as much as the study of ancient wisdom or deep discussions with friends,” said Aliza Kline, President and CEO of OneTable Shabbat. “Rabbi Vanessa Harper’s book offers all of these entry points and more, providing a weekly inspiration for the senses and intellect for anyone who joins her on this year-round journey.”

Leah Koenig, author of The Jewish Cookbook, said, “Loaves of Torah gives us the gift of a thoughtful, meaning-filled look into Jewish tradition’s most celebrated bread. Whether you are a longtime challah baker or challah curious, you will find so much richness in these pages.”

Loaves of Torah: Exploring the Jewish Year through Challah is available at loavesoftorah.ccarpress.org.

August 8, 2023

Reform Jewish publisher’s new anthology focuses on revolution and reinvention throughout Jewish intellectual history, creating an accessible introduction to the long history of disruption in Jewish life from antiquity to the present. 

New York, NY – August 2023: CCAR Press, a division of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, is pleased to announce the publication of Re-forming Judaism: Moments of Disruption in Jewish Thought, an anthology analyzing transformations in Jewish history. Re-forming Judaism is edited by Rabbi Stanley M. Davids and Leah Hochman, PhD.

Throughout Jewish history, revolutionary events and subversive ideas have burst forth, repeatedly transforming Jewish experience. Re-forming Judaism seeks to explore these ideas—and the individuals behind them—by delving into historical disruptions that led to lasting change in Jewish thought. A distinguished array of scholars take us on a journey from the disruptive prophets of ancient times, through rational, mystical, and extremist medievalists, to the impact of Haskalah and early Reform thought in modernity. Contemporary innovations such as changes in liturgy and music, feminism, and post-Holocaust theology are included, as are insights into Sephardic and North African experiences. By showing how Judaism forms—then re-forms, and re-forms again—the contributors demonstrate that tensions between continuity and change have always been part of Jewish life, helping us to both understand the past and contemplate the future.

The anthology is divided into five sections: Biblical Considerations, Rabbinic Disruptions, Medieval Constructions, Modern Deliberations, and Contemporary Innovations. Throughout, the authors offer a variety of insights into Jewish history, identification, and thought. Contributors include Jacob L. Wright, PhD, a professor of Hebrew Bible at Emory University, who discusses the destruction of the Temple in 586 BCE as a pivotal moment in terms of a collective Jewish identity; Gwynn Kessler, PhD, associate professor of religion and director of the Beit Midrash at Swarthmore College, who focuses on the Rabbinic category of tumtum v’androginos as a disruption of the biblical gender binary; Rabbi Lawrence Englander, DHL, rabbi emeritus of Solel Congregation in Mississauga, Ontario and current adjunct rabbi of Toronto’s Temple Sinai, who analyzes the Zohar’s conception and its importance in Jewish mystical tradition; Rabbi Michael Marmur, PhD, associate professor of Jewish theology at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) in Jerusalem, who writes about Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan’s impact on American Judaism and the way his influence is felt today; and Rabbi Nora Feinstein of Sixth and I in Washington, DC, who projects a future vision of inclusive Judaism.

Rabbi Tamara Cohn Eskenazi, PhD, the Effie Wise Ochs Professor of Biblical Literature and History at HUC-JIR, has praised the book as “perfect for all who seek to explore the resilience that undergirds Jewish survival and to benefit from first-rate scholarship and engaging style.”

“There is a piece of every Jew that relishes thinking of oneself as standing at Sinai and being part of a people and tradition that extends from then to now. The Jewish tradition, though, is ours now only because it had the wisdom to change over the centuries, said Rabbi Elliot Dorff, PhD, the rector and Sol & Anne Dorff Distinguished Service Professor of Philosophy at American Jewish University. “This book graphically demonstrates how tradition and change together have kept Judaism instructive and relevant over time so that Jews now can enjoy and benefit from both its continuity and its ever-refreshing and challenging nature.”

Jonathan D. Sarna, PhD, the Joseph H. & Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University said, “To paraphrase a famous slogan, ‘You don’t need to be Reform to enjoy Re-Forming Judaism.’ You just need to be curious as to how change happens.”

Re-forming Judaism: Moments of Disruption in Jewish Thought is available at
re-formingjudaism.ccarpress.org

###

To request review copies, interview opportunities, or to book author events, please contact:
Raquel Fairweather
Marketing and Sales Manager, CCAR Press
rfairweather@ccarnet.org
P. (212) 542-8800

Contributors from across the Jewish world offer prose, poetry, stories, and insights in celebration and appreciation of the fiftieth anniversary of women’s inclusion in the American rabbinate.

New York, NY — July 2023: CCAR Press, a division of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, is honored to announce the publication of The First Fifty Years: A Jubilee in Prose and Poetry Honoring Women Rabbis. Coedited by Rabbi Sue Levi Elwell, Jessica Greenbaum, and Rabbi Hara E. Person, CCAR chief executive, the anthology brings together over ninety Jewish thinkers to celebrate fifty years of women in the rabbinate. Part of the Press’s Reform Judaism Publishing imprint, it joins The Sacred Calling: Four Decades of Women in the Rabbinate, a 2016 National Jewish Book Award winner, in the CCAR Press catalog.

The 1972 ordination of Rabbi Sally J. Priesand as the first woman rabbi in North America was a watershed moment in Jewish history. In The First Fifty Years, contributors from across the Jewish and gender spectrums reflect on the meaning of this moment and the ensuing decades, both personally and for the Jewish community. In short pieces of new prose, authors—many of them pioneering rabbis—share stories, insights, analysis, and celebrations of women in the rabbinate. These are intertwined with a wealth of poetry that poignantly captures the spirit of this anniversary. The volume is a deep, heartfelt tribute to women rabbis and their indelible impact on all of us.

As Rabbi Person writes in the introduction, “This collection serves as a mile marker along the journey, a momentary stopping place for reflection and commemoration. While we experience the evolution of women in the rabbinate as inevitable, that doesn’t mean it was easy. These pages likewise acknowledge challenges and complexities of these fifty years, identifying some of the detours and roadblocks that still lie ahead… In a mere half century, rabbinic leadership effected a dramatic turning point in Jewish history, an acknowledgment that the voices that were silent or silenced, marginalized, unheard and unseen, are an essential part of the rich and variegated fabric of the Jewish story and must be included.”

Among the anthology’s many accomplished contributors are Rabbi Janet Marder, the first woman president of the CCAR and coeditor of Mishkan HaNefesh: Machzor of the Days of Awe (CCAR Press); Rabbi Dr. Dalia Marx, the Rabbi Aaron D. Panken Professor of Liturgy at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem and the chief editor of T’filat HaAdam, the new Israeli Reform prayer book; Rabbi Amy R. Perlin, the first female rabbi in the United States to start her own congregation; Rabbi Kinneret Shiryon, the first women rabbi to lead in Israel; Rabba Sara Hurwitz, president and cofounder of Yeshivat Maharat; Rabbi Shai Held, president and dean of the Hadar Institute; Alicia Suskin Ostriker, scholar and a former New York State Poet Laureate; and Stephanie Burt, poet, literary critic, and professor of English at Harvard University.

The three coeditors of The First Fifty Years are also pioneers. Rabbi Sue Levi Elwell was the founding director of the Los Angeles Jewish Feminist Center and the first rabbinic director of Ma’yan: The Jewish Women’s Project. She is the editor of Lesbian Rabbis: The First Generation, The Open Door: A Passover Haggadah (CCAR Press), and Chapters of the Heart: Jewish Women Sharing the Torah of Our Lives. Jessica Greenbaum is a poet, teacher, and social worker. She is the author of three poetry collections, most recently Spilled and Gone, and coeditor of Mishkan HaSeder: A Passover Haggadah (CCAR Press), along with Rabbi Hara E. Person. Rabbi Person is the first female chief executive of the Central Conference of American Rabbis. She was the managing editor of The Torah: A Women’s Commentary and executive editor of Mishkan HaNefesh.

“We are exceedingly proud to publish The First Fifty Years,” said Rafael Chaiken, director of CCAR Press. “Readers will find within a treasury of reflections and poetry from leading lights in the Jewish community that deepens our understanding and appreciation of women rabbis.”

The First Fifty Years: A Jubilee in Prose and Poetry Honoring Women Rabbis is available at fiftyyears.ccarpress.org

###

To request review copies, interview opportunities, or to book author events, please contact:
Raquel Fairweather
Marketing and Sales Manager, CCAR Press
rfairweather@ccarnet.org
P. (212) 542-8800

Reform Jewish publisher presents major volume focused on environmental advocacy and sacred connection to the natural world 

New York, NY – June 2023: CCAR Press, a division of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, is pleased to announce the publication of a major new anthology on Judaism and the environment, The Sacred Earth: Jewish Perspectives on Our Planet. The volume is edited by Rabbi Andrue J. Kahn, incoming associate director of Yachad and adult education at Congregation Beth Elohim in Brooklyn, and includes a foreword by Karenna Gore, climate activist and the founder and executive director of the Center for Earth Ethics at Union Theological Seminary.

The Torah begins by setting forth the heavens and the Earth as God’s creation. Humans are then given the responsibility to protect the planet for its own sake and for its ability to nurture our lives. Yet the human-Divine-environment relationship seems to be in perpetual crisis. The Sacred Earth is a contemporary Jewish response to the ongoing threat of climate change, the widespread desire for experiential spirituality rooted in the environment, and the ever-evolving relationship between humanity, nature, technology, and the Divine. The volume includes five main sections: “Theology,” “Jewish Texts,” “Encountering the Divine,” “Sacred Time,” and “Contemporary Responses.” Throughout, the book’s expert contributors reflect on human vulnerability in the face of natural forces, examine conceptions of our place in cosmology, and grapple with environmental destruction. Ultimately, with hope, they creatively explore ways to redeem our sacred planet.

Rabbi Jill Jacobs, CEO of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights said, “In this invaluable collection, Jewish thought leaders from a diversity of backgrounds and positions delve deep into text, theology, and history to bring new perspectives to the fight to save our planet. For anyone interested in what millennia of Jewish wisdom can teach us about today’s climate challenges, this book is required reading.”

The anthology brings together a group of environmental advocates from a wide range of sectors. Among them are Jeremy Benstein, PhD, founder and senior staffer at the Heschel Center for Sustainability; Rabbi Mike Comins, founder of the TorahTrek Center for Jewish Wilderness Spirituality; Rabbi Jill Hammer, PhD, the director of spiritual education at the Academy for Jewish Religion and cofounder of the Kohenet Priestess Institute; Rabbi Devorah Diana Lynn, cofounder of the grassroots network the Jewish Earth Alliance; Nigel S. Savage, the founder of Hazon, the largest environmental organization in the American Jewish community; Rabbi Arthur O. Waskow, PhD, founder and director of The Shalom Center; Rob Watson, founder of the LEED green building rating system; and Rabbi Dvora E. Weisberg, PhD, Rabbi Aaron Panken Professor of Rabbinics and rabbinical school director at Hebrew Union College­­–Jewish Institute of Religion.

Susannah Heschel, PhD, the Eli M. Black Distinguished Professor at Dartmouth College said, “The Sacred Earth—a wide-ranging collection of Jewish teachings on ecology—offers profound insights and inspiring challenges to all of us, who must immediately rise up and protect our planet and all life upon it from utter devastation.”

“It was for such a time as this that The Sacred Earth was published,” said Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, the director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. “As we face the very real possibility of an impending climate catastrophe and certainly the reality of widespread suffering because of ecological devastation, this volume gives us the spiritual resilience we will need to rise up and collectively confront the challenge. This book is a deep and urgent call to action as Jews in the broader social movement to save the planet.”

The Sacred Earth: Jewish Perspectives on Our Planet is available at sacredearth.ccarpress.org

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To request review copies, interview opportunities, or to book author events, please contact:
Raquel Fairweather
Marketing and Sales Manager, CCAR Press
rfairweather@ccarnet.org
P. (212) 542-8800

Over 200 Reform rabbis to gather in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv to celebrate Israel at 75, support Reform rabbis in Israel, and engage in critical dialogue on Israeli culture today.

NEW YORK – February 2023: For the first time in seven years, Reform rabbis will journey throughout Israel for a week of reflection, discussion, and camaraderie during the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) annual convention. The theme of this year’s convention is “Fostering Relationships, Confronting Complexity,” and it will begin on Monday, February 20 in Jerusalem. The trip will conclude on Sunday, February 26, 2023 in Tel Aviv.

As part of the gathering, the CCAR will introduce and install their new president and board. Rabbi Erica Seager Asch, President Elect for the CCAR, will assume her new role as President, anointing her as the fourth woman and the youngest person ever to lead the 130-year-old organization of Reform rabbis.

“I’m honored to be installed as President of the CCAR, not only surrounded by colleagues, but in Israel,” said Rabbi Erica Seager Asch, who serves Temple Beth El in Augusta, Maine. “This convention will serve as a chance for us to gather as a rabbinic community, providing the in-person connections which we have missed over the last few years, and a chance to celebrate all we have accomplished this last year. It is a special joy to be with our Israeli colleagues and be their partners in pursuing a more just Israel.”

The CCAR convention will kick off on Monday with a text study and chevruta led by Rabbi Leon A. Morris, President of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies. The remainder of the week will be filled with notable discussions with CCAR member and Labor MK Rabbi Gilad Kariv, other Knesset members, and Orly Erez-Likhovski, Director of the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC), as well as a performance with the YMCA Youth Choir and comedian Noam Shuster Eliassi.

Throughout the week, the convention will offer CCAR members the chance to experience Israel through the eyes of their Israeli Reform rabbinic counterparts and participate in the growing and flourishing Reform movement in Israel.

Participants have the option to participate in prayer at the Kotel, walking tours led by local Reform rabbis, the Tel Aviv Marathon, and a visit to the new ANU museum. Many rabbis will also participate in a protest against the actions and proposals of the extremist right-wing government, which threaten Israel’s democracy. A highlight of the convention will be the opportunity to celebrate Kabbalat Shabbat with eleven different Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism (IMPJ) congregations, where they will further cement relationships with and support of Israeli rabbinic colleagues and congregants.

In addition to these activities, the convention will offer rabbis the chance to engage in critical dialogue in programs that include “Mixed Cities: Lod After the Riots,” “Haredim: Beyond the Stereotypes,” “The Palestinian Authority and Ramallah,” “LGBTQ: Pinkwashing, Achievements, Languages, and Challenges,” and Sheikh Jarrah: Ideology, Real Estate, and Politics,” as well as additional discourse that will explore issues like economic inequality, settlers, refugees, and the environment.

“After years beleaguered by the pandemic and by global unrest, we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to return to Israel,” said Rabbi Hara Person, Chief Executive of CCAR. “Whether it’s a thought-provoking discussion on our relationship to the complexity that is Israel or running the Tel Aviv Marathon alongside your colleagues, our rabbis will be able to fully immerse themselves in Israel’s culture, leading to a deeper understanding of the country and our history, as well as a strengthening of the relationships that we cherish and value.”

To connect with CCAR leaders or for more information about CCAR Convention, contact Maddy Troha at maddy.troha@berlinrosen.com.