CCAR Statements

Joint Statement on ICE Actions from the Union for Reform Judaism, Central Conference of American Rabbis, and American Conference of Cantors

Posted on by The CCAR

January 30, 2026

For decades, the Reform Movement has been a clear and unequivocal voice calling for immigration policy that is just, secure, and compassionate. That policy should be transparent and rooted in the United States’ status as a nation founded and strengthened by immigrants throughout the generations. We come to these views not just as Americans, but as Jews cognizant of our own history—as a people living as strangers in strange lands, too often facing exile and banishment from lands turned hostile to us, forced to flee as migrants seeking shelter safety and opportunity. We are also ever cognizant of the frequent biblical commandments to provide for, protect, welcome, never oppress, and love the stranger.

Core American values, rights, and principles are threatened by ICE’s violations of immigrants’ civil rights and of those protesting to protect their neighbors and their communities, as well as ICE’s militaristic actions in cities nationwide that are sweeping up people without probable cause. Too many ICE officials are undertrained or dismissive of basic rights. Countless individuals have been injured while exercising their First Amendment rights. Families have been separated, and children used as bait to ensnare their parents. Horrifically, two civilians, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were killed by ICE agents—and at least six more have died in ICE custody in 2026 so far.

Pursuing enforcement-only measures designed to curb illegal immigration risks human dignity and human rights, as we have witnessed repeatedly in the past months. Top Administration officials have resisted accountability as well as thorough and transparent investigations of ICE agents’ actions, even when fatal force has been used. The Secretary of Homeland Security, top White House advisors, and the President himself have made unfounded accusations and appeared to pursue their ideological goals over discovery of the facts. Under the guise of pursuing its immigration policy, the Administration is fomenting and perpetrating violence and targeting states whose voters, legislatures, and governors have rejected the President’s agenda. Rather than keeping America and Americans safe, ICE’s actions have become a threat to life and liberty.

To restore good faith trust in ICE to protect, rather than endanger, individuals, major reforms in ICE’s mandate are required, including a clear commitment to ensure the rights of immigrants, their families, and those who organize to peacefully protect them and a transparent and consistent system of accountability when violations of those new norms occur. Until such reforms are made, we do not support new funding for ICE. We will take a similar stance in relation to any future federal entity pursuing immigration enforcement through similar means and practices to those used by ICE today.

Let us be clear: secure borders paired with orderly immigration processes reflect a healthy democracy. So, too, does abiding by the international agreements regarding refugees and asylum seekers to which the U.S. is a party. Immigrants who qualify should have a path to citizenship that reflects fair and compassionate eligibility standards. These are policies for which we have advocated over many decades. Indeed, as early as 1913, the URJ’s precursor, the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, adopted a resolution in response to proposed, restrictive immigration legislation that referred to it as “foreign to the spirit of American traditions.” The URJ and CCAR have spoken strongly about refugees and asylum seekers, protecting individuals at risk of deportation, the contributions of immigrant farm workers, and the importance of comprehensive immigration reform, in which the URJ’s 2007 resolution noted that, “Immigration and Customs Enforcement units [must] act within the framework of U.S. law, which requires court-ordered search warrants, due process, and humane treatment of detainees and their families.”

Our calls for immigration reform have remained consistent in recent decades, but public debate has shifted. In 2007, President George W. Bush called on the United States Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform that would have been “secure, productive, orderly, and fair.” We advocated for the same and pressed Congress to act on bipartisan legislation championed by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA). Sadly, that legislative effort ended in defeat. Yet decades of failure by elected leaders from both parties to address the nation’s immigration challenges do not excuse the tragedy unfolding in Minneapolis, Maine, Los Angeles, Illinois, New Orleans, and elsewhere ICE has been deployed by this Administration.

We harken back to the words of the CCAR’s 2006 Resolution on Immigration: “…the United States is a nation of laws, which must be enforced and respected in order to maintain a civil society. At the same time, we expect that—especially in a Constitutional republic founded on principles of human dignity—the laws in question must be both just and equitable.” Today, we would add that enforcement of those laws must also be just and equitable.

We pray for and will work to hasten the time when the United States embraces immigration reform that secures our borders, smoothly processes refugees and asylum seekers, meets the needs of employers, provides a path to citizenship, and respects the humanity of all people.

Union for Reform Judaism 
Shelley Niceley Groff (she/her), North American Board Chair 
Rabbi Rick Jacobs (he/him), President 

Central Conference of American Rabbis 
Rabbi David A. Lyon (he/him), President
Rabbi Hara Person (she/her), Chief Executive Officer 

American Conference of Cantors 
Cantor Josh Breitzer (he/him), President 
Rachel Roth (she/her), Chief Operating Officer 

CCAR statements are grounded in the history of CCAR resolutions and platforms. We strive to represent the overall voice of the CCAR leadership and the Reform rabbinate on critical issues of the day. The CCAR is a diverse community of rabbis, and we recognize the multiplicity of viewpoints that exist within our membership. We encourage those of differing perspectives to engage in respectful dialogue. It is our hope that these statements provide the Reform community with deeper understanding of important issues that impact our lives as Jews and as global citizens.

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Reform Movement Statement on the Return of Ran Gvili’s Body

Posted on by The CCAR

January 26, 2026

יֵשׁ־תִּקְוָה לְאַחֲרִיתֵךְ נְאֻם־יְהֹוָה וְשָׁבוּ בָנִים לִגְבוּלָם׃ (ירמיהו לא:יז) 

And there is hope for your future—declares Adonai:
Your children shall return to their country. (Jeremiah 31:17) 


The Union for Reform Judaism, Central Conference of American Rabbis, and the American Conference of Cantors join the people of Israel and Jewish communities around the world in marking the return of the body of Ran Gvili z”l, 842 agonizing days since October 7, 2023. This recovery followed an extraordinarily difficult and painstaking effort that underscores both the complexity of locating the fallen amid war and the profound commitment of the State of Israel—and many in the international community—to bring its people home, even when hope has been reduced to grief. The recovery of Ran Gvili marks the final return of all 251 hostages from Gaza to Israel. 

The return of Ran’s body brings a painful but essential measure of closure. It allows a family to mourn properly, a community to honor a life lost, and a nation to affirm a core moral truth: no one is ever abandoned, and no life is ever forgotten. In Jewish tradition, this act of return is an expression of kavod hamet—human dignity that endures even after death. 

At the same time, this moment reminds us that the work is far from finished. Families will continue to grieve their loved ones who did not return alive, and the trauma from October 7 continues to reverberate across Israeli society. Israel now looks toward the long and necessary work of rebuilding Gaza in a post-Hamas reality, restoring security and creating the conditions for a different future. Ran Gvili’s return is part of this slow, painful process—moving forward and acknowledging loss while refusing to be defined by it. And for innocent Palestinians in Gaza, today also marks the start of a new chapter and beginning of the next phase of the ceasefire that we pray will allow for peaceful recovery, rebuilding, and renewal.  

We hold Ran’s family in our hearts and stand in solidarity with all those who are suffering the impact of war and who continue the arduous work of healing. We remain steadfast in our hope that the people of Israel and their neighbors may yet find a path toward renewal, safety, and peace. 

May Ran Gvili’s memory be a blessing. 

.יהי זכרו ברוך

Union for Reform Judaism 
Shelley Niceley Groff (she/her), North American Board Chair 
Rabbi Rick Jacobs (he/him), President 

Central Conference of American Rabbis 
Rabbi David A. Lyon (he/him), President
Rabbi Hara Person (she/her), Chief Executive Officer 

American Conference of Cantors 
Cantor Josh Breitzer (he/him), President 
Rachel Roth (she/her), Chief Operating Officer 

CCAR statements are grounded in the history of CCAR resolutions and platforms. We strive to represent the overall voice of the CCAR leadership and the Reform rabbinate on critical issues of the day. The CCAR is a diverse community of rabbis, and we recognize the multiplicity of viewpoints that exist within our membership. We encourage those of differing perspectives to engage in respectful dialogue. It is our hope that these statements provide the Reform community with deeper understanding of important issues that impact our lives as Jews and as global citizens.

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Jewish Cross-Denominational Statement Against Violent Immigration Enforcement

Posted on by The CCAR

January 21, 2026

ואהבתם את-הגר כי-גרים הייתם בארץ מצרים

Love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. (Deuteronomy 10:19)

Adding our voices to millions of others across the United States, leaders of the Reform, Conservative/Masorti, and Reconstructionist Movements of Judaism condemn, in the strongest terms, the violence with which the Department of Homeland Security is enforcing American immigration law—above all, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as well as in cities and towns across the nation.

Many Americans are deeply disturbed as they see their neighbors targeted for detention and deportation in their homes, at work, at their schools, and at their houses of worship. They are deeply concerned about numerous accounts of the use of intimidating and violent detention tactics, dangerous and unhealthy holding facilities, lack of appropriate warrants or due process, and wrongful apprehension of US citizens or individuals with proper visas based on appearance or language. 

In response, some are taking nonviolent steps to warn and protect their neighbors from this immigration enforcement overreach. The right to protest and speak freely are fundamental American rights, protected by the United States Constitution. Too often, though, nonviolent protest and civil disobedience is being met with violence.

The United States is a nation of laws, and as Americans we expect that our laws will be enforced with clarity and consistency. We are pained by reports and videos indicating that in carrying out their assignment, members of law enforcement are engaging in behavior that escalates confrontation, risking the safety of those suspected of having violated the law, of bystanders and protesters, and their own safety. Candidates for law enforcement must be properly vetted, fully and carefully trained, and held accountable when they do not meet appropriate standards. Such accountability includes investigating complaints fairly, transparently, and impartially, particularly but not only, in cases of officer-involved shootings. To that end, we call on the Department of Justice to investigate the shooting death by an ICE officer of Renee Good, z”l.

Our sages taught that the Book of Deuteronomy’s directive צדק צדק תרדף (Tzedek, tzedek tirdof), “Justice, justice shall you pursue” (16:20), implies that the law must be enforced through a fair process, and that one should pursue justice whether it would be to one’s advantage or to one’s loss.[i]

Immigrants are members of our congregations, our families, and people with whom we interact in our broader communities. American Jews cherish our own families’ immigration stories. We recall that, like many being expelled from America today, we or our ancestors came to this country to escape oppression and find opportunity. That is why so many Jewish congregations, rabbis, cantors, and lay leaders have engaged in a variety of legal actions to protect immigrants in our midst. We grieve an American promise that seems to be no more.

We who lead the North American Reform, Conservative/Masorti, and Reconstructionist Jewish Movements stand with the members and leaders of Jewish communities in Minneapolis—and before that, in the Chicago area and other cities in the United States—who have confronted Immigration and Customs Enforcement nonviolently, legally, but resolutely. We fear that additional communities will need to be prepared to do the same in the months ahead.

We call on President Trump and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem to pursue immigration enforcement and their response to protest through just and non-violent means, upholding our nation’s highest values and commitment to due process and the rule of law. 

Rabbi David Lyon, President, Central Conference of American Rabbis
Rabbi Hara Person, Chief Executive, Central Conference of American Rabbis

Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President, Union for Reform Judaism
Shelley Niceley Groff, Chair of the North American Board of the Union for Reform Judaism

Cantor Josh Breitzer, President, American Conference of Cantors
Rachel Roth, Chief Operating Officer, American Conference of Cantors

Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal, Chief Executive Officer, Rabbinical Assembly and United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
Eliot Meadow, President, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
Rabbi Jay Kornsgold, President, Rabbinical Assembly

Cantor Matt Axelrod, Executive Director, Cantors Assembly

Edwin M. Baum, Board Chair, Reconstructing Judaism
Rabbi Deborah Waxman, President and CEO, Reconstructing Judaism

Rabbi Renee Bauer, President, Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association
Rabbi Megan Doherty, Chief Executive, Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association

[i] Ramban on Deuteronomy 16:20.

CCAR statements are grounded in the history of CCAR resolutions and platforms. We strive to represent the overall voice of the CCAR leadership and the Reform rabbinate on critical issues of the day. The CCAR is a diverse community of rabbis, and we recognize the multiplicity of viewpoints that exist within our membership. We encourage those of differing perspectives to engage in respectful dialogue. It is our hope that these statements provide the Reform community with deeper understanding of important issues that impact our lives as Jews and as global citizens.

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Central Conference of American Rabbis Statement on the Iranian Uprising

Posted on by The CCAR

January 15, 2026

The Central Conference of American Rabbis lifts the collective Reform Jewish voice in support of the brave people who are risking their lives to protest the terrorist regime that governs Iran. We grieve the deaths of all whom the regime has brutally murdered, in response to the current uprising and before it, in Iran and around the world, and stand in awe of those who continue to oppose the regime.

Reform rabbis have been deeply concerned about the Iranian regime’s sponsorship of terror and its efforts to develop nuclear weapons, with the explicit attempt of destroying our beloved State of Israel and murdering our people there.[i] For decades, the Iranian regime has threatened the stability of its region and the world, even as Iranian people have been deprived of personal freedoms and are increasingly impoverished by the regime’s corruption and diversion of public funds to terrorism and the development of nuclear weapons.

Centuries before democracy was common, our rabbinic sages decreed that a ruler may only lead a people with their consent.[ii] The Iranian regime has forfeited its moral authority to rule the nation and has now lost the popular support required to remain in power. Their reach goes well beyond its own boundaries to impose its terror in the Middle East and the western hemisphere. For the sake of a greater peace that begins in Iran, it is time for the people of Iran to be sovereign.

The Central Conference of American Rabbis calls upon the governments of the United States and Canada, together with their allies, to continue and to strengthen sanctions that cripple the Iranian regime and to take all appropriate steps to support the myriads protesting their cruel government.

Rabbi David A. Lyon, President
Rabbi Hara E. Person, Chief Executive
Central Conference of American Rabbis

[i] “The Threat from Iran,” Resolution adopted by the 117th Annual Convention of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, June, 2006, Threat from Iran, The – Central Conference of American Rabbis.

[ii] Babylonian Talmud, B’rachot 55a.

CCAR statements are grounded in the history of CCAR resolutions and platforms. We strive to represent the overall voice of the CCAR leadership and the Reform rabbinate on critical issues of the day. The CCAR is a diverse community of rabbis, and we recognize the multiplicity of viewpoints that exist within our membership. We encourage those of differing perspectives to engage in respectful dialogue. It is our hope that these statements provide the Reform community with deeper understanding of important issues that impact our lives as Jews and as global citizens.

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Central Conference of American Rabbis Statement on Threat to Transgender Youth

Posted on by The CCAR

January 6, 2026

The Central Conference of American Rabbis is appalled by the Trump Administration’s proposal to withhold all federal funds from hospitals that provide lifesaving gender affirming care to transgender youth. The withheld funds would include Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement for all patient care, effectively closing hospitals that would continue to provide evidence-based medicine to transgender youth.

The claim that gender affirming medical care is not grounded in science is false. Multiple studies have demonstrated that gender affirming care is safe[i]—and more importantly, it saves the lives of youth experiencing gender dysphoria, who are at a heightened risk of suicide if untreated.[ii] If the proposed regulation were to go into effect, medical care across the United States would be withheld from minors experiencing gender dysphoria on the basis of ideology rather than evidence.

Jewish health care providers and Jewish-supported hospitals are bound by a religious obligation, grounded in our sacred texts, to provide gender affirming care to minors as an act of פיקוח נפש (pikuach nefesh), “saving life.” The obligation to provide health care is clear in the sacred texts of our tradition.[iii] Moreover, “To ignore the cries of trans children who beg their doctors to help them materialize their identity would be a crime akin to murder, no different from denying care to a patient with the flu or Crohn’s Disease.”[iv] The same may be true of health-care providers of other faiths. The proposal would therefore impinge upon Americans’ First Amendment right to free exercise of religion.

Some CCAR rabbis have transgender children who are accessing or may need to access gender affirming care. Virtually every community served by CCAR rabbis includes children whose lives have been saved by gender affirming care and others whose lives would be threatened if the proposed rule were to go into effect. Reform rabbis pledge our support to one another, to each other’s children, and to the young people in our communities.

In the strongest terms, the Central Conference of American Rabbis urges the Trump Administration to withdraw this proposal, even as we call upon Congress and the courts to invalidate it should it go into effect.

Rabbi David A. Lyon, President
Rabbi Hara E. Person, Chief Executive
Central Conference of American Rabbis

[i] Stephanie L. Budge, et al, “Gender Affirming Care Is Evidence Based for Transgender and Gender-Diverse Youth, Journal of Adolescent Health, Volume 75, Issue 6, December 2024, https://www.jahonline.org/article/S1054-139X(24)00439-7/fulltext.

[ii]Diana M. Tordoff, et al, “Mental Health Outcomes in Transgender and Nonbinary Youths Receiving Gender-Affirming Care,” National Library of Medicine, National Center for Biotechnology Information, NIH, July 1, 2022, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35212746/.

[iii] See, for example, Babylonian Talmud, Bava Kama 85a.

[iv] Beit Yosef, Yoreh Dei-ah 336:2, cited in Daniel Block, “The Halachic Mandate for Gender Affirming Care: Examining the Potential Efficacy of Religious Liberty Claims Made by Jewish Health Care Providers,” Brandeis University Law Journal, Fall 2022, Volume 10, Issue 1, 125.

CCAR statements are grounded in the history of CCAR resolutions and platforms. We strive to represent the overall voice of the CCAR leadership and the Reform rabbinate on critical issues of the day. The CCAR is a diverse community of rabbis, and we recognize the multiplicity of viewpoints that exist within our membership. We encourage those of differing perspectives to engage in respectful dialogue. It is our hope that these statements provide the Reform community with deeper understanding of important issues that impact our lives as Jews and as global citizens.

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Central Conference of American Rabbis Statement on the Antisemitic Mass Murder in Australia

Posted on by The CCAR

December 15, 2025

The Central Conference of American Rabbis condemns in the strongest terms what Australian authorities have determined to be a targeted antisemitic terror attack on Jewish Australians celebrating Chanukah at Bondi Beach in Sydney. We grieve with the families and communities of those who were murdered. We pray for the healing of the injured. We send support and strength to our Australian colleagues. And we give thanks for the heroic bystander, Ahmed al Ahmed, who disarmed one of the terrorists, risking his life to save Jewish lives. He may be counted among חסידי אומות העולם (chasidei umot ha-olam), the world’s righteous.

This deadliest terrorism directed at the Jewish people since October 7, like too many violent attacks before it, reminds us that antisemitic hate speech—whether ostensibly about Israel, from a White Christian Nationalist perspective, or any other form of bigotry—is deadly dangerous to Jewish bodies. The proliferation of antisemitic hate speech has again led to mass murder of Jews, a phenomenon well known to our rabbinic forebears. In their Talmudic discussion of Psalms 18:21, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue,” our sages observed: “Actually, a person’s tongue is more powerful than their sword. A sword can kill somebody who is nearby; a tongue can cause the death of someone who is far away.”[i]

We are commanded to publicize the Chanukah miracle by placing the chanukiyah in the window.[ii] At times of danger, though, Maimonides permitted us to place the Chanukah lights inside the home.[iii] Some Jews will be and feel unsafe to place their Chanukah menorahs in the window this year. All Jewish communities will take security precautions. Still, CCAR rabbis and the communities we serve—in Australia, in North America, in Israel, and around the world—will follow Hillel’s example by increasing the light of holiness throughout the festival,[iv] proclaiming the prophetic faith of Zachariah that might and power, terrorists and their weapons, will ultimately be defeated by the Divine spark in humanity.

Rabbi David A. Lyon, President
Rabbi Hara E. Person, Chief Executive
Central Conference of American Rabbis

[i]Babylonian Talmud, Arachin 15b.

[ii] Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 21b.

[iii] Rabbi Moses Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, M’gilat Esther v’Chanukah 4:8.

[iv] Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 21b.

CCAR statements are grounded in the history of CCAR resolutions and platforms. We strive to represent the overall voice of the CCAR leadership and the Reform rabbinate on critical issues of the day. The CCAR is a diverse community of rabbis, and we recognize the multiplicity of viewpoints that exist within our membership. We encourage those of differing perspectives to engage in respectful dialogue. It is our hope that these statements provide the Reform community with deeper understanding of important issues that impact our lives as Jews and as global citizens.

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Central Conference of American Rabbis Laments Shooting of National Guard Personnel

Posted on by The CCAR

December 1, 2025

The Central Conference of American Rabbis grieves the heinous shooting of two members of the West Virginia National Guard, taking the life of Specialist Sarah Beckstrom and severely wounding Staff Sargeant Andrew Wolfe. Among all Americans, we join the people of West Virginia in mourning Specialist Beckstrom and praying for Sargeant Wolfe’s healing. Americans in uniformed service of our country selflessly put their lives on the line to vouchsafe our freedom. Targeting them with deadly violence is an attack on us all.

We commend law enforcement for the prompt arrest of the alleged perpetrator, and we call for his prosecution to the full extent of the law. We support continued investigation to assure that the shooter was acting alone.

Even as we lament this horrific act of violence, Reform rabbis are concerned by actions proposed by President Trump in response, suspending action on immigration status applications of all Afghan refugees in this country and threatening to halt all immigration from developing countries and all applications for asylum. Jewish history is replete with incidents when all of a country’s Jews were held responsible and punished because of the actions of a single individual. Collective punishment must not be tolerated. 

CCAR members and our communities mobilized rapidly in 2021 to welcome Afghan refugees, men who served alongside the US armed forces in Afghanistan, and their families. Rescued by US service personnel whose lives they had protected, these Afghanis and their families faced certain death at the hands of the Taliban had they stayed in their homeland, a threat that has not abated. CCAR members know and cherish many of these refugees and now fear for their safety here in America.

Many CCAR rabbis and the communities we serve work diligently to support refugee resettlement, as Reform rabbis have done throughout CCAR history, whether the refugees were Jews escaping antisemitism or others who have more recently sought America’s promise of freedom from persecution. Reform rabbis pledge to continue this sacred work of הכנסת אורחים, (hachnasat orchim), welcoming those who are new to America and to our communities.

The CCAR calls on President Trump to rescind all forms of collective punishment on the basis of national origin, religion, ethnicity, and/or immigration status.

Rabbi David A. Lyon, President
Rabbi Hara E. Person, Chief Executive
Central Conference of American Rabbis

CCAR statements are grounded in the history of CCAR resolutions and platforms. We strive to represent the overall voice of the CCAR leadership and the Reform rabbinate on critical issues of the day. The CCAR is a diverse community of rabbis, and we recognize the multiplicity of viewpoints that exist within our membership. We encourage those of differing perspectives to engage in respectful dialogue. It is our hope that these statements provide the Reform community with deeper understanding of important issues that impact our lives as Jews and as global citizens.

Back to CCAR Statements

Reform Movement Joint Statement on Increased West Bank Settler Violence

Posted on by The CCAR

November 13, 2025

Amidst a sharp increase in settler violence in the West Bank, it is past time for decisive, public, and consistent action from the Israeli government and from allies committed to ending attacks that violate Palestinians’ human rights and endanger the prospects for peaceful coexistence.

We join our Israeli Reform Movement (IMPJ) and the Council of Reform Rabbis in Israel (MARAM) in expressing deep shock and concern over the violent attack on the Rabbis for Human Rights delegation. The group included activists, and religious and spiritual leaders from Israel and the United States who came to assist Palestinians with the olive harvest in the West Bank.

A drone operated by extremist settlers struck and injured Reform Rabbi Dana Sharon, who required medical treatment. Following the initial attack, more armed settlers—some wearing uniforms—arrived on the scene, firing rifles into the air and further endangering those present.

Such actions must be stopped. Palestinian families and communities must be protected, and the perpetrators of settler violence must be held accountable through prompt investigations, timely prosecutions, and appropriate punishment.

“We will not be silent in the face of this outrage and will continue to speak out for the Jewish and democratic values upon which the relationship between Israel and the Jewish world is based.” —MK Rabbi Gilad Kariv Adv, Chair Knesset Committee on Aliyah, Absorption and Diaspora

We also call on the U.S. and other friends of Israel—both in the region and globally—to urge Israel to act decisively at this critical moment. The path chosen now will help determine whether the possibility of a two-state solution can be preserved. The West Bank Violence Prevention Act, introduced by Rep. Jerry Nadler with the support of 100 House co-sponsors, would impose sanctions on those responsible for such attacks. The legislation represents one important step the U.S. can and should take to address these injustices.

In recent weeks, ever-larger groups of settlers in the West Bank have attacked Palestinian olive groves, businesses, and homes with horrific violence and seeming impunity. These assaults devastate individuals, destroy livelihoods, and desecrate the land itself.

Rabbis, journalists, and others present to bear witness and assist with the olive harvest have also been assaulted. In some cases, even IDF soldiers have been the victims of settler violence. Yet too often, Israeli authorities charged with upholding the law respond ineffectually—or not at all. Justice for victims is rare, and accountability for perpetrators is equally rare. Given the influence of ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, outspoken advocates for expanding West Bank settlements, this failure of justice is especially tragic.

When government officials claim these attacks are carried out by a small group of extremists whose actions tarnish the reputation of the broader settler community, we ask: if the group is truly small, why has the violence grown in both frequency and severity in recent months?

We reaffirm our July statement condemning settler violence against Palestinians—violence that is immoral and a desecration of God’s name. We again call upon the IDF and Israeli police to take immediate and effective measures to locate the perpetrators and bring them to justice, in the spirit of last week’s Torah portion:

“And they shall keep the way of the Eternal, by doing what is just and right.” 
וְשָֽׁמְרוּ֙ דֶּ֣רֶךְ יְהֹוָ֔ה לַעֲשׂ֥וֹת צְדָקָ֖ה וּמִשְׁפָּ֑ט 
(Genesis 18:19)

Union for Reform Judaism
Shelley Niceley Groff (she/her), North American Board Chair
Rabbi Rick Jacobs (he/him), President

Central Conference of American Rabbis
Rabbi David A. Lyon (he/him), President
Rabbi Hara Person (she/her), Chief Executive Officer

American Conference of Cantors
Cantor Josh Breitzer (he/him), President
Rachel Roth (she/her), Chief Operating Officer

CCAR statements are grounded in the history of CCAR resolutions and platforms. We strive to represent the overall voice of the CCAR leadership and the Reform rabbinate on critical issues of the day. The CCAR is a diverse community of rabbis, and we recognize the multiplicity of viewpoints that exist within our membership. We encourage those of differing perspectives to engage in respectful dialogue. It is our hope that these statements provide the Reform community with deeper understanding of important issues that impact our lives as Jews and as global citizens.

Back to CCAR Statements

Central Conference of American Rabbis Statement on the Federal Government Shutdown and Impending American Humanitarian Crisis

Posted on by The CCAR

November 10, 2025

The Central Conference of American Rabbis is alarmed by the enhanced poverty, hunger, suffering, and disruption facing all Americans—above all, federal public servants and contractors, alongside poor, marginalized, and vulnerable Americans—as the federal government shutdown enters its second month. Federal public servants and contractors at every income level, even those required to continue to serve the public full time, are without paychecks. Despite a federal court order requiring the government to continue funding the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), President Trump has announced that benefits will be reduced and delayed. Across the country, hard-working, low-income Americans are without Head Start and other government-funded childcare that enables them to go to work, support their families, and continue their education.

CCAR rabbis and the communities we serve have already begun to assess and meet emergency needs in our communities and beyond, as have our interfaith partners, and we are grateful that the nonprofit safety net system has mobilized to do the same on a larger scale. We commend governors who have redirected state funds to meet some of the most pressing needs. Still, we know that the suffering will only end when the federal government resumes normal operations.

While vulnerable and marginalized people and communities, among whom federal public servants must be counted in 2025, are our chief concern, all Americans are victims of the shutdown. Air travel has been grievously disrupted. Access to national parks, forests, historic sites, and presidential libraries is unavailable. The American economy is at risk, particularly if the shutdown does not end soon.

The shutdown represents a dramatic failure of leadership and disdain for working across partisan lines. Our rabbinic sages distinguished between מחלקת שהיא לשם שמים (machaloket sh’hi l’sheim shamayim, “a dispute for the sake of Heaven”) and מחלקת שאינה לשם שמים  (machaloket she-eina l’shem shamayim, “a dispute not for the sake of Heaven”). The former, concerning substantive matters, is praiseworthy. The latter, about power, is contemptible.[i] The CCAR pleads with President Trump and members of Congress of both parties to stop blaming one another, and focus instead on solutions that end the shutdown and bring relief to suffering Americans.

Until such time that this gets resolved, Reform rabbis demand that federal public servants and contractors be paid, that the hungry be fed, and that childcare and other critical public services be resumed or continued. We are mindful of the Proverb, “If your enemy is hungry, give them bread to eat; If they are thirsty, give them water to drink.”[ii] How much more, then, are we obligated to assure that our fellow Americans receive their paychecks and benefits, enabling them to pay the rent or mortgage, feed themselves and their families, secure healthcare, and go to work knowing that their children are safe and cared for.

The time to end the shutdown and its resulting suffering is now.

Rabbi David A. Lyon, President
Rabbi Hara E. Person, Chief Execuitve
Central Conference of American Rabbis

[i] Pirkei Avot 5:17.
[ii] Proverbs 25:21.

CCAR statements are grounded in the history of CCAR resolutions and platforms. We strive to represent the overall voice of the CCAR leadership and the Reform rabbinate on critical issues of the day. The CCAR is a diverse community of rabbis, and we recognize the multiplicity of viewpoints that exist within our membership. We encourage those of differing perspectives to engage in respectful dialogue. It is our hope that these statements provide the Reform community with deeper understanding of important issues that impact our lives as Jews and as global citizens.

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Reform Movement Joint Statement on the Release of the Remaining Israeli Hostages

Posted on by The CCAR

October 13, 2025

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם מַתִּיר אֲסוּרִים:  

Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe, Who frees the captives.

After reciting this prayer daily for more than 738 days, our brothers and sisters who were held in unimaginable conditions by Hamas are now free and have reunited with the loved ones who prayed and fought without ceasing for this day. We share the tears, joy, and profound relief felt by Jews in North America, in Israel, and around the world. With gratitude to all who labored and negotiated their freedom, for all who took to the streets day after day in Israel and around the world, we give thanks for this long-awaited redemption of captives, a supreme mitzvah in our tradition.  

While there must be accountability for those in leadership if we are to prevent this nightmare from reoccurring, for today, we will put aside the gnawing question of why this day did not come sooner.

We are grateful to President Trump and his administration for bringing together this complex plan to end the war, the first part of which we experienced today. We express our appreciation as well to Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, who exerted pressure on Hamas to accept this agreement, which also outlines a viable plan for the “day after” in Gaza.  

We are in awe of the hostage families who, morning, noon and night, fought for the release of their loved ones and of the Israeli patriots who took to the streets demanding courageous action from their leaders.  

We love our Israeli Reform Movement that has never stopped advocating and fighting for the hostages, including leading an inspiring Havdalah in Hostage Square every single Saturday night.

We pray that the innocent Palestinian civilians who have suffered mightily from Hamas’ brutality and the crossfire of this deadly war will finally experience safety, consistent flow of vitally needed humanitarian aid, civilian leadership committed to finding a path to peace. 

The path to peace is still long and still to be traveled.  We pray that courageous leaders will press forward on the path to a Palestinian State as outlined in the American plan. However remote it may feel, a two-state solution in some configuration must remain the worthy, long-term goal for Israelis and Palestinians as they contemplate a future with safety, dignity, and hope for all. 

Healing the bodies and spirits of the former hostages, their families, the people of Israel, and the innocent Gazans caught in the conflict will take time, resources, and love. We hold in our hearts the memory of those who did not return, and we embrace the bereaved in their grief. Let this day strengthen our resolve to secure Israel’s safety while advancing a future rooted in dignity, pluralism, and peace for all who live in the land. Today, we exhale the prayer we have carried for so long—shehecheyanu—we thank the “Redeemer of Israel” for allowing us to reach this holy moment and we commit to turning relief into renewal.

As we move into Simchat Torah, on the eve of the Hebrew two-year anniversary of that terrible tragedy, we will be able to rejoice with those who have returned and keep praying and hoping until the last hostage is home.  

Union for Reform Judaism    
Shelley Niceley Groff (she/her), North American Board Chair  
Rabbi Rick Jacobs (he/him), President  

Central Conference of American Rabbis     
Rabbi David A. Lyon (he/him), President
Rabbi Hara Person (she/her), Chief Executive Officer    

American Conference of Cantors     
Cantor Josh Breitzer (he/him), President
Rachel Roth (she/her), Chief Operating Officer

CCAR statements are grounded in the history of CCAR resolutions and platforms. We strive to represent the overall voice of the CCAR leadership and the Reform rabbinate on critical issues of the day. The CCAR is a diverse community of rabbis, and we recognize the multiplicity of viewpoints that exist within our membership. We encourage those of differing perspectives to engage in respectful dialogue. It is our hope that these statements provide the Reform community with deeper understanding of important issues that impact our lives as Jews and as global citizens.

Back to CCAR Statements

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