March 20, 2024

We are deeply disturbed by the condemnatory statement issued yesterday by the Conference of Presidents (COP) following a meeting with Majority Leader Schumer. Though the critical COP statement was made in the name of the CEO and President, it claims to speak for COP “membership” when in fact it clearly fails to reflect the diversity of views within the COP. 

Each of us has slightly different takes on Senator Schumer’s speech: many of us welcomed his forceful condemnation of Hamas, his passionate call for the hostages’ release, his expression of pain for the humanitarian crisis gripping innocent Gazans, and his vivid critique of PM Netanyahu’s rejection of eventual demilitarized Palestinian statehood and sovereignty. Others have taken a different view. 

Nonetheless, following Sen. Schumer’s meeting yesterday with COP members, COP leaders chose to independently issue their unduly harsh missive, which was divisive and unfair. Their statement does not reflect the views of several member entities who support much of the important content of Sen. Schumer’s speech, or even those who disagreed with some of what he said but understood that this speech was a constructive critique made by one of the U.S. Congress’ most passionate champions of a strong and safe Israel. 

Since October 7, our community has been challenged in unprecedented ways. Each of us has sought to respond, leading by our commitment to a Jewish, democratic, pluralistic state of Israel. We and others have called for measures that ensure that Israel is strong and secure, that the hostages are released immediately, that humanitarian aid reaches Palestinians in Gaza, and that a future in which an Israeli and Palestinian state exist side by side in peace is not foreclosed. 

At this critical moment, we urge the COP to clarify the processes it follows in deciding when and how to speak with the goal of more effectively reflecting the diversity of legitimate views that our organizations hold.  The COP can play an essential role in that regard and in doing so it can foster debate that is, as our tradition teaches, “for the sake of heaven.” 

Organizations: 

Union for Reform Judaism
Jennifer Brodkey Kaufman (she/her)
Chair

Rabbi Rick Jacobs (he/him)
President

Ameinu
Kenneth Bob (he/him)
President

Americans for Peace Now
Hadar Susskind (he/him) 
President and CEO

Jim Klutznick (he/him)
Chair of the Board

Association of Reform Zionists of America  
Daryl Messinger (she/her)
Chair 

Rabbi Josh Weinberg (he/him)
Director 

Central Conference of American Rabbis 
Rabbi Erica Asch (she/her) 
President

Rabbi Hara E. Person (she/her) 
Chief Executive

Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Amy Spitalnick (she/her)
CEO

Leslie Dannin Rosenthal(she/her)
Board Chair

Jewish Labor Committee 
Stuart Appelbaum (he/him)
President 

Arieh Lebowitz (he/him)
Executive Director

Women of Reform Judaism  
Sara Charney (she/her)  
President 

Rabbi Liz P. G. Hirsch (she/her)  
Executive Director 

Individuals: 

Mark Hetfield (he/him)
President and CEO, HIAS

Jeff Blattner (he/him) 
Chair, HIAS

January 30, 2024

A Statement from Reform Movement Institutions

With an eye toward the future we envision, we offer these steps we hope Israelis and Palestinians will take at this moment of intense challenge and deep pain. We do so because of the bond and love we feel for our Israeli siblings.

Our commitment to a strong, vibrant, Jewish and democratic state of Israel, secure within its borders, is unyielding. The October 7th attacks and subsequent war have made unequivocally clear the existential threats facing Israel. On October 7^th, more than 1200 Israelis were brutally murdered and tortured including those victimized by sexual violence, and communities were destroyed. Since then, a quarter of a million people have been displaced due to Hamas and Hezbollah violence and more than 135 hostages taken from Israel remain in Gaza. The Jewish people and the nation are again in mourning, now for the loss of over 200 soldiers fighting to defend Israel—including 25 killed in just one day last week. We pray for healing of wounded soldiers and for comfort for the bereaved. Israel is also contending with attacks from the Houthis and other Iranian proxies. Our hearts are with the Israeli people, now and always, as we pray for the day when the joyful sounds of peace prevail over the terrifying sounds of war.

Israel’s leaders have no greater responsibility than protecting the Israeli people. Hamas’s October 7th attacks were utterly heinous. Israel’s goal of eradicating Hamas’s military capabilities is just given Hamas’s ongoing commitment to Israel’s destruction. Hamas must be held accountable and the more than 135 remaining hostages must be released immediately. In keeping with the mitzvah of Pidyon Shvu’im (Redemption of Captives), Israel’s government must do all it can to ensure the hostages’ swift and safe deliverance from Hamas’s nefarious hands. We also encourage and applaud the Biden administration’s efforts in this regard.

Hamas showed no regard for the humanity of those butchered, brutalized, and kidnapped on October 7^th. As Jews, we reject such dehumanization of the “other” including Palestinians. Whatever the military necessities of Israel’s massive bombing in Gaza—both to reach Hamas’s military infrastructure, so deeply embedded by Hamas into the centers of Palestinian civilian life, as well as to eliminate Hamas’s capabilities to repeat October 7th—we nonetheless agonize over the many thousands of Palestinian civilians, including large numbers of women and children, who have died and been wounded in this conflict, whether by Israeli bombs or Hamas’s misfired missiles. We agonize, too, over the nearly 2 million displaced people who are unable to obtain life essentials of food, water, shelter, medicine, and electricity.

The peaceful future we dream of includes an end to the West Bank occupation. As our respective organizations have affirmed in resolutions, formal statements, and policy analyses going back decades, ongoing West Bank occupation without a willingness to seek its end through a peaceful resolution of the conflict will condemn future generations to endless strife. Reestablishing settlements in Gaza will have a similarly detrimental impact. Denying the Palestinians’ right to self-determination is an impediment to peace.

In this darkest of times, we remain committed to a resolution of the conflict that will ensure Israel’s security and allow for Palestinian self-determination and self-governance, understanding that the creation of a Palestinian state will pose serious short-term security threats to Israel that will need to be addressed in any peace accords. Further, the widespread distrust of the Palestinians and their leadership in both Gaza and the West Bank, as well as deep Palestinian mistrust of Israel’s leadership, will require significant efforts by the Israelis, Palestinians, regional neighbors, and the international community to make such a resolution a viable reality. A successful and peaceful Palestinian entity remains vital to ensuring Israel’s long-term security. For these reasons, we are deeply dismayed by Prime Minister Netanyahu’s recent comments dismissing the possibility of a future peaceful Palestinian state.

There is much the Palestinian Authority needs to do in the short run to help prevent the escalation of violence both in the West Bank and more broadly, including joining the international community in actively engaging in efforts to ensure the hostages’ release, restoring cooperation with the Israeli security forces to curtail terrorist activities emanating from the West Bank, and taking concrete steps to halt incitement to violence and incentives for acts of terrorism. Far more extensive reforms and concrete manifestations of its commitment to a peaceful resolution of the conflict, including steps in a peace process that will ensure Israel’s security, will be required.

Israel’s future security relies on non-military steps Israel can and must take including:

• Recognizing that Israel’s security and well-being are enhanced by a future that includes a peaceful Palestinian state.
• In keeping with the existing Abraham accords, continuing to pave the way toward normalized relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia and to the creation of a regional coalition to rebuild Gaza.
• Protecting the longstanding and vital U.S.-Israel alliance that has served the interests of both nations for more than 75 years.
• Stopping incitement to violence, racism, and use of dehumanizing language against Palestinians by government ministers and others.
• Forcefully addressing settler violence against Palestinians.
• Preventing the collapse of the Palestinian Authority, including through the delivery of tax revenue currently being delayed by Israel.
• Strengthening the development of Palestinian leaders and institutions committed to pursuing peace, as evidenced by supporting those advocating reforms of the Palestinian Authority’s governance, education, leadership, transparency, and accountability.
• Understanding the terribly complex current battlefield in Gaza, continuing to do everything possible to prevent the loss of life among innocent Gazans not directly involved in the hostilities.
• Delivering swift and regular humanitarian aid to Gazans struggling against illness and hunger, with safeguards monitored by the international community to ensure that such aid is not diverted to Hamas.
• Rejecting any suggestions of forced relocation of Palestinians from Gaza; such relocation would be in clear violation of international law.
• Committing to ending the occupation, based on a negotiated, diplomatic solution acceptable to Israel and Palestinians alike. Such a solution will fulfill the Palestinian right to self-determination, without which Israel will never be safe and secure.
• Halting the construction of West Bank settlements and rejecting any Jewish resettlement in Gaza.
• Opposing any efforts toward unilateral annexation by Israel of areas of the West Bank.

We share these steps understanding that responsibility for building a future in which children can grow in peace requires commitments and leadership from Israelis and Palestinians. We speak inspired by the teaching, “Kol yisrael arevim zeh ba’zeh,” “All of Israel and the Jewish people are responsible, one for the other” (Shevuot 39a). We are committed to the safety and vitality of the Jewish people, the swift return home of all the hostages held in Gaza, and a secure and just state of Israel—now and forever.

Union for Reform Judaism 
Jennifer Brodkey Kaufman (she/her), Chair
Rabbi Rick Jacobs (he/him), President

Central Conference of American Rabbis 
Rabbi Erica Asch (she/her), President
Rabbi Hara E. Person (she/her), Chief Executive

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

ARZA Canada 
Lee Weisser (she/her), President 

Association of Reform Zionists of America  
Daryl Messinger (she/her), Chair 
Rabbi Josh Weinberg (he/him), Director 

Men of Reform Judaism  
Rob Himmelstein (he/him), President 
Steven Portnoy (he/him), Executive Director 

Reform Jewish Community of Canada  
Len Bates (he/him), President

Reform Rabbis of Canada  
Rabbi Daniel Mikelberg (he/him), Chair  

Women of Reform Judaism  
Sara Charney (she/her), President 
Rabbi Liz P. G. Hirsch (she/her), Executive Director

January 11, 2024 

As we mark the 100^th day of the war initiated by Hamas’s brutal terrorist attack on communities in southern Israel, the North American Reform Movement raises our collective Reform Jewish voice to demand the liberation of the more than one hundred thirty hostages held in captivity by Hamas since October 7.  

The hostages were abducted in flagrant violation of international law. Reports from the hostages released in late November and early December have revealed how those in captivity suffer deplorable conditions, including sexual and physical violence, psychological torture, and near-starvation. Hamas has not allowed any international aid organization access to the hostages to check on their health or provide necessary medicines or medical assistance, in clear contravention to international law. We demand that this failure be rectified immediately. 

We join our Israeli partners and colleagues in lifting up the teaching by Rambam:

וְאֵין לְךָ מִצְוָה גְּדוֹלָה כְּפִדְיוֹן שְׁבוּיִים

“You have no greater mitzvah (religious obligation) than to free captives.” At this devastating milestone, we renew our demand for the swift release of all those who are still held captive in Gaza. 

We call on the international community to join the governments of Israel and the United States in their efforts to secure the hostages’ release. We will continue raising our voices until every hostage is safely returned home and reunited with their loved ones.  

Bring them home now! 

Union for Reform Judaism 
Jennifer Brodkey Kaufman (she/her), Chair 
Rabbi Rick Jacobs (he/him), President 

Central Conference of American Rabbis 
Rabbi Erica Asch (she/her), President 
Rabbi Hara E. Person (she/her), Chief Executive 

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

Women of Reform Judaism
Sara Charney (she/her), President
Rabbi Liz P. G. Hirsch (she/her), Executive

Director Men of Reform Judaism
Rob Himmelstein (he/him), President
Steven Portnoy (he/him), Executive Director

Association of Reform Zionists of America
Daryl Messinger (she/her), Chair
Rabbi Josh Weinberg (he/him), Director

December 7, 2023

The Central Conference of American Rabbis mourns the death of our beloved rabbi, teacher, and friend, David Ellenson, former President and Chancellor Emeritus of our Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion. David was a mensch of the highest order who imparted wisdom and kindness in addition to sharing his voluminous knowledge and scholarship. He was also a devoted and generous member of the CCAR.

Raised in a warm Orthodox home, David found his own adult religious community in Reform Judaism, a story he often told without any hint of negativity toward his Orthodox upbringing. He embraced the teachings and the leaders of all movements of Judaism throughout his long career as a congregational rabbi, a professor and teacher of future rabbis, and a leading scholar of Jewish Thought. 

David’s death on the eve of Chanukah reminds us of the light he brought into the lives of CCAR rabbis, HUC-JIR, the Reform Movement and the Jewish people. David was at heart a teacher, and he taught not only academics, but showed us a model of how to live with integrity and kindness. At this difficult time, we recall that David also brought us light in our times of darkness. In the aftermath of the tragic death of his beloved successor, Rabbi Aaron Panken, Ph.D., z”l, David gave himself unstintingly to our College-Institute, coming out of retirement to serve as Acting President and comforting a Reform Jewish world in mourning. David brought the light of optimism and hope into our lives as a teacher, rabbi, mentor and friend. He has truly raised up many disciples. 

All CCAR rabbis mourn with David’s wife, Rabbi Jacqueline Koch Ellenson, Executive Director emerita of the Women’s Rabbinic Network; with all of his children, Ruthie Ellenson (Lorne Manly), CCAR member Rabbi Micah Ellenson (Sara), HUC-JIR rabbinic student Hannah Ellenson (Becca Israel), Nomi Ellenson May (Spencer May), Hebrew College rabbinic student Rafi Ellenson, and David’s grandchildren. The memory of Rabbi David Ellenson, PhD, is a blessing and his light will continue to shine in this world through his work and the lives that he touched. 

Rabbi Erica Asch, President
Rabbi Hara Person, Chief Executive
Central Conference of American Rabbis

November 22, 2023

Every day since October 7, 2023, we have prayed for the release of the 240 hostages kidnapped into Gaza from Israel. We are grateful and relieved that a deal to release some of the hostages has been agreed to, along with increased humanitarian aid for innocent civilians in Gaza, and we pray the first 50 hostages will be released imminently. We will continue praying and working for the return of all those still held captive.

We extend our sincerest thanks to all those who played a role in bringing about this agreement, including President Biden and Secretary Blinken, the mediators in Qatar, and PM Netanyahu and the members of his Cabinet who voted to approve the deal.

While we celebrate today’s news, the continued holding of innocent civilians – Israelis and other nationalities alike – is an active, insidious war crime. We strongly urge those who secured this initial agreement to continue to advocate for the swift release of all those who remain in captivity.

As Americans prepare to gather for Thanksgiving tomorrow, we give thanks that some former hostages might be able to spend the coming Shabbat with their loved ones. May that reality soon come true for the remaining hostages. Ken yehi ratzon – let it be so.

Union for Reform Judaism
Jennifer Brodkey Kaufman (she/her), Chair
Rabbi Rick Jacobs (he/him), President

Central Conference of American Rabbis
Rabbi Erica Asch (she/her), President
Rabbi Hara E. Person (she/her), Chief Executive

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

Women of Reform Judaism
Sara Charney (she/her), President
Rabbi Liz P. G. Hirsch (she/her), Executive Director

Men of Reform Judaism
Rob Himmelstein (he/him), President
Steven Portnoy (he/him), Executive Director

October 30, 2023

The Central Conference of American Rabbis is profoundly concerned about the welfare of Jewish students on North American college and university campuses. Even in the immediate aftermath of Hamas’s brutal October 7 attack on Israeli civilians living near Gaza, anti-Israel demonstrations erupted on many campuses. Protests have increased as Israel has taken obligatory military action to assure that Hamas can never brutalize Israelis again. Too often, demonstrations have threatened the safety of Jewish students and have exposed protestors’ antisemitism.

Reform rabbis recognize that not all campuses or Jewish students are in crisis. The CCAR lauds those college and university leaders who have forthrightly condemned Hamas terror and any expression of antisemitism. We are appreciative of those who have taken concrete actions to support Jewish students in the last few weeks. Other officials have been deaf to the pleas of their Jewish students, faculty, staff members, and alumni, leaving the impression of indifference to terror and antisemitism.

The CCAR applauds its members who serve on college campuses and all who work to enhance Jewish life on campus. That work is always sacred and vital, but it is too often overlooked and devalued. Now, more than ever, our young adults on college campuses need the leadership, teaching, counseling, and support that campus rabbis are uniquely positioned to provide.

Reform rabbis, however and wherever we serve, are actively engaged in reaching out to college students in our orbits, checking in on their well-being and seeking to provide support, even from a distance. We pledge to continue to do so, and to continue to support our colleagues serving on campus. This crisis will be long and will only become more intense. Our college students and campus rabbis need our support now and in the coming weeks and years.

The CCAR calls on college and university leaders to declare unequivocally: Terrorism is never justified. Antisemitism will not be tolerated.

Rabbi Erica Asch, President
Rabbi Hara E. Person, Chief Executive
Central Conference of American Rabbis

October 27, 2023

As we approach Shabbat and mark three weeks since Hamas’ horrific attack on Israel, our hearts are heavy and our souls pained as Israel continues the excruciating task of burying the over 1400 people murdered by Hamas. With each day, more details emerge about the unspeakable violence perpetrated on October 7 against Israelis.  

We are particularly distraught that more than 220 people, including babies, women, and the elderly, continue to be held as hostages by Hamas. The international community, including nation states and the UN, NGOs, faith leaders, and all people of goodwill, must universally and unequivocally call and work for the immediate release of all the hostages. Their kidnapping and ongoing detention is a heinous war crime. The families of the hostages feel keenly that the window to secure the safe release of their loved ones is closing, especially for the hostages who are severely wounded. 

Even as we support Israel’s moral right to wage war against Hamas, we are a people who know that we must never be inured to the suffering of the innocent. We hold fast to the ideal that each of us is created b’tselem Elohim, in the image of God, so we cannot ignore the tremendous toll this is taking on innocent civilians in Gaza. We mourn the deaths of innocent Palestinian civilians caught in the nightmare of Gaza. They too are victims of the brutal Hamas regime and the rising death toll pains us deeply.  

We join in the call from President Biden and Secretary Blinken for Israel to implement a humanitarian pause to ensure that food, water, medicine, and other humanitarian aid can flow more quickly into Gaza. Likewise, the Reform movement joins them in a belief that a ceasefire at this moment would be a tragic mistake and a strategic advantage to Hamas in its quest to eliminate the Jewish state. We call on leaders in the region to act to ensure that Hamas will not siphon off the aid provided. Hospitals must be able to function. Families must not starve. And no innocent Palestinian child should suffer.

In this week’s Torah portion, Lech Lecha, Abraham assembles a small fighting force to rescue his nephew Lot, who has been taken hostage in the midst of a regional war.  Right after the successful hostage rescue in Genesis 14 we read, “Al tira, Avram. Don’t be afraid Avram.” It is not clear what Abraham is afraid of; perhaps another attack on his family.  But Genesis Rabbah, an ancient commentary, suggests his fear is that he might have killed an innocent person as he fought for Lot’s release. The lesson could not be clearer: Even in war, our Jewish tradition demands that we must never lose our moral bearings.  

We are humbled by the extraordinarily complex life and death decisions that must be made each day by the Israeli government and military, sometimes having to choose only the least terrible option. We take heart in Ruach Tzahal, the IDF Code of Ethics, that informs how every IDF soldier seeks to wage war, including limiting civilian casualties as much as possible. 

As we enter into Shabbat, we pray first and foremost for the safety and swift return of the hostages.  And we pray that in the difficult days and weeks to come, and with the support of the U.S. and broader international community, Israel’s diplomatic, military, and political leaders will be guided by the finest ideals of our tradition and by the values laid out in Israel’s own Declaration of Independence. 

Union for Reform Judaism
Jennifer Brodkey Kaufman (she/her)
Chair

Rabbi Rick Jacobs (he/him)
President

Central Conference of American Rabbis
Rabbi Erica Asch (she/her)
President

Rabbi Hara E. Person (she/her)
Chief Executive

American Conference of Cantors
Cantor Seth Warner (he/him)
President

Rachel Roth (she/her)
Chief Operating Officer

October 20, 2023

Two weeks after Hamas’s horrific attack on Israel, our shared pain over the lives so violently taken grows deeper each hour. The agony of bereaved families, the torment of those awaiting news of kidnapped loved ones, and the anguish of the survivors know no bounds. As we have always done in difficult times, we find solace in the words of our holy texts and in the embrace of those who open their arms and hearts to offer comfort and love.

Among those whose embraces we have felt so powerfully, few equal those of President Joe Biden, who, in this darkest hour, in word and deed has proven himself a true friend to Israel and the Jewish people. The President’s unequivocal expressions of support, his commitment of military aid, and his very presence in Israel this week have strengthened Israel emotionally and practically. We express our deepest gratitude for President Biden’s steadfast allyship.

We also appreciate the leadership President Biden has shown in working with Israel to address the humanitarian challenges in Gaza wrought by Hamas’s depraved leadership. We pray that the effort to bring in humanitarian aid to Gaza will reach those in need, ease the suffering of innocent Palestinians, and not be stolen by Hamas.

We call upon our allies in the public interest world, in the faith community, and all those in positions of influence to speak out more forcefully for the release of the nearly 200 Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas. Our responsibility to rescue hostages (Pidyon Shevuyim) is reflected in the words of our daily prayers that, rather than beseeching God to free the captive, asks for God to help us in doing so. Those with diplomatic, humanitarian, and interfaith connections around the globe must do the holy work of helping ensure the safe release of the babies, children, elderly, women, and all who have been forcibly taken from their homes and loved ones. In so doing, they can help bring a swifter end to the bloodshed of this war.

As we begin Shabbat, we pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Union for Reform Judaism
Jennifer Brodkey Kaufman (she/her)
Chair

Rabbi Rick Jacobs (he/him)
President

Central Conference of American Rabbis
Rabbi Erica Asch (she/her)
President

Rabbi Hara E. Person (she/her)
Chief Executive

American Conference of Cantors
Cantor Seth Warner (he/him)
President

Rachel Roth (she/her)
Chief Operating Officer