May 5, 2022

The Central Conference of American Rabbis continues to oppose, now with increasing alarm, proposed and enacted state laws targeting transgender young people. These laws include, but are not limited to, prohibitions against gender-affirming healthcare for transgender minors, mandates that transgender youth may participate in athletic competitions only in accordance with their sex assigned at birth, and laws intended to erase queer people by sanctioning public school teachers who acknowledge the existence of gender identity and sexual orientation.

Our rabbinic tradition recognized a wide variety of genders. Reform rabbis take seriously the basic tenet of Torah, that all humanity is created in God’s image. As such, we likewise affirm that all human beings are created with gender identities, which for some people do not align with the sex assigned to them at birth.

Further, as we have often affirmed in other contexts, Judaism’s highest value is pikuach nefesh, saving a life. Given the terrifying rate of suicide and of suicidal ideation in transgender youth, particularly when they are not affirmed in their gender identity, combating these laws is a religious obligation and a matter of life and death.

The CCAR values all of its members and members of the communities we serve, increasing numbers of whom are transgender or gender non-confirming. Many CCAR members and members of the communities we serve have children who are directly impacted by these laws and proposals. Our partner organization, the Union for Reform Judaism, embraces transgender children in its camps and youth programs, notably including NFTY: The Reform Jewish Youth Movement. Our seminary, Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion, affirms transgender and gender non-confirming students, including candidates for the rabbinate and cantorate.

The CCAR commends its members and their Jewish and interfaith partners who are fighting these laws, often at great personal risk, particularly in states which have already adopted these nefarious laws or which are most likely to do so.

Reform rabbis will not rest in our advocacy for the health and well-being of transgender youth and those who care for them.

Rabbi Lewis Kamrass
President 

Rabbi Hara E. Person
Chief Executive 

Central Conference of American Rabbis

May 3, 2022

The Central Conference of American Rabbis is deeply disturbed by what appears to be the decision of a majority of justices of the United States Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade. Though we are aware that the leaked draft by Justice Samuel Alito in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health is a draft at this point, cause for concern is real, given the known views not only of Justice Alito, but also of Justices Thomas, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett—and at least to a degree, of Chief Justice Roberts. If it were to become a Supreme Court decision, the leaked draft would lead to the severe restriction or elimination of abortion rights in about half of U.S. states.

The CCAR proudly participated in an amicus curiae brief submitted to the Supreme Court in support of the respondent, Jackson Women’s Health, and of reproductive freedom. Until the final moment of a Supreme Court decision, Reform rabbis will continue to advocate for the preservation of Roe v. Wade. If, indeed, a decision similar to the leaked draft is the Court’s decision, CCAR rabbis will continue to oppose state laws that restrict abortion rights. The CCAR will support its members who are in need of abortion care, wherever they live, just as Reform rabbis will be present for members of the communities they serve and for all Americans in need of abortion care—again, wherever they live.

Abortion access is part of comprehensive healthcare. Overturning Roe v. Wade will not stop abortions. What it will do is increase the occurrence of illegal, dangerous abortions, thereby causing unnecessary deaths and suffering. We know that low-income women and all gender non-conforming individuals who can become pregnant will suffer the greatest burden of state abortion bans triggered by a reversal of Roe v. Wade.

Moreover, the decision apparently contemplated by a Supreme Court majority would violate the religious freedom of Jews and others whose religious traditions, like ours, permit abortion.

The CCAR, its members, and communities will not rest in our ongoing struggle for reproductive liberty, working with National Council of Jewish Women, Jews of other movements, women’s and LGBTQ advocacy groups, interfaith partners, and all Americans who join this work for individual bodily autonomy.

The Central Conference of American Rabbis, in the strongest terms, urges the Supreme Court not to restrict abortion rights and certainly not to reverse the groundbreaking and liberating decision in Roe v. Wade. If, however, the leaked opinion is in fact a harbinger of a Supreme Court decision soon to come, CCAR rabbis will grieve; and then, without delay, we will act.

Rabbi Lewis Kamrass
President

Rabbi Hara E. Person
Chief Executive
Central Conference of American Rabbis

May 3, 2022

In response to the leak of a draft of a Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that would overturn Supreme Court precedent and end the right to an abortion established in Roe v. Wade, Women of Reform Judaism Executive Director Rabbi Marla Feldman, Central Conference of American Rabbis CEO Rabbi Hara Person, and Religious Action Center Director Rabbi Jonah Pesner issued the following statement:

Rabbi Marla Feldman:

The draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization outlines a grim reality for abortion rights. It is an affront to our fundamental right to make our own decisions for our bodies, lives, and futures. As Reform Jews, we will not stand idly by as our rights are taken away. We stand firm in our commitment to the fight for a just and compassionate world, where everyone is free to make decisions about their future no matter who they are or where they live.

If agreed to by a majority of Justices, this decision would have disastrous consequences, leaving tens of millions of people across the country without abortion care. People will be forced to travel across state lines to seek the care they need, and many who cannot travel – due to a lack of adequate financial resources, time off from work, or child care, for example – will be forced to carry their pregnancies against their will, putting their mental and physical health at risk. The impacts of this decision will fall hardest on those already facing discriminatory obstacles to health care and other human rights, including Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color, people with disabilities, people in rural areas, undocumented people, and low-income people.

Rabbi Hara Person:

All people deserve bodily autonomy and access to a full range of high-quality health care, including abortion care, free from barriers and stigma, regardless of who they are, their religious beliefs, their income, and where they live. 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.

As people lose access to abortion across the country and our fundamental rights and moral agency are targeted, we will continue to provide support to our communities and broader U.S. community and continue the fight for all people to determine their own futures and lives.

Rabbi Jonah Pesner:

We vehemently condemn the Court’s apparent willingness to overturn decades of precedent set forth by Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. This draft ruling upholding Mississippi’s 15-week ban would be an unconscionable rollback of fundamental rights and human dignity for all people in the United States. Abortion bans like Mississippi’s that are being introduced and signed into law across the country already are rooted in anti-Black racism, white supremacy, and other systems of oppression. This decision would not only decimate abortion access, but also explicitly threaten other fundamental rights we hold dear, including the LGBTQ+ rights affirmed by Lawrence v. Texas and Obergefell v. Hodges.

It is clear we must continue to pursue actions outside the courts to protect each person’s fundamental rights to provide and receive abortion care, to marry whom we love, and to have full bodily autonomy through laws and federal protections, including the Women’s Health Protection Act, the EACH ACT, and the Equality Act.

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 1.8 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.

The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism is the Washington office of the Union for Reform Judaism, whose 850 congregations across North America encompass 1.8 million Reform Jews, and the Central Conference of American Rabbis, whose membership includes more than 2,000 Reform rabbis. Visit www.RAC.org for more.

Women of Reform Judaism (WRJ) is a network of Jewish women working together to empower women and communities worldwide through the bonds of sisterhood, spirituality, and social justice. WRJ, founded in 1913, is the women’s affiliate of the Union for Reform Judaism, the central body of Reform Judaism in North America. For more information about WRJ, please visit our website at www.wrj.org

April 12, 2022

The Central Conference of American Rabbis, today as throughout its history, stands with our North American Reform Jewish seminary, Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion. Today as every day, the CCAR stands with each of its members, at times of celebration and innovation and at times of grief and anger, often holding all of those and many more simultaneously.

The Board of Governors of Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) have just voted to change the Reform seminary’s rabbinic training offerings at its Cincinnati campus and no longer offer residential rabbinic training in Cincinnati. HUC-JIR will continue to offer best-in-class rabbinic training at its New York, Los Angeles, and Jerusalem campuses, while planning for a new, flexible program that will enable more people called to become Reform rabbis to make their dreams a reality. We recognize that this vote, while historic, is only a first step. We look forward to learning more as HUC-JIR’s administration moves forward with the details of an implementation plan. Additionally, we are heartened that the remaining unique jewels of the Cincinnati campus—the American Jewish Archives, Klau Library, and the Cincinnati Skirball Museum—as well as the faculty, will be central to HUC-JIR’s future.

The Central Conference of American Rabbis recognizes that this decision is painful for many members of our community. While many CCAR members advocated for adoption of the strategic plan, many others offered reasoned arguments to oppose it. Generations of CCAR members studied and were ordained in Cincinnati and have a deep commitment to that campus. The Reform Movement in North America has deep roots and important ties to the city of Cincinnati and the Midwest and South. We understand the pain and grief of this decision and its impact on so many individuals and communities. We also know that the HUC-JIR Board of Governors and administration did not make this decision lightly or without serious thought, and we emphasize that the process was not easy for anyone.

While we know that opinions are mixed and emotions are fraught, we remain hopeful that HUC-JIR’s new plan will strengthen rabbinic education for all. We have tremendous faith in the future of HUC-JIR, and we pledge our ongoing support to its success. We welcome the creation of a hybrid rabbinic program based on the same rigor, integrity, and meaningful clergy formation of HUC-JIR’s residential programs. And we share HUC-JIR’s concern with and emphasis on the importance of recruitment of rabbis. While major institutional changes do not occur without their challenges, we are hopeful that this shift will enable HUC-JIR to welcome more rabbinic students, and therefore future rabbis, who are in such great demand within the North American Jewish community.

As the largest professional rabbinical association, the Central Conference of American Rabbis remains committed to supporting Reform rabbis at all stages of their careers and to serving Reform congregations and Jewish communities across North America and around the world. Moreover, we remain committed to our strong relationships with our Reform partners—Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion and the Union for Reform Judaism—as we continue to build a vibrant, vital, and robust Reform Jewish Movement that reflects our common values and our commitment to Torah, tikkun olam, and the modern Reform Judaism community.

Rabbi Lewis Kamrass                                   
President

Rabbi Hara Person
Chief Executive
Central Conference of American Rabbis     

March 4, 2022

The Central Conference of American Rabbis grieves the loss of its beloved past president, Rabbi Martin S. Weiner, z”l, who died at home in the loving embrace of his family on March 3, 2022.

Marty Weiner lived his life with authentic humility. Human relationships, which he understood through Buberian theology, were of primary importance to him in his rabbinate and in his life. Rabbi Weiner was a mentor par excellence, to dozens, if not hundreds, of younger colleagues—particularly rabbis and cantors who were his colleagues at Congregation Sherith Israel.

As CCAR president, Marty Weiner provided tremendous leadership when we held our convention in Jerusalem in 2002, at the height of the Second Intifada. In his presidential message and in his style of leadership, Rabbi Weiner provided important guidance, comfort, and direction at a horrifically trying time. He continued in meaningful service to the CCAR after his presidency until the end of his life.

Friendship was like a jewel to Marty Weiner. Once one became his friend, that friendship lasted forever, and he looked after his friends, including innumerable CCAR members.

Marty’s beloved wife Karen accompanied him as he traveled to CCAR functions big and small throughout his presidency. Her presence alongside his brought warmth to the CCAR and each of its gatherings. Reform rabbis join in extending sympathy today to Karen and to their children—including CCAR member, Rabbi Daniel Weiner, daughters Elizabeth and Ellen, and grandchildren—to all of Marty’s family, and to the family of Congregation Sherith Israel in San Francisco.

Y’hi zichro baruch! The memory of Rabbi Martin S. Weiner is a blessing.

Rabbi Lewis Kamrass                                       
President  

Rabbi Hara E. Person
Chief Executive
Central Conference of American Rabbis

February 17, 2022

Today the Union for Reform Judaism released the findings of their investigation into sexual misconduct.

We recognize that this is a painful time for many of us connected to the Reform Movement, its history, its institutions, and its impact on our lives, and the lives of our family and friends.

We appreciate the hard, thoughtful work that went into the report and leadership’s decision to embark on this very necessary investigation. We agree with the clear need expressed in the recommendations for more sharing of information between the CCAR and the URJ, as well as clarity and rigor around the sharing of reports of misconduct. We are pleased to see the recommendation that the URJ provide on its website the list of expelled, suspended, or publicly censured rabbis; the CCAR already publicizes this list, and it is important that these names also be shared by the URJ.

We cannot grow into a better Movement without investigating our shared past; for the shame and pain we carry as a Movement pales in comparison to the pain of the survivors.

We are grateful for the report’s recommendations, which echo the recommendations in our own CCAR ethics investigation, and we appreciate that the URJ is also committed to making improvements in its system. For us at the CCAR, updating our own ethics system and accountability continues to be our top priority, and we are currently in the process of planning a great deal of follow-up based on our own ethics investigation, which will include implementing many of the concrete recommendations listed in the report. We know that in order to be as effective as possible, we must work in alignment with our Reform Movement partners toward shared goals.

Above all else, we thank those who have come forward and shared their story despite their pain. It is with the utmost gratitude that we thank and hold these survivors in our hearts as we build a stronger Reform Movement.

Rabbi Lewis Kamrass
President

Rabbi Hara E. Person
Chief Executive
Central Conference of American Rabbis

February 7, 2022

The Central Conference of American Rabbis is horrified by the terror visited upon several of our nation’s historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), which were hit with bomb threats last week. We are only grateful that the HBCUs acted quickly, as did law enforcement, that no explosives were found, and nobody was injured.

We do not imagine that the timing of the bomb threats, at the outset of Black History Month, was a coincidence. HBCUs, though born of white supremacy and segregation, have played a significant and praiseworthy role in American history, well beyond the community they were initially established to serve. They deserve respect and honor, not terror.

We learn in the Book of Proverbs that “a mind that hatches evil” is “an abomination” to God (Proverbs 6:16–18). We are grateful that the FBI has identified persons of interest in the case. We call for the prosecution of those responsible to the full extent of the law.

Rabbi Lewis Kamrass
President

Rabbi Hara E. Person
Chief Executive
Central Conference of American Rabbis

February 3, 2022

The Central Conference of American Rabbis condemns, in the strongest terms, the deployment of racist and antisemitic symbols and slogans at protests against Canadian public health measures. The swastika, the Confederate flag, and the hatred they represent have no place on Canada’s Parliament Hill.

The CCAR stands in solidarity with its Canadian colleagues, the communities they serve, and their partners in Canada’s rich multicultural society. Let the day come soon, when hatred shall perish from Canada and all the Earth, “when all shall dwell under their vine and fig tree, with none to make them afraid” (Micah 4:4).

Rabbi Lewis Kamrass
President

Rabbi Hara E. Person
Chief Executive
Central Conference of American Rabbis

February 1, 2022

We strongly reject the report produced by Amnesty International entitled: “Israel’s Apartheid Against Palestinians: Cruel System of Domination and Crime Against Humanity. ” The report is replete with discredited and inaccurate allegations, including a deeply wrong accusation of apartheid. It is particularly incumbent upon those of us who have condemned the Occupation as a moral travesty, advocated strongly for its end, and who have a lengthy record of advocating for the human rights of the Palestinian people including the right to self-determination, to express our profound disappointment and explicit condemnation of this report.

This report reflects Amnesty’s inability to comprehend the history, context, and nuance of the situation in Israel and the Palestinian Authority, or the very real threats to Israel’s survival and security that it has faced from its very founding. The report comes at a moment when Israel is making significant diplomatic progress with its Arab neighbors via the Abraham Accords and has seen the robust public political participation of its Arab/Palestinian citizens who make up twenty percent of its population. The report also comes at a moment when antisemitism worldwide is rising, and we are deeply concerned that this report will encourage those who seek to fan its flames.

Crucially, the term “apartheid” comes with a false equivalency to the institutions of formal and rigid segregation, denial of political and social rights, and basic dehumanization practiced by the South African regime over decades. Whatever Amnesty’s intent to differentiate the usage of apartheid from its most common association with South Africa, they have failed. Those who seek to delegitimize Israel’s very existence will cite this report as equating Israel with South Africa as an apartheid state to justify encouraging anti-Zionism and antisemitism.

Amnesty’s failures to address Israel’s legitimate security concerns and the very real genocidal threats it faces; its call for a full return of refugees and for reparations; its support for BDS and the economic and diplomatic isolation of Israel; its implication that Israel’s very founding and continuation as a Jewish State was a violation of the Apartheid Convention; its failure to place any responsibility on the PA for the change of conditions that could allow for greater rights and safety for all; and the failure to recognize that only a two state solution can best resolve the concerns addressed in this report—all endanger the existence of a Jewish democratic State of Israel.

As the largest religious and Zionist Movement in Jewish life in North America, committed to Israel’s Jewish as well as its democratic character which must ensure the civil, political, and human rights of all citizens, we call on our governments in the U.S. and Canada to reject the central premise of this report, and to continue the important work of fostering the conditions for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President, Union for Reform Judaism

Rabbi Josh Weinberg, Vice President, Israel and Reform Zionism, Union for Reform Judaism

Jennifer Kaufman, Chair, North American Board of Trustees of the Union for Reform Judaism

Rabbi Hara Person, Chief Executive, Central Conference of American Rabbis

Rabbi Lewis Kamrass, President, Central Conference of American Rabbis

Cantor Claire Franco, President, American Conference of Cantors

Rachel Roth, Chief Operating Officer, American Conference of Cantors

January 31, 2022

The Central Conference of American Rabbis mourns the death of its past president, Rabbi Simeon J. Maslin, z”l. His colleagues will miss the extraordinary scholarship, his gorgeous singing voice, his cherubic smile with a gleam in his eye, and the way that he made each rabbi and—indeed, any person with whom he was speaking—feel that they were the only person in the room.

Rabbi Maslin, known to his colleagues as “Shim,” was the editor of Gates of Mitzvah—Sha’arei Mitzvah, A Guide to the Jewish Life Cycle, published by CCAR Press. That book is a sterling example of Shim’s ability to draw on his deep learning and rich Orthodox upbringing to communicate in a language that was accessible to a wide array of contemporary progressive Jews.

Rabbi Maslin was the Rabbi Emeritus at Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. He had earlier served congregations in Curacao and Chicago, remaining particularly connected to the Curacao congregation and community throughout his life. As CCAR President, he advocated for rabbinic service in congregations of the World Union for Progressive Judaism.

The CCAR extends condolences to Shim’s beloved wife Judy, to their children and to all of their family. Judy was integral to every aspect of Shim’s rabbinate, including his CCAR presidency, and he was delighted when she co-edited Married to the Rabbi: Sixty Spouses of Retired Reform Rabbis in Their Own Words.

We also extend condolences to Rabbi Maslin’s successor, Rabbi Lance J. Sussman, and to all of his congregational family at Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel. The congregation has honored his long service with the creation upon his death of the Rabbi Simeon Maslin KI Distinguished Speakers Fund. The memory of Rabbi Simeon J. Maslin is a blessing to us all.

Rabbi Lewis Kamrass
President

Rabbi Hara E. Person
Chief Executive
Central Conference of American Rabbis