Central Conference of American Rabbis Commends United Methodist Church’s Rejection of Anti-Israel Initiatives

Friday, May 20, 2016

The Central Conference of American Rabbis gratefully commends the United Methodist Church, which embraced the Jewish State of Israel and its quest for peace at the Church’s recently-completed quadrennial General Conference.

As it has done repeatedly in the past, the United Methodist Church again rejected attempts of some of its institutional leadership to bring the denomination into the camp of those who reject the Jewish State of Israel through affiliation with the noxious Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign to delegitimize Israel. Then, in a most welcome, if unexpected, move, the General Conference made a dramatic statement to its anti-Israel leaders and to the world, when it voted to encourage Methodist boards and agencies to end their affiliation with the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, an organization that promotes BDS.

Like Reform rabbis, United Methodists are committed to peace in the Middle East, which can only be achieved by a two-state solution. Like Reform rabbis, United Methodists urge Palestinian and Israeli leaders to pursue that two-state solution ardently. Like Reform rabbis, United Methodists recognize both the need for a Jewish State of Israel to exist with peace and security and the legitimate national aspirations of the Palestinian people. Like Reform rabbis, United Methodists know that BDS harms the very people it claims to wish to help, namely the Palestinian people, while calling into question the very legitimacy of a Jewish State of Israel.

Reform rabbis across North America look forward to welcoming United Methodist delegates’ return from the General Conference with the warm embrace that characterizes the long-standing relationship between our religious groups and with renewed eagerness to work together for peace and justice here in North America, for Israelis and Palestinians, and for all the world.

Rabbi Denise L. Eger            Rabbi Steven A. Fox
President                             Chief Executive

Central Conference of American Rabbis

Central Conference of American Rabbis Applauds Attorney General’s Directive Forbidding Public School Discrimination against Transgender Students

Monday, May 16, 2016

The Central Conference of American Rabbis welcomes U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s advisory, which affirms that discrimination against transgender Americans is prohibited by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.   We have for years stated that discrimination against individuals based upon their gender or sexual orientation and identification is wrong, no matter how it is characterized in religious or social terms.  Thus we agree with Lynch and the Obama Administration that refusal to allow transgender Americans to use restrooms conforming to their gender identity is forbidden discrimination based on a person’s sex. We endorse the directive’s suggestion that the federal government would be duty-bound to withhold federal funds from educational institutions that would discriminate on the basis of gender identity, even if they were doing so in compliance with retrograde state law.

The Reform Rabbinate rejects the characterization of the controversy as being about “boys” or “men” in girls’ restrooms. Transgender women and girls are not boys or men—they’re women and girls. We further reject the proposition that people pose as transgender for the purpose of voyeurism or abuse in women’s restrooms. No case provides evidence to document these slanderous claims. To the contrary, ample evidence demonstrates that transgender women and girls face violence in men’s restrooms.

We condemn those state leaders — notably North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory and Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, though there are others — who would flout federal law and its supremacy to further their immoral discriminatory goals.

The CCAR has been at the forefront of advocating for LGBT rights for decades. In early 2015, we adopted a far-ranging Resolution on Transgender Rights, and we participated enthusiastically when our partner organization, the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), adopted a strong stand in support of transgender rights. Acting together, the CCAR and the URJ became the world’s first major religious movement to oppose such discrimination and to advocate for equality. We look forward to the day when a Federal Equality Act will clearly and definitively protect equal rights for Americans, including all LGBT Americans, for we are all created exactly as we are supposed to be, all in the divine image.

Rabbi Denise L. Eger                Rabbi Steven A. Fox
President                                 Chief Executive

Central Conference of American Rabbis

Reform Movement Leaders Speak Out Against State-Level Anti-LGBT Legislation

May 2, 2016

In response to numerous anti-LGBT laws being introduced, and in many cases passed, at the state-level, the leadership of the Union for Reform Judaism, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and the North American Federation of Temple Youth issued the following statement:

“As leaders in the Reform Jewish Movement, we are deeply troubled by the sharp rise in legislation being proposed and in too many cases passed at the state level that affirms rights to discriminate against the LGBT community. We are especially concerned that such legislation is often falsely justified by appeals to religious freedom rights.

We know personally and professionally how the United States, through our Constitution and laws, has protected, ensured and enhanced religious freedom and religious diversity. Such freedom has allowed the Jewish people – and people of all faiths – to flourish in this country to a degree nearly unmatched anywhere else in the world. As Jews remain a religious minority in every state, we also know the importance of maintaining a balance between religious freedom and the many other rights and freedoms that define who we are as Americans. Any laws that aim to impinge on or imperil an individual’s fundamental dignity and humanity must be rejected.

Over the past few weeks, legislation has been introduced and/or become law in Georgia, North Carolina, Mississippi and Tennessee, to name only a few states, that would, in all or in part:

• Irrevocably tilt the balance in favor of religious freedom against laws that protect against discrimination, without even the opportunity to assess the appropriate equilibrium for each situation;
• Permit taxpayer-funded discrimination, especially in employment; and
• Target LGBT people by overturning existing non-discrimination protections, or render this community even more vulnerable, such as by barring transgender or gender-nonconforming people using facilities of the gender with which they identify.

We stand united against these proposals, and any similar legislation at the state or federal level. These bills defy our values as Reform Jews and as Americans. In this Passover season, as we celebrate liberation and redemption around our seder tables and in our communities, we are obligated to taste maror, the bitter herb, to feel the oppression that the Israelites faced in Egypt. The story, rituals and values of Passover remind us of the many people in our society who still know the bitterness of reprehensible discrimination, and that we must act to ensure that all people are treated equally, with dignity and respect.

That such harmful state-level bills are being introduced clearly demonstrates the need for federal non-discrimination protections for the LGBT community. We call on Congress to pass the Equality Act, which would explicitly prohibit discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations, federal funding, education, credit and jury selection based on sexual orientation and gender identity. These long-overdue protections for the LGBT community would bring us closer to wholeness, justice and peace for all people.”

Central Conference of American Rabbis Endorses the Revolution on Moral Values Tour

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

The Central Conference of American Rabbis is pleased to endorse the Revolution on Moral Values Tour, led by our friend and teacher, the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, the architect of the Moral Monday Movement, along with Rev. Dr. James Forbes, Sister Simone Campbell, and Rev. Dr. Traci Blackmon. In response to draconian laws enacted in recent years and indeed in recent weeks, threatening justice and equality in and beyond North Carolina, the Revolution on Moral Values Tour, sponsored by the Repairers of the Breach, Drum Major Institute, and Healing of the Nation, seeks “thousands of clergy” of all faiths to join together as “repairers of the breach” and “restorers of our communities.”

Reform rabbis and the communities we lead have always been at the forefront of the struggles for economic justice, racial justice, and LGBTQ equality, which are among the issues that animate the Revolution on Moral Values Tour. We particularly commend our colleagues in North Carolina who have spoken out and devoted themselves to justice in a harsh and intolerant environment.

We urge all religious people to come together to combat discrimination wherever it lives, and particularly when it is falsely justified in the name of religious liberty. We call upon all religious people to unite under the Revolution on Moral Values Tour banner and others, speaking out and mobilizing our communities to strive for justice and equality for all.

Rabbi Denise L. Eger                        Rabbi Steven A. Fox
President                                         Chief Executive

Central Conference of American Rabbis

Reform Movement Response to News That Donald Trump Will Speak At AIPAC Policy Conference 

Monday, March 14, 2016

The Reform Jewish Movement has always worked very closely with AIPAC. We respect completely its decision to invite all the viable candidates for president to speak at its upcoming Policy Conference. By inviting the candidates to speak, AIPAC does not support or oppose their candidacies, nor does it condone or commend their policies. AIPAC has, as it must, a singular focus: the U.S./Israel relationship. AIPAC’s intent – and its responsibility – is to better understand the candidates’ views on issues that impact the U.S./Israel relationship.

We know the invitation to candidate Donald Trump was issued in that spirit, and we therefore understand AIPAC’s decision to extend the invitation. Mr. Trump is the unarguable frontrunner for the Republican nomination, and he has not yet spoken clearly about his views on U.S./Israel issues. The AIPAC Policy Conference will give him an opportunity to do so, just as it does for other candidates.

At the same time, we cannot ignore the many issues on which Mr. Trump has spoken clearly. His campaign has been replete with naked appeals to bigotry, especially against Hispanics and Muslims. Previous comments he has made – and not disavowed – have been offensive to women, people of color, and other groups. In recent days, increasingly, he appears to have gone out of his way to encourage violence at his campaign events.

At every turn, Mr. Trump has chosen to take the low road, sowing seeds of hatred and division in our body politic.

Mr. Trump’s extreme anti-immigrant rhetoric reminds us that our own ancestors’ access to American shores of freedom and promise were once blocked, with deadly consequences. When he speaks hatefully of Mexicans or Muslims, for example, we recall a time when anti-Semitism put Jews at deathly danger, even in the United States. We cannot remain silent, for we have been commanded to “remember the heart of the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”

His approach to immigration, his proposal to ban Muslims from entering our country, his comments speaking favorably about the use of torture, and his general demeanor of disrespect for the office he now seeks are all anathema to our fundamental values. The values we hold most dear – justice, mercy, compassion, peace – are altogether absent from Mr. Trump’s statements.

The great sage Rabbi Hillel offered us guidance centuries ago, saying, “Do not do unto others what you would not want done to you.” Jewish history is replete with times when political leaders, both at home and abroad, demonized the Jewish community much as Mr. Trump now demonizes Muslims, Hispanics, and African-Americans. We, the leadership of the Reform Jewish Movement, believe we must speak up against such hate speech.

As a religious movement, we do not endorse or oppose any candidates – and we do not do so now. We have often listened to and, more importantly, engaged with candidates and officeholders whose views sharply differ from our own; such interactions are the essence of our political system. But Mr. Trump is not simply another candidate. In his words and actions, he makes clear that he is engaging in a new form of political discourse, and so the response to his candidacy demands a new approach, as well.

The Reform Movement and our leaders will engage with Mr. Trump at the AIPAC Policy Conference in a way that affirms our nation’s democracy and our most cherished Jewish values. We will find an appropriate and powerful way to make our voices heard.

###

Union for Reform Judaism Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President, and Daryl Messinger, Chair of the Board

Central Conference of American Rabbis Rabbi Denise L. Eger, President, and Rabbi Steven A. Fox, Chief Executive

Central Conference of American Rabbis Condemns Israel Tourism Minister Yariv Levin’s Comments on Reform Judaism

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

The Central Conference of American Rabbis calls upon all Israeli and American Jews to come together and stand against Minister Levin’s comments on American Reform Jews.

Minister Levin is entitled to his private beliefs. However, as a minister in the government of all Israel, he has an obligation to support the religious practice of all Israelis. His remarks on the supposed waning presence of U.S. Reform Jews reveal a bias against a religious movement that includes over a million and a half people.

CCAR members work hard every day to draw our communities ever closer to Torah and to the Jewish state we love. Words like Minister Levin’s can only serve to alienate members of the communities we serve from Israel. His remarks are particularly offensive as CCAR heads to its annual convention, to be held later this month in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, where American Reform rabbis will be meeting with our Israeli counterparts as well as with representatives of the Israeli government. The conference, which demonstrates American Reform Jews’ deep commitment to the well-being of Israel, will feature CCAR members participating in the Tel Aviv Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K, or 5K, raising money to benefit Reform Judaism in Israel. Alongside CCAR’s repeated statements and actions in support of the Jewish state over decades, the conference demonstrates that Minister Levin’s words disparaging Reform Judaism could not be further from the truth.

Rabbi Denise Eger      Rabbi Steven A. Fox
President                  Chief Executive

Central Conference of American Rabbis

Central Conference of American Rabbis Condemns Israel Tourism Minister Yariv Levin’s Comments on Reform Judaism

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

The Central Conference of American Rabbis calls upon all Israeli and American Jews to come together and stand against Minister Levin’s comments on American Reform Jews.

Minister Levin is entitled to his private beliefs. However, as a minister in the government of all Israel, he has an obligation to support the religious practice of all Israelis. His remarks on the supposed waning presence of U.S. Reform Jews reveal a bias against a religious movement that includes over a million and a half people.

CCAR members work hard every day to draw our communities ever closer to Torah and to the Jewish state we love. Words like Minister Levin’s can only serve to alienate members of the communities we serve from Israel. His remarks are particularly offensive as CCAR heads to its annual convention, to be held later this month in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, where American Reform rabbis will be meeting with our Israeli counterparts as well as with representatives of the Israeli government. The conference, which demonstrates American Reform Jews’ deep commitment to the well-being of Israel, will feature CCAR members participating in the Tel Aviv Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K, or 5K, raising money to benefit Reform Judaism in Israel. Alongside CCAR’s repeated statements and actions in support of the Jewish state over decades, the conference demonstrates that Minister Levin’s words disparaging Reform Judaism could not be further from the truth.

Rabbi Denise Eger      Rabbi Steven A. Fox
President                  Chief Executive

Central Conference of American Rabbis

CCAR Statement Opposing the So-Called

“First Amendment Defense Act”

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

The Central Conference of American Rabbis adamantly opposes the so-called “First Amendment Defense Act,” introduced by Senator Mike Lee as S. 1598 and by Rep. Raul Labrador as H.R. 2802. The proposal would advance no First Amendment freedom, but would grant a license to discriminate to individuals, organizations, and corporations. The primary victims would be lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Americans.

Better termed a “Federal License to Discriminate” bill– in the words of our partner, Lambda Legal– the proposal would leave President Obama’s Executive Order 1126 unenforceable. That Order protects some 16.5 million LGBTQ employees of federal contractors from job discrimination. Moreover, under this Bill, a government contractor could fire an employee with a strong performance record after learning that the employee had married a partner of the same sex; and an employer could refuse to grant FMLA leave to an employee to care for a legally married spouse. Worst of all, a federal government employee could refuse to process a claim, benefit, or service to which a married same-sex couple is entitled under federal law and to which the Supreme Court has held the couple is constitutionally entitled.

Reform rabbis do not merely oppose misusing religious freedom to facilitate discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. We affirm LGBTQ Jews and all human beings as created as God intended, b’tzelem Elohim, in the Divine image.

Nobody takes a back seat to Reform rabbis and our Reform Movement partners in pursuing American religious liberty. We will not stand idly by while our most cherished American freedom is perverted in order to discriminate.

Rabbi Denise L. Eger        Rabbi Steven A. Fox
President                           Chief Executive

CCAR Statement Supporting the President’s Executive Action on Gun Violence

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

The Central Conference of American Rabbis applauds the President’s decision to use his Executive power to act to reduce gun violence in America.

As the Federal government is the largest purchaser of weapons in the nation, we believe that they should lead the way in demanding changes from the companies that it purchases weapons from. We affirm the idea that when local, state, and federal officials demand these changes, the manufacturers of weapons will respond.

We are proud of our members who have worked with leaders of many faiths across the country to sign on 82 local and state officials to date. We continue to call upon jurisdictions across the country to use their purchasing power in this way.

Today, the President took a step to join them.

We join the President in calling upon the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, and Justice to research “smart gun” and other gun-safety technologies, and to begin procurement of appropriate gun safety technology for federal personnel.

We support the President’s call for the research, development, and procurement of these technologies, which we believe have the potential to reduce accidental shootings, suicides, and the incidents of officer-involved killings.

We reaffirm our support for the Do Not Stand Idly By campaign, which has been working for nearly three years to marshal the purchasing power of public officials, who collectively buy 40% of the guns in this country each year, to press gun manufacturers to create safer distribution systems and safe gun technology.

We believe that Congress should use its power to act, as well, on this critical issue of our day, and that in its failure to do so, it is failing in its responsibility to keep Americans safe from the scourge of gun violence.

The steps the President announced today are a good start, but there is much more that the President can do.

We call upon the President to press gun manufacturers to create safer distribution networks that can dramatically reduce gun trafficking, and to demand that manufacturers stop doing business with the small percentage of gun dealers who are responsible for the majority of sales of crime guns in America.

Our faith’s tradition calls upon us not to stand idly by while our neighbors bleed. Reducing gun violence requires more than prayer. It requires powerful action. We will work with the President and other public officials to reduce gun violence in America.

Rabbi Denise L. Eger                  Rabbi Steven A. Fox
President                                   Chief Executive

Central Conference of American Rabbis

CCAR Resolution on Gun Violence – Released August 11, 2015

CCAR Statement Condemning Anti-Muslim Bigotry

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

The Central Conference of American Rabbis condemns anti-Muslim bigotry worldwide, in America, and in the campaign for President of the United States. Specifically, we are horrified by Donald J. Trump’s proposal that all Muslims be barred even from visiting the United States, let alone immigrating, especially as refugees are escaping persecution by the very forces that threaten the western world.

Discrimination on the basis of religion is un-American, unconstitutional, and dangerous. Jewish history has taught us that those who will discriminate on the basis of religion threaten the lives and well-being of countless human beings. As Jews, we know the heart of the stranger, and we will not stand idly by when members of another religious group are singled out as strangers.

Rabbi Denise L. Eger       Rabbi Steven A. Fox
President                        Chief Executive

Central Conference of American Rabbis