May 17, 2023

The Central Conference of American Rabbis grieves the continuing scourge of gun violence in the United States. Mass murders have become too numerous to name. All too often, troubled people, espousing extremist ideology, perpetrate mass tragedy while wielding semiautomatic weapons intended for military use. These murders happen so often that American society risks becoming numb. Yet each mass casualty event is tragic. These events end the lives of human beings created in God’s image, injuring others, and plunge families and communities into mourning. Survivors have to deal with this tragic loss and many experience trauma for years. Every American community is plagued by gun violence. Each time a single life is lost—by murder, suicide, or accident—a Divine light on Earth is extinguished.  
 
The evidence is clear: societies throughout the world, similar to the United States in every way except for the number of guns in circulation per capita, have dramatically lower rates of gun death.  
 
Reform rabbis affirm the efficacy of prayer. We do pray for the souls of victims, for the healing of those injured, and that grieving families and communities may find comfort. As people of faith, we know that prayer alone does not suffice. Judaism teaches that action—above all, action to save lives—is required alongside prayer.  
 
Many elected officials have declared mental illness to be the primary problem leading to gun violence. Even as we affirm that the vast majority of those who struggle with mental illness are not dangerous, we acknowledge that the United States does suffer from a mental health crisis. Reform rabbis call on federal, state, and local governments to enhance access to mental health care and to enact laws that empower judges to remove firearms from the possession of individuals who present potential danger to themselves or others.  
 
Above all, common sense legislation is urgently needed. Nobody, without exception, should be permitted to purchase a firearm without a thorough background check. Civilians should not have access to military-grade weapons.  
 
The time has long since passed for America to “choose life, that you and your children may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19).   

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

April 10, 2023

The Central Conference of American Rabbis deplores Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk’s ruling to invalidate the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone twenty-three years ago. Since 2000, millions of Americans have relied upon mifepristone as part of a safe regimen to terminate a pregnancy. Mifepristone is essential to reproductive justice in America. This crucial drug is currently the choice of more than half of Americans who seek abortion care. 

Reform rabbis applaud Judge Thomas O. Rice’s nearly simultaneous ruling, which contradicts Judge Kacsmaryk’s opinion. Judge Rice’s decision prohibits the F.D.A. from “any action to remove mifepristone from the market or otherwise cause the drug to become less available” in the eighteen states whose attorneys general joined the case before him. 

We learn in Torah, “Justice, justice shall you pursue” (Deuteronomy 16:20). Our commentators explain that the repetition of the word “justice” teaches us that the establishment of a just society requires not only just rulings, but a just judicial process. Judge Kacsmaryk’s ruling is an unjust result grounded in an unjust process. The judge’s bias is evident in the use of ideological rather than clinical language of his ruling, such as his reference to embryos and fetuses as “unborn children.” Congress has granted the FDA the authority to assess a medication’s safety and efficacy. More than 100 scientific studies have found mifepristone to be safe. Judge Kacsmaryk usurps both legislative and executive branch authority by substituting his personal judgment for that of the F.D.A. and scientists. 

The CCAR is grateful that President Biden, Attorney General Garland, and the F.D.A. have vowed to appeal Judge Kacsmaryk’s appalling and non-scientific ruling. We pray that their appeals will meet with success, and commit to continuing to work for reproductive justice.  

Rabbi Erica Asch 
President 

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

March 28, 2023

We are relieved PM Netanyahu has finally responded to months of protests by nearly every sector of Israeli society that vigorously opposed the government’s judicial revolution. However, this temporary pause has come at an exorbitant price. To keep his fragile coalition intact, Netanyahu struck a deal with National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to create a “national guard” that would fall under his authority. The formation of a civilian militia, which falls outside the scope of the Israeli police and under the stewardship of a far-right extremist leader like Ben-Gvir, is a threat to Israel’s democracy and civil security.   

Netanyahu’s concession to one of the most extreme members of his government proves that the Prime Minister is willing to risk the safety and security of Israel’s citizens to keep himself and his coalition in power. His cavalier dismissal of Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, who publicly voiced his concern for the dire security risk of an IDF shaken by so many reservists who are unwilling to volunteer under the threats of this judicial revolution, was another heedless blow to Israel’s stability and democratic foundation.    

We are also alarmed by the aggressive rhetoric invoked against the pro-democracy protesters by supporters of the judicial reform. This threat is especially acute now, just days before Pesach begins and during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when experienced, responsible policing is particularly essential to prevent violent clashes of all sorts.   

It was our hope that Netanyahu and his government would listen to the calls of Israelis and supporters of Israel across the globe to put an end to this reckless legislation and move Israel forward as a democracy. With hundreds of thousands of Israelis calling for reform, this could have been a watershed moment for the Israeli government to firmly establish Israel’s separation of powers and judicial independence, potentially opening the door to creating a formal constitution. While the delay is welcomed, dialogue is encouraged, and compromise is required, we must continue to press to ensure that this pause is used to strengthen the rule of law, an independent judiciary, and a supreme court that continues to be a staunch defender of human and civil rights.    

As Israelis have protested in the streets in unprecedented numbers we, as a North American Movement, will stand by our partners as they push for a path forward for Israel to remain a Jewish and democratic state. We will never stop fighting for the Israel we love: a Jewish homeland for all of us where every citizen has justice and equal rights.

As we approach Passover, the festival of freedom, we are inspired by the resilience and determination of our people throughout the ages. We will once again conclude our Passover Seders with the words L’Shana Ha’ba’ah b’Yerushalayim, Next Year in Jerusalem. May the next year in Jerusalem bring respect, diversity, and the safeguarding of democracy as we celebrate freedom for our people, and all peoples. 

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 

March 20, 2023

The Central Conference of American Rabbis deplores the violence and incitement directed at the hundreds of thousands of Israelis who have repeatedly taken to the streets in pro-democracy protests.    

We are appalled that National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and other extremists in the Israeli government have wrongly labeled peaceful protestors as “anarchists.” Yair Netanyahu, the Prime Minister’s son, has compared the protestors to Nazi Brownshirts. We know well that such incendiary words have led to bloodshed in the past and are unnecessarily inflaming an already tense situation. The incitement must stop now. We are grateful that Israel’s High Court of Justice has ruled that Ben-Gvir may no longer issue operational directives to the Israeli police, potentially mitigating his ability to order a violent response to those demonstrating in opposition to the judicial overhaul. 

Less than a month ago, hundreds of CCAR rabbis stood shoulder-to-shoulder with crowds of democracy-loving Israelis, protesting the proposed judicial coup. Reform rabbis saw with our own eyes: These demonstrations are peaceful. Our Israeli Reform rabbinic colleagues and members of their communities are joining protests every week, often more than once a week. These protestors are patriotic; the Israeli flag is their primary banner.   

Peaceful protestors in Israel are heeding the prophetic call: 

“Cry with a full throat, without restraint; 
Raise your voice like a shofar! 
Declare to My people their transgression, 
To the House of Jacob their sin.” (Isaiah 58:1).   

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

January 29, 2023

The Central Conference of American Rabbis condemns, in the strongest terms, the murder of at least eight Israelis at an East Jerusalem synagogue. We mourn the deaths of the victims, each of them a unique and precious soul created in the Divine image. We pray for the healing of the injured.

Security forces killed the gunman, but if others were involved in plotting this attack, they must be brought to justice.

Reform rabbis will continue to pray for and pursue peace and an end to these unjustifiable acts of terror—from North America, in Israel, and wherever we live and serve. As we prepare to gather in Israel for our annual convention in the weeks ahead, we look forward to joining together with all who are working for a just and lasting peace. Every person living between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea deserves to live and to worship in peace and security.

Sha’alu sh’lom Yerushalayim! “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!” (Psalms 122:6).

Rabbi Lewis Kamrass
President

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

January 9, 2023

The Central Conference of American Rabbis is committed to the principles of democracy in North America, in Israel, and around the world. In addition to the free exercise of voting rights, those principles include the right, and even the responsibility, to hold democratically elected leaders to account. In that spirit, we join with our Israeli colleagues and millions of Israelis from north to south, who have significant concerns about the government coalition established in recent days by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.  

The new Israeli government coalition, composed of the Likud Party as well as ultra-Orthodox and extremist parties, has been established by a coalition agreement that violates central values of Judaism—above all, K’lal Yisrael, the unity of the diverse Jewish community, both within Israel and worldwide; and ahavat ha-ger, loving the non-Israelite in our midst.  

This new government threatens to attenuate the very democracy by which it was propelled into office. Vowing to leverage a majority vote in the Knesset to overturn any decision of the High Court of Justice, the coalition threatens minority rights that are central to any democracy. The rights of Israel’s women, ethnic and religious minorities, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and Reform and Conservative Jews are particularly at risk. 

The coalition agreement places key government offices into the hands of extremists who support acts of terror against Arab citizens of Israel and Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank, who aim to undermine basic democratic principles, and who celebrate their own forms of hatred, including homophobia. Moreover, at the very moment that Ukrainian Jews and their families are seeking refuge in the Jewish State, the new government promises to limit the immigration rights of tremendous numbers of Jewish people who are not considered Jews by ultra-Orthodox rabbis.  This violates the foundational value of the “ingathering of the exiles.” 

Next month, Reform rabbis will gather in Israel in large numbers for the annual convention of our Central Conference of American Rabbis, held in Israel every seventh year. We will go to Israel to be in solidarity with our Israeli rabbinic colleagues and the communities they serve at their hour of deepest concern and this time of marginalization. We will go to Israel to more deeply understand the challenges facing the State of Israel, all of its citizens, and others who are subject to its rule. We will go to Israel to speak truth to powerful government leaders. We will go to Israel to express our solidarity with all Israelis who support democracy, who uphold K’lal Yisrael, and who love the stranger in our midst.

“For the sake of Zion, [we] will not be silent” (Isaiah 62:1).

Rabbi Lewis Kamrass, President
Rabbi Hara E. Person, Chief Executive
Central Conference of American Rabbis

December 14, 2022

The Central Conference of American Rabbis is alarmed by the increasing normalization of antisemitism in American public discourse. The most painful moments in Jewish history teach that antisemitic rhetoric leads to violence. We are all too aware of the surge in antisemitic incidents since 2017, as documented by the Anti-Defamation League. Failure to reverse the current trend risks even greater danger.  

Reform rabbis call on all Americans to raise their voices in opposition to antisemitism—whatever its source, in all the ugly forms it takes. We urge social media platforms to enforce strong safeguards against all hate speech, including antisemitism. We commend President Biden’s establishment of an interagency working group to counter antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism, and related forms of bias and discrimination. We applaud those who courageously speak out against antisemitism, and we welcome opportunities to partner with others to counter hate of all kinds.  

CCAR rabbis will continue to speak out clearly to combat antisemitism. At the same time, Reform rabbis and the communities we serve will most resolutely resist antisemitism with joyful fidelity to our faith. We pray that the lights of Chanukah will pierce the darkness that increasingly pervades the world with hatred. 

Rabbi Lewis Kamrass, President
Rabbi Hara E. Person, Chief Executive
Central Conference of American Rabbis

November 14, 2022

Jews around the world are experiencing a rise in antisemitism on a scale not seen in nearly 80 years. As such, it is deeply disturbing to see members of Israel’s likely new governing coalition advancing an effort to shun those worldwide who identify as Jews—including those who are fleeing horrific violence, persecution, and discrimination based on their Jewishness—either through revoking recognition of Reform, Conservative, and modern Orthodox conversions or abolishing the Law of Return’s grandchild clause.

As the negotiations are well underway for Israel’s next governing coalition, we are deeply concerned about threats to overturn the Israeli Supreme Court ruling recognizing non-Orthodox conversions in Israel and the Diaspora through the modification of the Law of Return to prevent non-halakhic Jews from immigrating to Israel or the passage of a new law granting the rabbinate a monopoly regarding conversion in Israel.  

The “grandchild clause,” inserted in 1970 to the Law of Return, [1] was included not only to encourage interfaith couples to make aliyah, but also to ensure that any person who would have been subject to persecution, arrest, internment, and death under the Nuremberg laws’ definition of Jewishness would subsequently be afforded the protection of the Jewish state. It would be a true hillul hashem (a desecration of God’s name) to refuse refuge to Jews in need and betray the vision of Israel’s founders.  

The proposed removal of the grandchild clause from the Law of Return by the Religious Zionism Party is offensive and a serious violation of the sacred bond the State of Israel has established with Jews around the world. The State of Israel must continue to be a safe refuge that will welcome all members of the extended Jewish family who are persecuted or just want to live their lives in Israel, contributing to the vibrancy and growth of a modern Israel in their ancestral homeland.

Not only would this proposal cause a huge rift between Israel and Diaspora Jewry; it would also undermine a point of pride for the Israeli government, which has welcomed thousands of Jewish Ukrainian refugees to Israel—many of whom qualify based on this critical grandchild clause.

CONVERSION 

In March 2021, the Israeli High Court of Justice ruled that anyone who converts to Judaism in Israel under the auspices of the Reform and Conservative movements must be recognized as a Jew for the purpose of the Law of Return and is thus entitled to Israeli citizenship. Changing the Law of Return or passing a new Conversion Law limiting the recognition of conversion to only those whose conversion was sanctioned by the state could completely destroy the decades-long process that led to this critical ruling, barring Reform and Conservative conversions in Israel. This would estrange hundreds of new immigrants from Judaism and could leave many without status or citizenship.

As a Zionist Movement, we affirm the critical importance of Israel as the home of the entire Jewish people—those who were born Jewish and those who became Jewish by choice. We affirm the national ideal of Israel as the homeland of all Jews and a haven for all who identify with the Jewish people.

As the largest Jewish Movement in North America, we call on the incoming Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to reject any proposals to alter the status of non-Orthodox conversions—both in Israel and abroad—and ensure that any changes to the Law of Return are not considered as part of the negotiations. 

BACKGROUND

According to the Law of Return, naturalization rights are afforded to anyone who has one Jewish grandparent. In 1970, the following amendment was issued: 

[1] “The rights of a Jew under this Law and the rights of an Oleh under the Nationality Law, 5710 – 1950, as well as the rights of an Oleh under any other enactment, are also vested in a child and grandchild of a Jew, the spouse of a Jew, the spouse of a child of a Jew and the spouse of a grandchild of a Jew, except for a person who has been a Jew and has voluntarily changed his religion.”

The Law of Return, 5730-1970: 2nd Amendment

As Prof. David Ellenson and Adv. Nicole Maor wrote: 

“In issuing the amendment to the Law of Return, the Knesset circumvented the halakhic definition of “who is a Jew” and granted eligibility for immediate Israeli citizenship to non-Jewish spouses of Jews as well as to the progeny of even one Jewish parent or grandparent and their spouses. This amendment to the Law of Return gave expression to the national ideal of Israel as the homeland of all Jews and a haven for all who share in Jewish destiny by virtue of their identification with the Jewish people.” 

(Journal of Israel Studies Volume 27, Number 2) 

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

Central Conference of American Rabbis
Rabbi Lewis Kamrass (he/him), 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

November 2, 2022

Today, we affirm Israel’s robust democracy, reflected in the more than 71% turnout for the fifth election in four years. We love Israel and are committed to the vision of Israel as a democratic, pluralistic Jewish state.   

Benjamin Netanyahu is likely to become prime minister, and we congratulate him on his unprecedented sixth term. Additionally, we commend current prime minister Yair Lapid for announcing that, should Netanyahu prevail, there will be a peaceful, democratic transition.    

As Netanyahu assembles his coalition, we are profoundly concerned about promises of cabinet positions he has made to Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, the leaders of the ultra-nationalist Religious Zionism party. Their platforms and past actions indicate that they would curtail the authority of Israel’s Supreme Court and inhibit the rights of Israeli Arabs, Palestinians, members of the LGBTQ+ community and large segments of Jews who are non-Orthodox. Including Ben Gvir and Smotrich in the government will likely jeopardize Israel’s democracy and will force the country to reckon with its place on the world stage. It will almost certainly lead to challenging moments in U.S.-Israel relations and will be painful for Jews worldwide who will not see the Israel they love and believe in reflected in these leaders, nor in the policies they pursue.  

Our commitment to Zionism is unwavering and we take some comfort knowing that our partner and colleague, Reform Rabbi Gilad Kariv, will remain a strong voice for democracy and pluralism as a member of the Knesset. We look forward to working closely with those across the political spectrum who share a commitment to the fundamental ideals enshrined in the Israeli Declaration of Independence. Together with the Israeli Reform Movement, we will navigate the coming period with fortitude, rooted in our belief in Israel’s future as a peaceful, democratic homeland for the Jewish people, no matter how they choose to worship or believe, and a place in which all its citizens—Jewish and Arab alike —are respected and can thrive.   

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

Central Conference of American Rabbis
Rabbi Lewis Kamrass (he/him), 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