by Rabbi Alan Silverstein, PhD | President of Mercaz Olami (Representing the global Masorti/Conservative movement) Parallel to expanding Zionist activity among America’s Conservative Jews was the effort to establish a Conservative Jewish presence in Israel. Initially, the movement in Israel was very small, consisting only of Emet V’Emunah, the first Conservative synagogue in the country, established in […]
The very heart of this week’s Torah portion, Ḥayyei Sarah, is the story of finding a bride for our forefather Isaac. It’s quite surprising to see the extent of the Torah’s attention to finding him a wife so close on the heels of the tale of his near-sacrifice (‘akedat Yitzḥak) and in particular so soon […]
Unrelenting Attacks Against Jewish Students Intensify on Campus BACKGROUND – TALKING POINTS – ACTIONS – DISPELLING FALSEHOODS – STORIES Attacks Against Jewish Students Intensify Anti-Israel student encampments made page one headlines nationwide and led network newscasts last spring. Despite a lull in news coverage, hostility and violence against Jewish students continues to stoke fear and […]
“Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the soil.” The Hebrew word understood as “your brother” can be read (without its vowels) not in the singular, but in the plural: “Your brothers’ blood…,” the blood of our own brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers. The cries of widows and the tears of orphans […]
Amsterdam 2024: This is What ‘Globalize the Intifada’ Looks Like BACKGROUND – TALKING POINTS – ACTIONS – VOICES – STORIES Israel did not exist when the Holocaust brought death and destruction to Jews across Europe. Israel is now a nation capable of sending planes to Europe to rescue Jews in peril, and it recently did […]
by Rabbi Alan Silverstein, PhD | President of Mercaz Olami (Representing the global Masorti/Conservative movement) The initial effort to extend Conservative Judaism’s embrace of Zionism beyond the United States was launched by Rabbi Bernard Segal, who served as executive director of United Synagogue of America (later United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism) from 1953 to 1970. As noted […]
This year, “after the holidays” doesn’t represent a return to normal. As long as our enemies are fighting us and our hostages remain suffocating in Gaza, there is no “return” and no “normal.” Even when we arrive in the promised land (the day after the war), we cannot return to who we were before the […]
Unwavering Alliance: U.S.-Israel Cooperation Benefits Both Nations BACKGROUND – TALKING POINTS – ACTIONS – STORIES We value the feedback of our readers and invite you to please take 15 seconds to answer a few questions about this week’s edition by clicking the image right below the Actions to Consider section. In a time of global […]
“Noah” means rest, comfort. Consolation? .ותמלא הארץ חמס The land was overrun by hamas. Consolation? Does Hamas rest? The Midrash interprets hamas as theft. Theft of what by whom? Theft that justifies annihilation? In Genesis, God gave humans and animals “every plant and tree to eat.” He commanded the first human (“Adam”) on earth “to […]
by Rabbi Alan Silverstein, PhD | President of Mercaz Olami (Representing the global Masorti/Conservative movement) With Israeli statehood a reality, Conservative Judaism became a full-fledged Zionist movement. For JTS chancellor Louis Finkelstein, the commitment to Israel was personal as well; his daughter had settled and established a family in Jerusalem, with her father making visits year after […]