Women of Reform Judaism and Religious Action Center Respond to Komen Reversal Regarding Planned Parenthood Foundation Reversal 02/03/2012
The following letter was just sent by Rabbi David Saperstein, Director,
Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and Rabbi Marla Feldman,
Executive Director, Women of Reform Judaism, to Ambassador Nancy Brinker,
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Susan G. Komen for the Cure
Dear Ambassador Brinker,
On behalf of the Union for Reform Judaism, whose 900 congregations
across North America encompass 1.5 million Reform Jews, the Central
Conference of American Rabbis, with membership of more than 1800 Reform
rabbis, and the Women of Reform Judaism, which represents more than
65,000 women in nearly 500 women’s groups in North America and around
the world, we thank you and the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure
Foundation for reevaluating and revising your new funding standards and
continuing to make women’s health a top national priority |
Voices for WRJ: 10 Shevat, 5772 02/03/2012
There are several well-known stories included in this week’s Torah
portion, B’shallah (Exodus 13:17-17:16): the parting of the Red Sea;
Miriam and the women dancing with timbrels; and the manna that God
provides to feed the Israelites in the wilderness. It is tempting to
write about these events that are so much a part of our Jewish history.
But, instead, I would like to focus on a few lines buried deep in the
parashah, that otherwise may easily be overshadowed by the previous
dramatic events. |
Women of Reform Judaism joins with the Religious Action Center in response to Komen's De-Funding of Planned Parenthood 02/01/2012
Rabbis Saperstein and Feldman: “We urge you to use your leadership in
Komen for the Cure to reinstate funding to PPFA for breast cancer
screening, to reconsider the standard by which the organization makes
funding decisions, and to continue to fight for the health and lives of
women everywhere.”
Contact: Sean Thibault or Katharine Nasielski
202.387.2800 | news@rac.org
Washington,
D.C., February 1, 2012- This afternoon, Rabbi David Saperstein,
Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and Rabbi
Marla Feldman, Executive Director of the Women of Reform Judaism, sent a
letter to Ambassador Nancy Brinker, the founder and CEO of Susan G.
Komen for the Cure. The full text of the letter can be accessed by clicking the headline. |
Voices for WRJ: 01/27/2012
This week’s Torah portion is Bo(Exodus 10:1-13:16). This is the story of
the final plagues imposed by God upon the Egyptians as Pharoah would
not respond to Moses’ and Aaron’s pleas to ‘let my people go.’ |
Voices for WRJ: 25 Tevet 5772 01/20/2012
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Resa S. Davids. Some of you are
my close friends, and when you hear the name “Resa” you might smile and
think of the last time we were together. You can certainly recall my
face, and you know about my passions and goals in life. Some of you are
acquaintances and colleagues, and you might be able to picture my face
in your mind’s eye. A few of you might even know me as “Mrs. Davids.”
Perhaps you were a student in the school where I served as assistant
principal. I wonder what you picture when you hear those dreaded words,
“Mrs. Davids wants to see you in her office.” |
Winter 2012 WRJ eNewsletter 01/17/2012
Read our newest enewsletter, hot off the press! Stories include a message from WRJ President, Lynn Magid Lazar, the first Executive Director's Report from Rabbi Marla J. Feldman, and an update on some wonderful work being done by our sisters in South Africa.
|
|
Voices for WRJ: 11 Tevet 5772 01/06/2012
Parasha Va y’chi is all about blessings. In it, we learn that Jacob
gives his sons the appropriate blessings that reflect his insight into
their personalities. He is a ruthless and thorough analyst, and
unbending in his honesty with his progeny. Jacob is fiercely proud of
his heritage and wants to insure his family’s connection to God. As he
evaluates each son’s character, Jacob envisions the destiny of each
tribe they lead and their potential legacy. |
Voices for WRJ: 4 Tevet, 5772 12/30/2011
When the elderly patriarch Jacob finally arrives in Egypt to be reunited
with his long, lost son Joseph, he brings his extended family with him.
Upon their arrival, Joseph (now vizier of Egypt) brings a few of his
brothers and his aging father to an audience with the Pharaoh. |
Voices for WRJ: 27 Kislev 5772 12/23/2011
Last week we celebrated Shabbat with 6,000 Reform Jews from around the
world: a powerfully spiritual moment in time that will continue to glow
in our minds and hearts and actions between this WRJ assembly/URJ
biennial and the next! |
Voices for WRJ: 20 Kislev, 5772 12/16/2011
This week’s Parasha has it all - justice, injustice, deception, and
dreams. What a bizarre combination! But it is a story with which we are
all familiar - we have either read it in Shul many times or seen the hit
musical. As WRJ’s 48th assembly is about dreams. I have chosen to focus
on that. |
Voices for WRJ: 13 Kislev, 5772 12/09/2011
Parashat Vayishlach begins and ends with scenes from the story of
Jacob’s life. Interrupting that narrative is a perplexing, troubling
section of text commonly known as the Rape of Dina. |
Voices for WRJ: 6 Kislev 5772 12/02/2011
Due to my busy life style, I sit at my desk on a lovely September
morning knowing that you will be reading this on a day further along on
the calendar. I begin with the thought of how fortunate I am to have the
opportunity to study Torah in order to compose a Shabbat message but
there are so many texts and websites that it often becomes overwhelming,
much like our daily ‘to do’ lists. |
Voices for WRJ: 28 Cheshvan 5772 11/25/2011
"A generation goes and a generation comes." (Ecclesiastes 1:4) So wrote
King Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes. With the death of our parents,
the torch is passed to us, a new generation. |
Voices for WRJ: 21 Cheshvan 5772 11/18/2011
As Shabbat approaches, we think about carving out time to re-focus on
what’s important. To arrive in this place, we must plan a journey.
Sometimes we physically travel to a special place for Shabbat, such as a
family gathering or WRJ event. (think: assembly in December!). Often,
we travel to other spaces. We travel from the week of obligations to a
Shabbat filled with rest, song, prayer, and learning. We take a journey,
not unlike our ancestors in the Book of Genesis. |
Voices for WRJ: 14 Cheshvan, 5772 11/11/2011
In 1982, psychology professor, Carol Gilligan published In a Different
Voice and described how women tend to prioritize sustaining
relationships when asked to make moral choices. Perhaps, that
description helps to account for our profound discomfort with this
week’s Torah portion, Va’yera, in which Sarah tells Abraham to cast out
her handmaid, Hagar, and Abraham’s first son, Ishmael (Gen. 21:9-10). As
an example of the healing power of “sisterhood,” Sarah’s actions
towards her maid are pretty disturbing. |
Voices for WRJ: Cheshvan 7 5772 11/04/2011
No two words resonate more deeply within the Jewish psyche than Lech
L’cha. God’s injunction to Abram to “Go forth” from his father’s
homeland involves much more than a physical journey. |
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Rabbi Marla J. Feldman Named WRJ Executive Director  10/31/2011
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
I am delighted to inform you that
Rabbi Marla Feldman has accepted the position of executive director of
Women of Reform Judaism, beginning January 2012. Rabbi Feldman is
currently the director of development of the Union for Reform Judaism.
Previously she served as the director of the Commission on Social Action
of Reform Judaism and the URJ Social Action Department. |
Voices for WRJ: 30 Tishrei 5772 10/28/2011
In the wake of the flood, God tells Noah and his family to “be fruitful
and multiply, and fill the earth.” Instead of filling the earth,
however, the people decide to settle in a valley in the land of Shinar
and build a city. They say, “Let us build a city with a tower that
reaches the sky…so that we can make a name for ourselves and not be
scattered over all the earth.” |
Voices for WRJ: 23 Tishrei 5772 10/21/2011
This week we celebrated Simchat Torah and are starting our yearly cycle
of Torah reading once again with the story of what happened “in the
beginning.” |