Reform Judaism

American and Israeli Reform rabbis pray at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's old city, February 25, 2016.

Israel’s Top Court Could Rule Within Weeks on Recognition of non-Orthodox Conversions

Currently, residents of Israel who convert through local branches of non-Orthodox movements are ineligible for citizenship under the Law of Return and can face deportation

Chief Rabbinate officials, Israel, November 1, 2009.

Secret Consultations Behind Israeli Chief Rabbinate's Blacklist of Diaspora Rabbis to Be Made Public

Jerusalem District Court rules in favor of progressive Orthodox movement that demanded transparency in decision-making process

Yizhar Hess, executive director of the Conservative movement in Israel, left, and Rabbi Gilad Kariv, in pre-social-distancing times.

Rabbis Forced to Take Pay Cuts, Unpaid Leave as Coronavirus Hits Israel's non-Orthodox Movements

Heads of Reform and Conservative movements acknowledge ‘very challenging times’ as COVID-19 heavily impacts finances of non-state-funded organizations

The 35th World Zionist Congress in Jerusalem, June 22, 2006.

New Orthodox Party in U.S. Is Big Surprise of World Zionist Congress Election

Despite Reform movement gains, progressive bloc loses ground

Opinion The Battle of the Beit Midrash Has Been Decided

Congregants praying at the Friday night service in Temple B'nai Israel, Galveston.

What Texas Taught Me and My Israeli Dad About Being Jewish in America Today

A trip to Galveston offers a fascinating insight into how immigration has become a touchstone even for the country’s smallest Jewish communities

In this Feb. 25, 2016 file photo, American and Israeli Reform rabbis pray at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

‘Birthright for Moms’ Revises Policy Following Haaretz Report: Non-Orthodox Rabbis Now Welcome on Its Trips

Change comes after Momentum faces questions over rejection of prominent Conservative rabbi who planned to lead group of women on trip to Israel

A Jewish woman dons tfilin at the Western Wall in Jerusalem

2010-2019 The Decade Israel’s Reform and Conservative Jews Fought an Uphill Battle

The non-Orthodox movements have experienced impressive growth in their number of congregations since 2010. However, the Chief Rabbinate’s grip on matters of religion and state is proving hard to loosen | 2010-2019 roundup: Part 2

Immigrants from France arrive in Israel, June 21, 2018.

In Israel’s Top Court, a Test Case for the Rights of Patrilineal Jews

Widows and widowers of those born to Jewish fathers and non-Jewish mothers are being denied the immigration rights afforded to those who were married to matrilineal Jews — and it could have consequences for American Jews

A Reform movement Shabbat service at the congregation for Russian speakers in Ramat Gan.

The Russians Are Coming: Israel’s New Crop of Reform Rabbis

A growing number of immigrants from the former Soviet Union are joining — and leading — Reform congregations in Israel

A gender-segregated event at a municipal park in Afula, in northern Israel, on Wednesday, August 15, 2019.

Opinion Orthodox Yes, Suckers No

Rabbi Gilad Kariv in Ramat Gan. “For the first time in many years, there is a real opportunity to create political change,” says the 45-year-old, running for the Democratic Union.

The Reform Leader Running to Be Israel's First non-Orthodox Rabbi in Knesset

Rabbi Gilad Kariv is hoping fourth time’s a charm when he stands in Israel’s do-over election for the Democratic Union. He says issues of religion and state could be a game-changer on September 17

Hebrew Union College president Andrew Rehfeld.

Reform Movement Leader: Equating Intermarriage to ‘Second Holocaust’ Was ‘Needlessly Inflammatory’

In first interview with Israeli press, HUC president Andrew Rehfeld slams comments of Israel's education minister

Worshippers, including Reeva Forman, right, at Temple Israel synagogue in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, during a Shabbat service in May 2019.

South Africa's Oldest Reform Synagogue Is a Place Where Few Jews Dare Venture

Once South Africa’s top model, Reeva Forman now leads a model Reform synagogue in the hardscrabble Hillbrow neighborhood — and she has no plans to abandon her community

Reform and Conservative rabbis protest at the Western Wall, November, 2016.

In First, State Will Pay Salaries of non-Orthodox City Rabbis in Israel

The official application, however, refers to them as ‘community leaders’ rather than rabbis, with wages significantly lower than their Orthodox counterparts

FILE PHOTO: Clashes between ultra-Orthodox rabbis and Conservative and Reform activists at the Western Wall, November 2, 2016.

Following Complaint, Senior Rabbinical Judge Backs Out of Event to ‘Reclaim’ Western Wall From Conservative, Reform Jews

Rabbi Eliezer Igra withdrew from the event organized by far-right group after Conservative movement leaders filed official complaint against him

Meet the Korean-American Woman Leading Jewish Renewal Movement

‘I didn’t have the normal resumé for a traditional Jewish professional. I faced a lot of resistance,’ says SooJi Min-Maranda

A banner reading "Father plus mother equals family" in Jerusalem

Who’s Behind anti-LGBT, anti-Reform Signs in Israeli Cities?

Huge signs with offensive slogans were posted recently in Jerusalem and the Tel Aviv area. A Haaretz investigation revealed a number of players involved in the campaigns

A member of the liberal Jewish religious movement 'Women of the Wall' at the egalitarian prayer section of the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem, March 8, 2019.

‘Next Time It Could Turn Deadly’: Reform Movement Leader Blames Israel for Clashes at Western Wall

‘Delegitimizing other Jews leads to the kind of violence we saw last Friday,’ Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, warns

A member of Women of the Wall arguing with ultra-Orthodox Jewish girls during the event marking the organization's 30th anniversary and the start of the Jewish month of Adar Bet, at the Western Wall, Jerusalem, March 8, 2019.

‘A Desecration of God’s Name’ Women of the Wall Demands Government Inquiry Into Violent Attacks at Western Wall

‘It’s important to ask who benefited politically from this show of force against Women of the Wall 34 days before the election,’ says group’s head after thousands of ultra-Orthodox youths were bused in to protest last Friday

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men stand with protest banners outside the Western Wall in Jerusalem on March 8, 2019.

Editorial The Damage Done by Pope Netanyahu

In empowering itself to decide who’s a Jew and who is less a Jew, the government is acting as a Vatican of the Jewish religion

Anat Hoffman, the head of Women of the Wall, leaves the Western Wall as thousands of ultra-Orthodox girls gather there in protest, Jerusalem, March 8, 2019.

Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Youths Violently Disrupt Feminist Prayer Service at Western Wall

Special service held to mark the 30th anniversary of Women of the Wall, which falls on International Women's Day ■ Israel Police accuses Women of the Wall of provoking clashes, in which several women were hurt

An American rabbinical student plants olive trees in village of At-tuwani, West Bank, January 25, 2019.

Religious Text Studies and Tours to Israeli Military Courts: The New Education of American Rabbis

The T'ruah program introduces young rabbinical students to Palestinians and the occupation, reflecting a growing a rift between Israeli and American Jews

Minister Yariv Levin attending the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, October 21, 2018.

Netanyahu Named Minister Who 'Slandered' American Jews, Reform and Conservative Leaders Charge

Netanyahu should have made Yariv Levin apologize to non-Orthodox Jews before naming him head of Immigrant Absorption Ministry, says Rabbi Gilad Kariv

Adina Bar Shalom speaking at a non-profit civil society organization Darkenu conference in 2016.

Lawsuit in Israel Wants 'Reform' Recognized as a Defamatory Insult

An Orthodox rabbi called the daughter of the former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel a 'Reform, accursed wicked woman.' Now she's suing for libel

Rabbis attending a conference on conversion in Jerusalem, July 18, 2018.

Another Nail in the Coffin for Conversion Reform in Israel as Top Court Set to Freeze Initiative

High Court approved Israeli government's request for a six-month delay to plan that would have stripped Chief Rabbinate of its power

The man who allegedly threatened to kill Conservative leader Yizhar Hess and the police report Hess filed on the incident.

Police Investigating Death Threat Against Conservative Movement Leader in Israel

Yizhar Hess recounts that he was 'rendered speechless' after an ultra-Orthodox man told him: 'I will murder you, if I had knife I'd put it in you here'

Mary Ben-Gurion (in black) shakes hands with her father-in-law. Amos Ben-Gurion is the man in the police uniform.

Mary Ben-Gurion, Christian-born Daughter-in-law of Israel’s First PM, Dies at 94

The nurse from an Isle of Man family would undergo both Reform and Orthodox conversions, but the Old Lion’s wife Paula never considered her a real Jew

Former Rabbi at Tree of Life Synagogue, Rabbi Chuck Diamond, second from left, prepares to lead a Shabbat morning service outside the synagogue, Pittsburgh, November 3, 2018.

Israeli Lawmakers From Right and Left Vow to Back Reform and Conservative Jews in Struggle for Equal Status

In aftermath of Pittsburgh massacre, movements demand full recognition in Israel