- A secret pact concocted between the Nazis and Zionist leaders in 1933, the Transfer Agreement allowed Jews to leave Germany, sell their German goods, and settle in Palestine. Transfer contributed to the growth of the German economy, but most important to the Germans, it derailed the Jewish-led international boycott against the Nazis, which they perceived as having the power to crush their regime. The Transfer Agreement also enabled 55,000 Jews to settle in Palestine, which, according to the author Edwin Black, "contributed immeasurably to a strengthen Jewish community in Palestine and the creation of the State of Israel."
- Leonard Nimoy, a member of Temple Israel in Hollywood, CA, introduced Star Trek's Vulcan hand salute based on the letter SHIN from his experience of watching the kohanim (the priestly descendants of Aaron) at synagogue services. He portrayed the fight of Holocaust survivor Mel Mermelstein against a group of professional Holocaust deniers on TNT. In the mid '50s he starred opposite Yiddish theater star Maurice Schwartz in a Los Angeles production of Sholom Aleichem's "Hard To Be a Jew." His stage career includes performances as Tevye in "Fiddler on the Roof." And he recently returned from a trip to Germany in which he discussed his being a Jew with 3,000 German fans.
- Twenty years have passed since the dawning of Outreach. "In the absence of Outreach," says current UAHC President Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie, "tens of thousands of intermarried couples who are now members of our congregations would have been forever lost to the Jewish people. Innumerable Jews who have married non-Jews would have been denied any but the slimmest hope of a Jewish future. Resentment and the sting of rejection would have been the lot of many who, instead, have found a secure place in our community. There would have been far fewer Jews-by-choice, and they would still be subjected to ambivalent and even hostile attitudes. And ours would be a weaker and more divided movement, denied the surge of energy, religious renewal, and adult learning which is a direct outgrowth of our Outreach efforts."
- The Anglo-Palestine Bank. The official Zionist financial institution later changed its name.
- The "Statement of Principles for Reform Judaism," also known as the Pittsburgh Principles, "affirms the central tenets of Judaism--God, Torah, and Israel--even as it acknowledges the diversity of Reform Jewish beliefs and practices. It also invites all Reform Jews to engage in a dialogue with the sources of our tradition, responding out of our knowledge, our experience and our faith. Thus we hope to transform our lives through 'kedushah,' holiness."
- The Psalms. You can turn to the Psalms, says "Ask the Rabbi" columnist Rabbi Judy Shanks, "to find there the honest words of real people expressing heartfelt emotions: anguish, discouragement, a longing for God's presence, a plea for courage in the face of struggle. These ancient writers grappled, as we do, with despair, asking into the abyss: 'Why do You stand far off, Adonai? Why do You hide Yourself in time of trouble?' (Psalm 10:1) As you page slowly through the Psalms," she advises, "you might also find sustenance in the voices of those who manage to pray despite their pain, perhaps to ease their pain, 'I will sing of Your strength; I will sing out loud in the morning, rejoicing in Your compassion; for You have been my stronghold, a refuge in my time of trouble.'" (Psalm 59:17)
- A moral education movement in nineteenth-century Lithuania.
- Jewish tradition teaches that all elders, regardless of their formal learning, have acquired wisdom through the experience of living. When Moses felt overwhelmed by his role as leader and beseeched God for help, he was told to gather seventy elders of Israel. In the Book of Job it says: "For wisdom is with the old, and understanding with length of days." And the word "zaken," or "elder," has come to refer to anyone who has acquired wisdom, regardless of age.
- Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar. The passage appears in Rabbi Rami M. Shapiro's "Wisdom of the Jewish Sages," one of the UAHC's Significant Jewish Books selections.
- Writes Rabbi Yoffie: "I would suggest that the approach of Reform Jewish Outreach to the question of standards has been guided by three major principles.
- There must be standards and boundaries, and they must be defined with reasonable clarity and precision.
- The drawing of these boundary lines is primarily the domain of the local synagogue. We understand that most decisions regarding what committee a non-Jew can sit on or what part she can take in a religious service are best made on the community level. At the same time, we have also recognized that in some instances a national role is appropriate, particularly in those cases where congregational leadership has asked for direction; for example, in response to requests from temple educators, the UAHC Biennial Assembly in 1995 adopted a resolution opposing dual education in Jewish and Christian schools.
- As essential as boundaries are, the power of our Outreach work derives from our refusal to be obsessed with them. We affirm the necessity of standards but do not insist on defining them with microscopic precision. If the need for boundaries is our primary message, and if confronting others with endless demands is the thrust of our program, then we are lost and Judaism is doomed. Instead, we have chosen another path: to expose those on the fringes to synagogues that are genuine centers of learning and holiness; to Jewish homes that are filled with love and joy; to Jewish life rooted in social justice and individual righteousness; to a community, in short, that is so nurturing and appealing that no one will stay away."
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