REFORM JEWS CALL FOR CEASE-FIRE, AND A MOVE AWAY
FROM ZIONISM
Allan C. Brownfeld, Editor
Special Interest Report
April 2024
A letter signed by more than 1200 alumni and current members of the Union for
Reform Judaism (URJ), addressed to the organization on Dec. 16, 2023, declares,
“We grieve for the 1,200 killed during Hamas’s Oct. 7th attack and the more than
18,000 Palestinians killed by the Israeli military—-almost half of whom have been
children—-since then. Israel has cut off water, electricity, fuel, and supplies
to Gaza. We are deeply concerned that tax dollars have been so easily provided to
support Israel’s military assault on Gaza, while we struggle for the basic needs
of our communities.”
The letter was written by Elise Glaser, 27, who has been involved with the URJ
since she attended Hebrew School at Congregation Kol Ami in Woodinville,
Washington. The letter declares that “The URJ teaches practicing Pikuach Nefesh,
‘saving a life,’ and Tikkun Olam, ‘repairing the world.’ An immediate cease-fire
is in line with these Jewish values.”
At the same time, a letter was released from descendants of progressive rabbis
and leaders to express “our horror at the URJ’s failure to call for a cease-fire
in Gaza. We are alarmed that the leadership of our community has not demanded an
end to Israel’s devastating violence against Palestinians in addition to the safe
and immediate return of the hostages…A decades-long campaign to dehumanize
Palestinians has hardened the American Jewish community’s hearts. Atrocities are
being committed in our name. We do not consider the killing of thousands of
innocent civilians to be a justifiable consequence of ensuring our community’s
protection.”
The letter concludes: “The URJ continues to actively alienate alumni with its
uncompromising Zionist rhetoric…We will reconsider our and the next generation’s
membership and support of the URJ unless there is a public, dramatic shift in the
way the movement addresses Israel. It is not too late to listen, to open your
heart, and to make your children proud.”
Among the original signatories to this letter are Zippy Janas, a descendant of
Rabbi Julius Rappaport, Chana Powell, daughter of a current URJ rabbi, Talia
Yudkin Toffany, daughter of Rabbi Marjorie Yudkin, Zachariah Sippy, son of Rabbi
David Wirtschaffer, and Hafanyah Perluss, daughter of Rabbi Emily Feigenson.
An organization called Reform Jews For Justice has also been established. It
declares that “As Reform Jews we stand together for Justice, in solidarity with
Palestine. We unite in our values to call for a ceasefire, the release of
hostages, and an end to U.S. military aid to Israel…We have come together to call
on our movement to engage in Solidarity with Palestine. We envision a Reform
Jewish movement that…rejects a conflation of anti-Zionism with antisemitism…The
URJ’s leaders have unabashedly demonstrated shameful tactics of ethno-nationalism
and tribal political priorities over simple ethics and the illegitimate and
dangerous conflation of Zionism and Judaism. We have been alienated from the
movement that raised us to ask, ‘If I am only for myself, what am I?’—-through
binary language suggesting that our affiliation is conditional on Zionism. We
will not stand idly by.” *
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