This issue of the CCAR Journal considers the current state of the Reform rabbinate from the point of view of the rabbis themselves. The themed pieces include discussions related to well-being, success, and finding meaning in a rabbinic career. A variety of general articles, book reviews, and poems are also featured.

This issue of the CCAR Journal focuses on the relationship between Judaism and rapid technological change, the disconnect between information and meaning, and related existential questions facing the Reform Movement. General articles, book reviews, and poetry are also included.

This issue of the CCAR Journal focuses on language, including articles on the languages of Diaspora Jewry, the language of lifelong learning, the language of inclusion, and the language of sacred text. Additional articles, book reviews, and poetry are also included.

This issue of the CCAR Journal is dedicated to honoring the seventy-fifth anniversary of Israel. Articles discuss what it means to be Jewish in the Jewish State, the presence of the Reform Movement in Israel, and the relationship that exists between Diaspora Jews and Zionism, among other topics. Book reviews and poems are also included.

The CCAR Journal: The Reform Jewish Quarterly, Summer 2022 Published by CCAR Press, a division of the Central Conference of American Rabbis

This double issue of CCAR Journal includes a new data analysis by the Reform Pay Equity Initiative, a discussion of the growth of Reform Judaism in IberoAmerica, a piece on disenfranchised grief in the wake of October 7, and several articles addressing the challenges of pastoral care. The issue also contains new book reviews and poems.

The CCAR Journal: The Reform Jewish Quarterly, Fall 2002 Published by CCAR Press, a division of the Central Conference of American Rabbis

Open Judaism offers a big-tent welcome to all Jews and Judaism. It is at once an invitation to the spiritually seeking Jew, a clarion call for a deeply pluralistic and inclusive Judaism, and a dynamic exploration of the remarkable array of thought within Judaism today. In honest, engaging language Barry L. Schwartz, a practicing rabbi and writer, presents traditional, secular-humanistic, and liberal Jewish views on nine major topics--God, soul, Torah, halakhah, Jewish identity, inclusion, Israel, ethics, and prayer. Teachings from many of Judaism's greatest thinkers organically reveal and embellish foundational ideas of Orthodox, Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist, Renewal, and Humanistic Judaism. The conclusion sets forth core statements of belief in Judaism for believers, atheists, and agnostics, thereby summarizing the full spectrum of thought and enabling readers to make and act on their own choices.

This book explores the state of the American Jewish world in the early 21st century, after decades of accelerating change that has transformed it and all other religious groups in the United States. It reveals a community in an unparalleled state of flux grappling with a society in which religious identity is more and more considered an individual choice, rather than an inheritance, and where fewer adults feel impelled to identify with any religious tradition at all. In chapters written by leading experts, the book examines the community’s evolving demographics, the direction of the principal denominational movements, contemporary religious trends, interactions with other American religious communities and engagements in the country’s secular politics. This text uniquely covers all these aspects of Judaism in America making it appealing to students and researchers in such fields as the sociology of religion, Judaism, and American history.

In short, I believe, a little bit of religion is a good thing whether or not you fully embrace the idea of God. I believe that Judaism should accept this approach and help its adherents translate their deep, inherent religious needs with the symbols and practices of our ancient tradition. Judaism understands that not only does it have to adapt as part of its cultural dance, but it also has to choose and to create in order to complete its mission: to help modern Jews, the children of Spinoza, and the disciples of Einstein, to stay on course, to see the poetry written into the cosmos, and to help one another on the road to contentment with kindness, with concern and with love. Every once in a while, somebody comes to me and says: “Rabbi, I’m so glad I’m Jewish.” “Rabbi, I’m lucky. I have what I need. I have what I want.” And I smile and count my blessings, too.