Learning
Our work represents the ways we honor Torah and the well of Jewish texts from which we find meaning, wrestle with Jewish traditions and beliefs, and engage directly with the difficult questions of our age.
Expanding Our Classrooms
The URJ’s Intro to Judaism Online course saw 13.4% growth from 2021, with over 700 adult learners enrolling, while enrollment in our Hebrew courses saw 38.4% growth from 2021, with close to 350 students. We also launched our first Reading Hebrew Prayers cohorts. In partnership with the Jewish Deaf Resource Center, the URJ offered two cohorts of our Intro to Judaism course exclusively in ASL for Deaf and Hard of Hearing (HOH) adults. Rabbi Rebecca Dubowe taught all 37 students, who were split between the two cohorts.
Providing Online Childhood Jewish Education
We supported families and small congregations by partnering with ShalomLearning to provide Jewish education to children who may not have access to in-person instruction.
Our partnership gave these students a quality online learning experience rooted in a values-based curriculum.
Touring the Torah
Just before Shavuot 2022, the URJ released a video “Tour of the Torah,” featuring a Torah scroll being unrolled while highlighting some of the passages that are integral to the Reform Movement and the Jewish people.
As Simchat Torah 2022 neared, the URJ published a study guide to accompany the video with additional resources and opportunities to dive deeper into the highlighted concepts.
Celebrating Women Rabbis
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the ordination of Sally Priesand, the first female rabbi ordained in North America, all Ten Minutes of Torah commentaries on ReformJudaism.org were written by female-identifying rabbis for the 5782 Torah cycle.
Connecting Camp and Early Childhood Education
The URJ introduced the Susan Zukrow Mackevich Seeds of Compassion Fellowship, which aims to integrate the camp and early childhood education communities that serve families with young children.
Sharing Stories Through Food
As a part of the new series Our Story, Your Table, the URJ created a Passover cookbook, High Holidays family activity book, Hanukkah activity book with content from Highlights Magazine, and held virtual events with Joy Bauer of the TODAY show and actress Rena Strober.
Throughout the year, these programs engaged more than 5,000 people.
Understanding and Practicing T'Shuvah
The Reform Movement came together ahead of the High Holidays to advance our understanding of t’shuvah with video resources and a discussion guide aimed at enhancing congregational, communal, and individual experiences of reflection and repentance.
In addition, in partnership with CCAR, ACC, ARJE, and WRN, the video and accompanying conversation guide “On Repentance and Repair: A Reform Movement Program,” was made available to the public through the URJ, CCAR, ARJE, and WRN websites.
The program featured an interview between Rabbi Jill Maderer, Senior Rabbi of Congregation Rodeph Shalom (Philadelphia, PA) and author Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg with an introduction by the executive director of WRN, Rabbi Mary Zamore. The accompanying resources were used for congregational Selichot study sessions, Yom Kippur afternoon studies, board meetings, adult education programs, and book discussions.