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Learn more about the work of the Rabbinical Assembly, the global association of Conservative/Masorti rabbis, shaping and strengthening Jewish life worldwide through scholarship, leadership, and service since 1901.
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Explore our RA bookstore, articles on Exploring Judaism, teshuvot of the Committee on Jewish Law & Standards (CJLS), our Tzedek Center, holiday guides, and more.
You Shall Strengthen Them: A Rabbinic Letter on the Poor
You Shall Strengthen Them: A Rabbinic Letter on the Poor, was derived from earlier published essays
Purim Song Sheet
This 1-page song sheet, prepared by Yossi Hoffman, contains the text, transliteration, and translation of popular songs for Purim.
Al Ha-nissim
This ready-to-use text, which includes commentary and kavanot, has been excerpted from Or Hadash: A
Lighting the Hanukkah Candles: Blessings & Songs
Text, translation, and transliteration of the blessings and popular songs to accompany the lighting
Tishah B'Av Resources
Most of these resources have been excerpted from Siddur Tisha B'Av PDF, Copyright 2003, The Rabbinical Assembly.
בדיקת חמץ: The Search for Hameitz
This one-page sheet includes text, instructions, and transliteration for the ritual of searching for hameitz and the destruction of hameitz.
Pew Research Center Survey of U.S. Jews: Conference Call with Dr. Jonathan D. Sarna
The Pew Research Center recently released a comprehensive survey of U.S. Jews. In this conference call for RA members, Dr. Jonathan D. Sarna, one of the advisors for the Pew study, evaluated the data from the survey as related to the Conservative...
Friday Night with First Fruits: Suggestions from the Editor
Edward Feld, senior editor of Siddur Lev Shalem, offers some guidance for using the siddur.
Kabbalat ShabbatThe Kabbalat Shabbat service has historically been one of the most fluid components of Jewish prayer, as well as an...
New CJLS Teshuvot Passed
The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards met last week at the USCJ centennial in Baltimore. Three new teshuvot were passed.
Jeremy Kalmanofsky, "Participating in the American Death Penalty" HM 2:1.2013 Mayer Rabinowitz, "Manual...
From Silverman to Lev Shalem: The Evolution of the Conservative Siddur
By Carol Levithan
The October 1945 issue of Conservative Judaism featured an article by Rabbi Robert Gordis -- “A Jewish Prayer Book for the Modern Age” -- based on the paper he presented at the 45th Annual Convention of the Rabbinical...
Siddur Lev Shalem: Anticipating the First Fruits
By Ed Feld, senior editor, Siddur Lev Shalem for Shabbat & Festivals
As a kid, I watched my grandfather close a siddur after davening and then kiss it. It never ceased to be startling – our family was not generous with kisses, they...
From Sim Shalom to Lev Shalem
By Carol Levithan
Nearly 40 years after Robert Gordis wrote about the Silverman siddur in Conservative Judaism, Jules Harlow – the editor of Siddur Sim Shalom – weighed in on the subject of continuity and change, the forces shaping any...
The Observant Life Book Club
Introducing a new book club especially for Conservative Jews! Are you sometimes interested in learning more about issues of Jewish identity, Jewish law, Jewish rituals and traditions? Do you think and talk often about your concerns as a Jew, as a...
Transforming Mid-Week Religious School: The Shaare Torah Story
By Jacob Blumenthal, Shaare Torah, Gaithersburg, MD
The Challenge:Over the past 18 months, Shaare Torah has been undergoing a "2020 Reflections" process, talking with our congregants as we determine the radical changes needed...
Repentance
"Repentance" by David H. Lincoln (pp. 412) in The Observant Life
Download the Discussion...