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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
Ushpizin
This ready-to-use text, which includes commentary and kavanot, has been excerpted from Or Hadash: A Commentary on Siddur Sim Shalom.
Seder N'tilat Lulav
This ready-to-use text, which includes commentary and kavanot, has been excerpted from Or Hadash: A Commentary on Siddur Sim Shalom.
Hakafot
This ready-to-use text, which includes commentary and kavanot on the Hakafot for Simhat Torah, has been excerpted from Or Hadash: A Commentary on Siddur Sim Shalom.
Simhat Torah Songsheet
This ready-to-use songsheet was compiled by Ashira Konigsburg, Assistant Director of Rabbinic Services, RA.
Purim Song Sheet
This 1-page song sheet, prepared by Yossi Hoffman, contains the text, transliteration, and translation of popular songs for Purim.
RA Dismayed by Protestants’ Call for Congressional Investigation of Aid to Israel
October 10, 2012
NEW YORK – In response to a letter released Friday by a group of representatives of mainline Protestant groups, calling for Congressional investigations into all foreign aid to Israel on the basis that Israel has allegedly used it in violation of...
Resources for Hoshana Rabbah, Simhat Torah, & Sh'mini Atzeret
October 4, 2012
As this holiday season comes to a close, we'd like to highlight these resources:
Hoshana Rabbah: Hoshanot text and kavannot for Hoshana Rabbah from Or Hadash Beat It! the Ritual of of Havatat Aravot Why do we beat the willow? This CJ...
RA Concerned by French Politician’s Anti-Semitism, Anti-Muslim Bigotry
September 24, 2012
NEW YORK – The leader of France’s Front National political party, Marine Le Pen, who ran for president earlier this year, this weekend said the government should ban religious head coverings in public. She attempted to cover up her gaffe by...
The Arba'ah Minim
September 24, 2012
By Alan Lucas
Adapted from The Observant Life
The arba’ah minim, literally “the four species,” are better known as the lulav and etrog, after the two most prominent of the four: the palm branch and the citron. The...
Hodesh Tov - Tishrei
The Rise of the Babylonian Rabbinic Academy: A Reconsideration of the Evidence
by Jeffrey Rubenstein, Skirball Professor of Talmud and Rabbinics, New York...
RA Condemns Violence in Cairo, Libya
September 14, 2012
NEW YORK – In response to violence in Cairo and Libya earlier this week, leaving three dead including American Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, Julie Schonfeld issued the following statement today on behalf of the board, staff and members of...
Food Stamp Challenge
September 13, 2012
In taking the Food Stamp Challenge, you will personally experience the challenges of hunger in the United States – challenges that the 1 in 7 Americans who use food stamps, including nearly 25% a quarter of all American children, face daily. This...
RA Voices Aversion Toward a Controversial Circumcision-Related Practice
September 10, 2012
NEW YORK – The New York City Board of Health is scheduled to vote this week on requiring parental consent for mohalim to engage in the controversial practice of m'tzitzah b’peh, or direct oral suction, during a b'rit milah. The Rabbinical...
RA Sends Condolences to Rabbi Attacked in Berlin
August 30, 2012
RA Expresses Concern for Anti-Semitic Violence
NEW YORK – Earlier this week, Daniel Alter, one of the first liberal rabbis to be ordained in Germany since the Holocaust, and the former rabbi of the Masorti congregation in Oldenburg,...
New York Times Article about the Joint Placement Commission
August 24, 2012
We are aware of a New York Times column by Sam Freedman regarding the Conservative Movement's Joint Placement commission comprising the Rabbinical Assembly, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, The Jewish Theological Seminary and the Ziegler...