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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.
Additional Piyyutim for Use on the Yamim Noraim
Although Mahzor Lev Shalem contains many more piyyutim than was true of the previous RA mahzor, several rabbis, cantors, and lay leaders have requested three additional piyyutim.
Home Observances: Shabbat
One-page sheets containing Shabbat rituals and blessings for the home.
Keep the Ban on Pulpit Politics
August 26, 2013
By Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy and Julie SchonfeldOriginally posted in The HillEarlier this month, the Commission on Accountability and Policy for Religious Organizations released a report recommending that the government lift the ban on...
Universal Health Care: A Jewish Moral Imperative
March 26, 2012
By Julie SchonfeldOriginally posted in The Washington PostThis week’s Supreme Court hearings on the president’s health care plan will likely generate this court’s signature decision of a generation. That but a few of the complex...
Recognition of Non-Orthodox Rabbis is a Partial -- But Hopeful -- Victory
May 30, 2012
By Julie SchonfeldOriginally posted in HaaretzThe decision by the Attorney General to recognize Masorti and Reform rabbis as community leaders and fund their salaries under certain limited circumstances could be an...
Solomon Schechter Schools Will Always Be Part of the Conservative Jewish Movement
July 11, 2012
By Julie SchonfeldOriginally posted in The Huffington PostThe Forward recently reported that the Solomon Schechter Day School Network is examining the possibility of spinning off as an independent organization...
Mishnah: 'Public Funds Are Collected by Two and Distributed by Three'
November 28, 2012
By Julie SchonfeldOriginally posted in The Washington PostIn recent weeks while visiting Latin America, I found myself reading about the “fiscal cliff.” I arrived in a country where people were taking to the streets to demand their...
What Hanukkah Can Teach Us About Preserving Sacred Space
December 7, 2012
By Julie SchonfeldOriginally posted in The Washington PostWhen my home lost power for a week during Superstorm Sandy, I felt that my most obvious priority was to make this situation tolerable and manageable to my two children — a...
Sandy Hook: Never Again
January 16, 2013
By David Saperstein and Julie SchonfeldOriginally posted in The Washington PostThe tragedy of Sandy Hook was stunning in its human face, the faces of first-graders and their teachers. In the aftermath of this tragedy, countless...
Passover Discomfort Over Slavery
March 25, 2013
By Julie SchonfeldOriginally posted in Religion News ServiceAs Jewish people and our friends and guests sit down to Passover Seders, we will hold the Passover matzo aloft and recite “this is the bread of our affliction.” The...
Protect Newborns, Not an Ancient Ritual
August 2, 2013
By Julie SchonfeldOriginally posted in The Daily NewsThis year’s mayoral race has a canary in the mine — an issue affecting a small number of people that can determine whether the character of the mayoral candidates will be toxic to...
Pew Research Center Survey of U.S. Jews: Conference Call with Dr. Jonathan D. Sarna
October 30, 2013
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...