URJ Alumni and Current Members for Ceasefire

URJ Alumni and Current Members for Ceasefire — A Public Letter to the Union for Reform Judaism

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To the URJ Leadership,

We urge you to call for an immediate ceasefire in Israel and Palestine.

We grieve for the 1,200 killed during Hamas’ October 7th attack and the more than 18,000 Palestinians killed by the Israeli amilitary – almost half of whom have been children – since then.

Israel has cut off water, electricity, fuel, and supplies to Gaza. Residents are on the brink of starvation. Over a million Gazans have been displaced. But even as UN experts warn of a “grave risk of genocide” in Gaza, the Biden Administration says it has drawn “no red lines” for the Israeli military. Meanwhile, the majority of Americans – including up to 80% of registered Democrats – support a ceasefire.

We are deeply concerned that billions of tax dollars have been so easily provided to support Israel’s military assault on Gaza, while we struggle for public resources to meet the basic needs of our communities.

The URJ teaches practicing Pikuach Nefesh, “saving a life,” and Tikkun Olam, “repairing the world.” An immediate ceasefire is in line with these Jewish values.

The URJ, as one of the largest Jewish organizations in North America, can play a significant role in advocating for peace. By calling for an immediate ceasefire, URJ can demonstrate its commitment to these core values and use its influence to help bring about change. This would also allow for a safe return of the Hostages in Gaza, many of whom have said they fear dying from Israeli bombing.

We urge you to publicly and unequivocally call for an immediate ceasefire, to sign onto, or introduce, a ceasefire resolution, and to do everything in your power to pressure the Biden administration to do the same. 

Signed,

Over 1200 Current/Former URJ Members, of which:

64% are Former/Current NFTY Members

56% are Former/Current URJ Campers

17% are L’Taken Participants

17% are Former/Current NFTY in Israel EIE/Heller High Participants

13% are Former/Current NFTY Regional Board Members

24 Participated in Machon Kaplan

42 did a RAC Fellowship

11 have been RAC Employees

4 are Former/Current Hebrew Union College Students

9 are Former/Current NFTY North American Board Members

3 are Rabbis

Years of membership range from 1 – 58

Elise Glaser, Jaime Korner, Avi Matarasso, Zach Simon, Anika Goldner, Danielle Polson, Zachary Young, Casimir Kotarski, Eliana Mozer, Megan Warrenbrand, Sarah Freyd, David Kahn, Jodie Friedman, Halleli Zacher, Jo Berliner, Zach Zimmerman, Susie Levy, Rabbi David Basior, Sophie Foxman, Alex Shulman, Mollie Wolf, Addie Bjornson, Gabriela Indivero, Carly Routman, Isabella Merritt, Rachel Edelman, Ilana Mass, Andrew Edelman, Leslie Young, Jonathan Edelman, Rachel Minetti, Avia Kaner-Roth, Erica Leif, Sammy Chavin-Grant, Joshua Glass, Emily D., Taylor Kahn-Perry, Alyssa Rubin, Casey Bachman, Carly Novell, Nicholas Ornstein, Norma Stobbe, Julia Silverman, Lauren  Maunus, Ezra Oliff-Lieberman, Rachel Horne, Jeremy Liskar, Yinnon Sanders, Deborah Nemens, Jack Rubien, Audrey Goldstrom, Ben Doernberg, Liya Rechtman, Emanuelle Sippy, Haddi Meyer, former SAVP, Lian Lucansky, Mica Maltzman, Trisha Wolf, Alissa Berman, Maxwell Kaye, Josh Rosenberg, Jessica Gordon, Dana Grotenstein, Aliza Cotton, Paige Welikson, Jacob Gendelman, Jenna Levine, Jacob Bor, Noah Welikson, Anna Fox, Aaron Selby, Ann Glaser, Russ Glaser, Bettyjo LaBare, Sam Panken, Eli Panken, Sam Friedman, Ethan Penny, Naomi Walthour, Avi Horwitz, Naomi Litwack, Dara Unger, Noa Polish, michelle margolies, Rabbi Leah Nussbaum, Joey Schweiter, Rachel Powlen, Miriam Bilsker, Lila Sefner, Brianne Leslie, Ziv Shmueli, Gabriella Silverman, Sacha Jacobson, Sarah Fogel, Alli Torf, Becca Leviss, Emily Gitten, Isabella Elliott, Ezra Briskin, Jeremy Davis, Alexa Folb, Danielle Courtney, Talia Kessler, Lex Winitsky, Efron Chudacoff, Monica Essig Aberg, Zoe Green, Mia Barr, Alex Green, Emilia Epstein, Evan Drukker-Schardl, Nathan Bawaan, Lauren Haines, Ilene Kruger, Joshua Glucksman, Maya Halpern, Samantha Wiesner, Josh Nichols, Keb Barshack, Michael Lebowitz, Asher Bank, Jared Jageler, Julie Siegfried, Kelsey Schulman, Ezra Silkes, Morgan Weidner, Alyssa Horwitz, Alana Green, Elsa Balton, Cara Goldfarb, Alyssa Diller, Zoe Steiner, Brianna perkel, Justin Andell, Abigail Miller, Rachel Eisenstat, Julia cutler, Gabi Laxer, Nathaniel Waldman, Lyssa Jellenik, Beyla Richman, Spencer Burnham, Leor Weber, Liza Freed, Alex Swerdloff, Sage Spalter, Talia Jaffe, Michaela Schwartz, Cameron Rich, Isaac Strauss, Eve Steiner, Curtis Brodner, Ari Goldstein, Mattan, Evelyn Frick, Ethan Wellerstein, Dylan Barash, Evan Lorant, Emily (Bunni) Walshin, Perri sheinbaum, Nora Cornell, Levi Kaplan, Theo Gibbs, Miriam Eisenstat, Carolyn Brager, Miriam Skadron, Sophie Luskin, Zemirah Willow Higgins, Allison Golisch, Bella Levine, Hannah Miller, Charlotte Sall, Rebecca Coates-Finke, Zoe Albion, Emily Ducker, Reese Felthoven, Gabriella Francolla, Hannah Snyder, Cam Cawley, Saffron Mintz Schuffman, Renna Gottlieb, Josh Burg, Clare Wiesen, Benjamin Haberman, Abbie Spielman, Courtney Tabor, Channah Powell, Sacha Wedner, Mara LaForte, Talia Attar, Adam Orman, Becca Paskowitz, Rebecca Sculler, Ben Yanowitz, Sam Duman, Zachary Herrmann, Rachel Goldstein, morgan denker, Jordan Yanowitz, Dylan Steinberg, Matthew Rosenberg, Talia Perluss, Lexian Shalek, Rachel Chancellor, Olivia Gibbs, Arianna Marshank, sam, Carly Danziger, Laura Moss, Jared Sloan, Jonah Silverstein, Sarah Perlmeter, Jackie Heymann, Madeline Canfield, Maya Renaud-Levine, Eliana Kahn, Claire Dodinval, Sawyer Tull, Joe Saperstein, Shira Yudkin Tiffany, Taylor Bernard, Rain Zacks, Ozi Shalom Goldstein, Jeremy Goldberg, Madison Stein, Elijah Lane, Liana Friedman, Alexander Stromin, Tess Solomon, Miranda Siler, Aidan Kaplan, Emily Ruth, Sophia R, Eiden Spilker, Rosie Saffer-Meng, Talia Tiffany, Gina Ledor, Maya Rosenberg, Rachel Zindler, Sarah Orman, Alice Auerbacher, Sam Goldstone, Molly Petchenik, Sarah Shuster, Jess Kaplan, Sophie Kaplan, Emily Kociubes, Sama Reitzes, Miriam A., Mimi Gotbetter, Jake Rosenberg, Sage Fabricant, Rachel Lilenbaum, Hannah Neuman, Emily Linden-Ross, Jessie Rubini, Andrew Goldberg, Jena Whitesman, Maegan Clearwood, Hanna Carr, Garrett Layton, Madison Koumelis, Peter Driftmier, Arianna Cooper, Raina Scherer, Juliana Matz, Sarah Hellman, Davis Westover, Alex Goldstein, Koren Harpaz, Zach Snyder, Emma Wendt, Annie Bush, Maya Kaplan, Daniel Igra, Lev Starr, Ariel Friedman, Rachel Kipnes, Sarah Snyder, Abigail Sherwood, Kevin Gibson Weinberger (NFTY SOCAL SAVP 2018), Vered Serotta, Iz Berman, Elan Elyachar-Stahl, Martha Schoolman, Mattan Berner—Kadish, Abby Schoolman, Haley Peckman, Susie Tanney, Alex Cohen, Rachel Epner, Sharon Bort, Hara Millman, Olivia Rosd, Bri, Ash, Jennifer Gertz, Lila Stevens, Naomi Friedman, Izzi Cooper, Rio, Nancy Eckenthal, Lauren Mathios, Max Melendez, Jennie Rose Halperin, Molly Paul, Naomi Paskowitz, Evelyn Moskovitz, Rebecca Wishnie, Hannah Krumholz, Sallie Bieterman, Kieran Schwartz, Leila Ordoñez, Caryn Shebowich, Josh Rosenthal, Zoe Nelson-Barkan, Jasmine Lerner, Tony Bryson, sylvia murray, Simon Wolfe, Rebecca Newman, Jacob Baritz, Megan S., Claire lieber, Rel Brender, Charlie Wright, Camille Gimilaro, Jared, Sydney, Joshua Koretz, Avery Mason, Gillian MacDonald (Wert), Jeremy Levine, Henry Weiner, Stephanie Seiler, Alice Turner, Stella Raffle-Wax, Adam Weingast, Wesley Blackwell, Alyssa Costa, Willie Brodsky, Catherine Reynolds, ilan Barnoon, Emily Isaacson, Max Yenkin, Halle young, Yonah London, Jennie Kogan, Rachel Kucharz, Leah Danson, Emily Brundage, Becca Heisler, Evan Jaffe, Eldridge Orum, Tamara Erickson, Katie Wysong, Becca MacKillop, Alea Chedekel, Leanne Gale, Alana Krivo-Kaufman, Emily Mastman, Alana Turnbull, Sharon Elkouby, Emilia Diamant, Ethan Schechter, Shea Leibow, Rebecca Asher, Lucy Kates, Kenny Dalsheimer, Becky Wartell, Jesse Grossman, Dani Tishkoff Chidester, Bonnie Feldberg, Lucy Brown, Mady Frischer, Sky Karp, Anna Dodson, Jonathan Israel, Hallie Berkson-Gold, Hollen Reischer, Zimyl (Simone) Adler, Rebecca Mather, Melissa Shea, Jessica Stein, Elizabeth McElheney, Sarah Flatto, Anna Friedman, Jen Dreiske, Jennie Netburn, Stacy Dickerman, Sara Wernick Schonwald, Elizabeth Chertoff DeLois, Devorah Levy-Pearlman, Tagan Engel, Sandy Lieberman, Rebecca Shapiro, Becca Lubow, Rachel Brustein, David Litvak, Rosa Stern Pait, Mar ehrlich, Holden Arquilevich, Jeremy Solomon, Maya Griswold, Sophie Mason, Jesse Altman, Hannah Pierdomenico, Rachel Ellison, Allie Wainer, Rachel Saywitz, shannon raider-ginsburg, Zoe Stricker, Jacob Sklar, Leah Weinstein, Ruti kadish, Eli Cohen, Abigail Pont, Caroline Black, Molly Sloane, Anna Rosenfeld, Karen Siegel, Lauren Harris, Simon Chervenak, Jaz Twersky, Annie Brodsky, Jenny Swift, Kelsey Terhune-Cotter, Francesca Rubinson, Abraham “Abe” Plaut, Kobi Naseck, Hannah Ableman, Mandy Bach, Batya Devorah Kline, Rachel Hausman, Emma Harmon, Hannah Teller, Jonathan Lerdau, Maddy Winard, Noah Rubien, Sascha Bollag, Michaela Brown, Arielle Dror, Talia Gilbert, Lucy Fey, Lauren Abrahams, Rebecca Snyder, Eric Abrahams, Eliana Kleiner-Lichtman, Amelia Egland, Aaron Rose, Matt Emmer, Sasha Halpern, Noah Mendell, Nell Sirotin, Rebeccah Yterdal, Shelby Robalin, Anya Riddell-Kaufman, Benny Jimenez, Max Friedenwald-Fishman, Ayla Bleznak, Emily Levin-Rosenshine, elan loeb, Sophie Friedenwald-Fishman, Em Duhamel, Hannah Snitzer, Ezekiel Winitsky, Kyle Fradkin, Judah Hoffenberg, Amanda Robalin, Henry  Ramaikas, Hero Magnus, Hannah Peterson, Benjamin LaCross, Ilana Farnsworth, Miranda Ward, Abigail Kesselman, Alex Sher, Mitch Bollag, Frankie Kerner, Nina Tracy, Max Spivak, Dan Levy, Deborah Elkin, Shayna Ortega, Zibby Jahns, Danielle kolker, Shayna Howitt, Hannah Wischnia, Miche Budin, Ellie Feder, Naomi Caplan, iO Fields, Anya Tudisco, Dan Hennagin, LS, Caleb Loeb, Talia Inbar, kendall belansky, Alan Friedman, Sarina Elenbogen-Siegel, Lauren Fine, Edie Falk, Lucy Marriner, Caroline Soffer, Sarah Barr Engel, Grace Haggerty, Noa Eaton, Leah Shear, Morgan Hoffman, Eric Hochberger, Maya Emerson, Gayle Zoffer, Michal greenfield, David Barr Engel, Maeve Wiesen, Michael Wiesen, Alicia Gallant, Tyler Benjamin, Lindsey Forg, Erica Leiserowitz, Graiden Miller, Phoebe Marcus, Elijah Summers, William Levine, Olivia Kogan, Sebastian Torero, Julia Auerfeld, Mollie Zoffer, Alan Grossman, Mariya Gefter, Sophia Kaufmann, Michael Einiger, Ari Smith, Rachel McKinnon, Dani Miller, Andrew Schloss, Mahayla Meyer, Maya Hahn, Emily Gold, Talia Zankman, Eli Fighter, Naomi Kosman-Wiener, Emily Rapport, Miriam Hitchcock, Matthew Lubin, Dani Mahrer, Maya Hamberg, Zachary Ginsberg, Eli Haber, Morgan Bell, Leora Matison, Micah Marder, Shayna Hahn, Georgia slater, Micah Roland, Molly Diamondstein, Jesse Schwartz, Petra Reyes, Robin banerji, Liora Silkes, Kiley Keehan, Nancy Kalow, Ben Fogel, Natalie Guthrie, Rachel Burns, Henry Hoffmann, David Eden Abraham, Aaron Lefkowitz, Elizabeth Cohen, Isaac Ostrow, Jacob Tyler Marder, Peter S., Maureen Flaherman, Sophie Rubin, Rachel Kahn, Jack Parnell-Wolfe, Jen McCartney, Eliza Klein, Sarah Helden, Mel Motel, Alicia Glassman, Benjamin Schwartz, Aaron Lurin, Amelia Channin, Leah, Dr. G. Samantha Rosenthal, Emily Greenspan, Katherine Siegel, Jay Shifman, Hannah Prince, Abigail Wurtele, Jessica Baloun, Laura Horwitz, Jonah Watt, Dan Fishback, Izzy Cotenoff, Matt Nussbaum, Jasmin Willard, Ryan Seffinger, Emily Unger, Chloe Joseph, Rachel Black, Alex B, Hannah Radner, Avery Rosen, Ian Zeitlin, Leah Susman, Diana Rodin, Lena Stein, Laurence Plonsky, Annie Wyner, Sam Shear, Lily Alexandroff, Jackie Maris, Sarah Sherman, Ethan Lott, Rosanna Gray, ari rosenberg, Dana Leader, Raimi Marx, Dom Kelly, Ellen Rosenberg, Elyse Shuster, Heather O’Gara, Sarit Cahana, Rebecca Pattiz, Sarah Greenberg, Emily Young, Bettina Ernst, Rachel Harlich, Chloe Abarbanel, Abigail Segel, Bella Weksler, Jonathan Shapiro, Joshua Bensink, Karen cordes, Hannah Villhauer, carly boyce, Andrew Conroe, Alex Rabb, Ezra Edelist, Rebeccah Hoffmann, Em Lebow, Madeleine Hart, Sarah Sanchez, Maddie Harris, Erin Barney, Anna Levy, Jonathan Ben David, Maya Grossman, Elizabeth, Jules Mallis, Lindsay Meiman, Sam Rubin, Marion I. Lipshutz, Lauren Westendorf, Alison Kirsch, Sarah Mandell, Jessica Murgo, Anna Lieberman, Eva Kalikoff, Hannah Siegel, Shelby Davis, Alyssa Guttman, Sasha Friedman, Arianna Alter, Harper Wise, Ariele Ladabaum, Kaila Haenn, Dan Perry, Emma Bella Bass-Lawrence, lena cohen, Rachel Spence, Ethan Sabourin, Noa LaMaskin, Meryl Lauer, Natania Malin Gazek, Sofia Piracha, Hannah Piracha, Debbie Klein, Rhys Ivan, Maj Seckler, Max Lipchitz, Maddie Weikel, Emily Marmer, Ezra Hilton, Isabel Young, Simone Werner, Renee Ritchey, David Matz, Julia Tecotzky, Jonas Specktor, Sonia Chajet Wides, Ari Seckler, Naomi Davis, Noa Nir, Laura Florick, Hannah daniel, Aaron Hamilton, Ever Reiko, Johanna Siegel, Sarah Edelstein, Sarah Fremder, Rebecca Lerdau, Emma Ziegler, Adrian Niedermann, Hailey Rosenfield, Rachel Drizin, Nili Schreibman, Jake Rudolph, Anabel Milton, Moriah Chedekel, Matt Simkowitz, Solomon Steen, Alyssa Scheiner, Geoff Young, Jonah Gottlieb, Toby Berkson, Hailey Waldman, Lucy Rothbardt, Rachel Goldberg, Julia Breskin, Andy Kahn, Rachel Copel, Davia Young, Anna Feldman, Ari Ewalt, Abigail Solomon, Belle Chesler, Joya Mandel-Assael, Leslie Davis, Ali Jawetz, Molly Cohen, Izzy Kim, Emma Weiss Holyst, Delilah Orizaba, Sophia Tuch, Celia Goldfarb, Ione Heigham, Sarah Malott, Bernadette Margolius, Chloe Sherman, Lauren Aussprung, Molly Kulwin, Jules Clardy, Evan Chartock, Sarah McCaffrey, Ellie R, Talia Eligator, Allison Shepard, Reah Vasilakopoulos, Dov Wiener, Rebecca Simon, Sophie Gordon, Sydney Schoenholtz, Margolit Sands, Jean Kintisch, Ben Wolfson, Maya Roma, Ari Zimmet, Mari Altshuler, Joseph Altshuler, Alex Gordon, Melanie wolfson, Joshua Altshuler, Daniel C. Stein, Linnie Ulick, Lulu Adler, Maia Waxman, Sarah Goldstone, Amie Morrison, Molly Gorman, Celeste Tannenbaum, Alix lindenbaum, Shir Bach, Isaac Gamoran, Bill Yaffe, Hannah Ross, Avi Benjamin Lipsyc, Sophie Bramnick, Max Margolius, Amanda Front, Asya Artikaslan, Devorah Stavisky, Netanya Perluss, Lillian Collea, Emily Leviss, Thomas Dayzie, Nate Perlmeter, Dina Gelsey, Arielle Gingold, Rachel Graubart, Samara Scharf, Stephanie Levy, Jacob Bretton-Granatoor, Samantha B.G. Gordon, Marcella, Margo Shickmanter, Eric Friedenwald-Fishman, Shirah Kraus, Muriel MacDonald, William Pollard, Rachel corber, Sari J Kamin, Erica Rakowski, Miryam Coppersmith, Liv Amrami, Emma Coates-Finke, Sophie Parker, Charlie Resnick, Ilana Slavit, Marissa Magasiny, Harris Wohl, Hannah Riegler, Matt Rogers, Sam Cadiff, Leah Bry, Hannah Altshuler, Alana Leeds, Keren Edelist, Zoe King, Julie Freed, Avi Hessel, Sofia Fichera, Miriam Alterman, Leila Alterman, Claudia Stagoff-Belfort, Rachel Stein Rosner, Talia Berniker, Raquel Dunoff, Jordan Rochelson, Rayden Kaplan Casella, Ben Gingold, Matthew Weisberg, Marisa Ellison, Rachel Klein, Sophie Freedman, Sophie Goldsmith, Isaac MacDonald, Rachel Berman, Rachel Lee, Lauren Fanger, Rebecca Friedenwald, Jules Zuckerberg, Maxwell Liu, Sydney Fine, Sophie Elwood, Lex Caron, Jake Chervin, Brooke Rabinovici, Carter W, Isaac Berman, Julia Gruberg, Ryan Abrams, Nicole Cohen, Daniel José Older, Shira Gelsey, Rebecca Speisman, Sara Jane Longstaff, Asher Kirchner, Mollie H, Jessica Berger, Sam Horowitz, Ryan Piracha, Ali Rosenblatt, Joela Susman, Dan Hirth, Jeffrey Oakley, Hannah Kohn Shakeri, Corinne Levy, Abby Kamen, Marissa Klass, Madelyn Herzog, Marlene Adler, G Laster, Kevin Keystone, Amanda Laskey, Eli Speigel, June Epstein, Leah Numbers, Shayna roman, Ava Pomerantz, Jackie Perlmeter, Will Moore, Elana Klein, Eliana Pierotti, Jocelyn Sheff, Dayne Samuels, Cantor Cheryl Wunch, Aliza Abarbanel, Michael Whitesides, Meghan Manley, Melissa Levy, Dori Haber, Sheila Matz, Marlee Neugass, Jamie Ehrlich, Jeffrey Wilkinson, Stephanie Weiss, Rebecca Roher, Rebecca Goldstein, Miriam Ellis, Sophia Lipset-Dean, Anna Wittow, Jeffrey Sharlein, Sophie Taylor, Debbie Samson, Kyra Exterovich-Rubin, Isabella Gold, Elana Simon, Paige Miner, Daniel Rosen, Hugo Solomon, Dana Jaffe, Rachel Myers, Aria Harris, Emily Albert, Noah Robiner, Lila Singer, Max Nemhauser, Rachel Flo, Abby Moss, Corinne Greenblatt, Ella Winett, Sammy Grob, Harriet Friedmann, Nadia Mazonson, Danya Axelrad-Hausman, Celia Little, Glory Mayreis, Chelsea Taxman, Alvin Finkel, Leora, Madeline S, Ann Goldblatt, Suzette T Gingold, Sarah Albert, Jeffrey R Gingold, Melanie Fineman, Brandon Klein, Rebecca Lubar, Regina fink, Rachel Solomon, Jared Swartz, Alana Richards, Timothy Chizzik, Emily Klein, Emma Beckerman, Emmaleah Stapp, Rachele Benjamin, Lexie Beauchamp, Mandy Watkins, Rand Phillips, Jamie Chiarello, Izzy Wellman, Ella B, Julia Widmann, Sara Celidonio, Neve Levinson, Kalman D. Resnick, Emily Becker, Jennifer Persia, Ella Israeli, Susan Gzesh, Emma Silver, Stephen Aberle, Jessica Erker, Rebecca Smith, Miriam Joffe-Block, Robin Falkow, Ben Borkan, Emily Birz, Abby Seiler, William Borkan, Jeff Schwartz, Ely Lyonblum, Alex Kantor, Barb Levine-Ritterman, Helen Lerner, Jonathan Chaconas, Jessica Harris, Emma Pelc, Maya Bernstein, Jonathan Segal, Cassidy Leighton, Jeremy Lupowitz, Marlie Thompson, Daniel Solomon, Brooch Solomon, Daniel Henkoff, Anne Parsons, Hana Hartman, Rachel Geoffrion, Becky Winard, Gabriel Bollag, Sophia Draznin-Nagy, Robbie Berg, Jared Andell, Sarah Friedman, Steven Chaitman, Hannah stein, Violet Barron, Ben Kern, Earnest Arky Solomon, keystone, Jenna Udren, Paul Kitz, David Kaplinsky, Violet Kopp, Penelope Kopp, Reigh Levinstein, Naomi Scher, Tasha Deen, Kalyani Grad-Kaimal, Marjorie Scher, Danni Sontag, Anne Kirsch, Paris Glickman, Hannah Marcus, Clara Cantor, Brooke Riggio, Asher Berkson-Gold, Mari Cohen, Blair haberman, Saara Untracht-Oakner, Daniella Rothstein, Lan Margosis, Alison Castleman, Sophia Aron, Alana Schaffman, Claire Taigman, Jaclyn Davis, Aaron Dockser, Ollie Rokhsar, Jack Snyder, Jack Granite, Margot Lipin, Sophia Munic, Max Bleich, Matthew David Hom, Perry Levine, Emily Haan, Jessica Brown, Sofia Braunstein, Anne Wolf, Abby Merritt, Kipp Dawson, jeannine cohen, Sam Donsky, Jordyn Green, Ezra Nepon, Ary Solomon, Brian Keisling, Aliza Cohen, Susie Steinbach, Ezra Serrins, Avigail Hurvitz-Prinz, Abdul Suleiman, Sarah Wolk, Diana Lang, Solomon Billinkoff, Jenna Sherman, Melanie Levy-Hara, Bethany Blum, Tuval Nafshi, Revelle Gerson, Karen marker, David Glasser, Mollie Beek, Maxie Ehrlich, Juliet Lee, Samantha Herzog, Aliza Winneg, Max Keisling, Joan Axelrad, Lauren, Dahlia Edidin Locke, Zeynep Bromberg, Nora Wiley-Schwartz, Ben Chasen, Lorelei Essman-Freeman, Matt Teeter, David Schwimmer, Bruce Patt, Danny Cooper, Ilana Samuel, Alli Lesovoy, Lilah Goldman, Michaela Pliskin, Zoe Rudow, Maxine Kaufman-Lacusta (surname Nunn at time of membership), Jacqueline Treiger, Elizabeth Holzman, Amelia Cogan, Sally Frank, Arianne Urus, Isaac Kravatz, Daniel Antman, Yael Zeira, Willow Locke, Dana, Meredith Fenton, Karen Escovitz, Zach Siegel, Ariel Benjamin, Sara Holzman, Rachel Hodes,  Gila Ruskin, Jacob Glickman, Emily Eliash, Kaila Goldstein, Peri Barest, Mani Alexander, Sophie Hurwitz, Sarah Rosenblatt, Gabriel Marx, Emily Kessler, Seth Laucks, Nicole Shugar, Noah Tamarkin, Lani Verges-Radack, Zoe Braunstein, Ben Kunder, elliot kukla, Solange Minstein, Rachel Schwartz, Jenna Gillman, Michelle Horgan, Bryce Harnick, Adam Hirsch, Lyn Strober-cohen, Stephen Friedman, Avery Kolers, Abigail Kroopkin, Sierra Meszaros, Jennifer Kruzansky, Josh Squire, Ellen Abrams King, Greg Dennis, Barry Kornstein, Willa Kornstein, Daniela Berlinski, Elizabeth Jameson, Margie Sable, Naomi Sobel, Rachel Hass, Zachary Brown, Justin Fedich, Meryl Crock, Kevin Keystone, Kate Schwartz, David Karopkin, Judith Taylor, Jesse Dubin, Staci Akselrod, Nayla Zylberberg, Eric Friedman, Ross Schneider, Ilana Hoff, Peter Luck, Andrea Zlotowitz, Samuel Ressin, Leslie Rabine, Emma Steinberger, Clare MacDonald, Wendy Zeldin, Olivia Kurz, Daniel Parker, Micaela Hellman-Tincher, Laura Grossman, James m branum, Henry Stine, Allie Berdon, Lauren Shear, Esther Malinas, Maya Levine, Adam Friedman, Andrea Lee, Jen Lamoureux, Hannah Friedman, Mia Indictor Portner, Sarah Levin, Sari K, Eric Markewitz, Robyn Jamner, Kathleen O’Connor, Matilda Behrmann, Beth Puno, Anne Ireland, diane gerstler, Helen Perlstein PPollard, Linda Gerson, Jerry Iserson, Janine Baer, Daniel Dodinval, Robert Kessler, Efrat RAFAELI, Jennifer Rader, Ros Harder, Elizabeth Friedman, Susan Nemens, CC Miksza, cynthia colvin, Caroline lehman, David Ludwig, Naomi Janowitz, Andy Kivel, Phylece Snyder, Glen Hauer, Jim Emerman, Jackie Brookman, Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, Karen Platt, Sophie Dalton, Jennie Schacht, John & Brenda McCloud, Susan Shawl, David Mandel, Noah Stein, Hannah Hakim, Elinor Behlman, Ruthanna Emrys Gordon, Bryan Rothman, Gillian Rosen, Rachel Hendrickson, Alex Tananbaum, Hannah Breslau, Suzanne Solomon, Michael Margolin, B. Beth Cohen, Rabbi Drorah Setel, Rabbi Reuben Zellman, Juliet Lee, Rabbi Elliot Kukla, David, Pamela Block, Sara Wallach, Samantha Rosenfeld, Benjamin Cutler, Mara Schechter

This letter was adapted from “Greater Baltimore Residents for Ceasefire.” Read Here

Letter signers responses to “Why are you signing this letter?”:

• I am an alum of Temple B’Nai Israel, NFTY, BBYO, and Crane Lake Camp. I am the descendant of Holocaust refugees including my grandmother and great grandparents, and relative of 28 family members murdered in the Holocaust, as well as the spouse of a Muslim Palestinian and parent of two beautiful Palestinian kids who has been detained, interrogated, denied entry, and subject to entry restrictions by the state of Israel. I am appalled to see the URJ’s complicity in the ongoing occupation, siege, starvation, bombardment, mass displacement and attempted genocide of Palestinians, the majority of whom are innocent women and children. We must stand up for values of justice and sanctity of life. Palestinians deserve safety, life, and dignity. Never again means never again for ANYONE including my beloved Palestinian family. 

• I am signing this petition because I am utterly disappointed in and appalled at the reform movement’s silence and refusal to act against the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. Growing up deep in the reform movement, my Judaism was intertwined with social justice, and while I continue to abide by this, the institutions that taught me are complicit in this growing genocide. I do not feel comfortable in my home synagogue and only wish the reform Jewish world will wake up soon and act as any human being who values human life should.

• URJ politicized me, and taught me to value social justice. I’m grateful for that experience, but there is a deep need to see the reality of what is happening in Palestine and our complicity in it. Please step up!

• I have been heartbroken to see the URJ who claims to be progressive have no space for anti-Zionists. I believe in Palestinian liberation because of what I learned in URJ programming, not in spite of it. I was HORRIFIED to see the URJ attend the march for Israel with zero critque of known anti-LGBTQ speakers and known anti-semites. The URJ has an obligation to speak. 

• I believe it is pertinent that we, as Jews, stand strong in our Jewish values taught to us by our community and through organizations like the URJ to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. Preserving life comes above all else and it is our duty to ensure no more civilian life is lost. I refuse to let a government kill in the name of my safety and religion, and the URJ as a whole must do the same.

• My upbringing was defined my participation in URJ institutions including Temple Beth Am where my family were members for 20 years, and where I spent 5 years on our TYG, 7 summers at URJ camp Kalsman, 4 years in NFTY NW where I served as Israel chair, a summer in Costa Rica with mitzvah corp and a summer in Israel with NFTY in Israel. I credit these experiences as being foundational for not only my personal connection with Judaism and my sense of spirituality, but also my commitment to justice, freedom, and peace. It has been in many ways impossible for me to encapsulate in words the disappointment I’ve felt by our Jewish institutions and the URJ specifically to question the status quo, the imbalance of power, the oppression, and the violence that Palestinians experience as a result of Israeli occupation and Apartheid. I personally have family in Israel and I see their safety, and our collective safety as Jews, as wrapped up in the quest for not only a peace, but a just peace for Palestinians. I urge the URJ to live up to its Jewish values and our communities own history of violence, oppression, dehumanization and our quest for liberation in calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire. 

• The URJ is complicit in the genocide of Palestinians 

• I was raised to stand up for those who are being oppressed, even when it’s unpopular, even when your “people” are the oppressors.

• Because of my humanity and the disappointment that I have been lied to, harassed but members of our community when I ask if a Palestinian child matters to them. I am proud to be a Jewish man and I will never lose the fire within me, my Judaism drives me to advocate and research the truth. 

• Jewish safety and liberation and Palestinian safety and liberation are intertwined. A ceasefire at this moment is in line with the Jewish values that the URJ taught me.

• I believe in ceasefire and a free palestine 

• For a free Palestine and for peace.

• Never Again is now

• The continued loss of life, especially civilians, is simply unacceptable. Regardless of which side of the conflict you support, it cannot be argued that the conflict in its current form is accomplishing anything more than the destruction of human life without an apparent end condition or regard for humanity. This is not tenable and must cease.

• I am grateful to the URJ for the lessons and values instilled in my youth about repairing the world. These lessons are precisely why I find it so heartbreaking to witness the cruelty and loss of life in Gaza, perpetrated by the Israeli government.  I am disappointed in the URJ for raising me on the lie that Jewish safety must come at the expense of Palestinian safety. Calling for a ceasefire is an important first step towards a vision of collective liberation in which all of our safety is bound together. 

• The Jewish values I learned in growing up at URJ Camp Coleman don’t align with Israel’s incessant bombing campaign and genocide against Palestinians. 

• Feel strongly that US involvement in the ongoing murder of innocent Gazans must end.

• Scared by loss of Gazan life 

• As Jews we have a duty to protect our neighbors, to protect those who cannot protect themselves. We are watching a Jewish state use our religion for murder. It needs to end. 

• Because I’m tired. I’m tired of death, I’m tired of antisemitism, I’m tired of kidnappings and bombings and shootings and starvation…when there is a person or people that has any form of power over these kinds of things, they need to DO SOMETHING.

• Never again means for never again for anyone.

• American Jews who love Israel have a duty to hold it accountable.

• I will not let a genocide be carried out in my Jewish name.

• It is time for organized Jewry to stand up for Jewish values and against the militarism, oppression, and blatant disregard for human life exhibited by the Israeli government. 

• Israel’s government is the greatest threat to the safety of diasporic Jews today. It is Israel’s actions (described in this letter), not those of Hamas, that are leading to rising antisemitism and a fracture among the Jewish community. These actions must be condemned. 

• I have never felt more Jewish than when I have stood shoulder to shoulder with other Jews, protesting Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. 
• We are not just standing up for Palestinian lives. (Dayenu!) We are also standing up for our faith, for a vision of Judaism that centers universal human dignity and tikkun olam over chauvinistic beliefs in “chosenness”. 

• If mainline organized Jewish institutions prioritize blind allegiance to Israel over Jewish values, they will lose an entire generation of American Jews. 

• Long live the diaspora!

• Ceasefire now!

• I care about the Jewish priority to preserve life above all else.

• Because calling for a ceasefire is the bare minimum. To save a life is to save the whole world.

• Mass killings are incompatible with my Judaism

• Jewish organizations should have a voice in doing the right thing! We understand the nuance, and the ties we all have with Israel.  But there is no justification for killing thousands of people regardless of any circumstance! Come on!  

• I believe a ceasefire is the only policy which aligns with liberal zionist values in standing for Israeli, Jewish, and Palestinian life. 

• If mainline organized Jewish institutions prioritize blind allegiance to Israel over Jewish values, they will lose an entire generation of American Jews. 

• It’s imperative for Jews to stand up against injustice and genocide .

• I am Jewish Israeli and American and believe in peace and freedom for all in Israel-Palestine 

• As a former NFTY Northeast Regional Board Member and a Kutz Camp alum, I am standing with the values instilled in me by the URJ and asking for you to call for a ceasefire to prevent further loss of life in Gaza and the West Bank.

• To denounce the horrific actions done by the IDF & Hamas; to give more hope for Palestinian lives for a better life than a life of tragedy as well as for Jewish lives to live their lives without asinine antisemitism. 

• Hoping for both people to live the lives they deserve without judgment and persecution

• As Jews, our elders and traditions command us to stand up to injustice. We all to well know the horrors of genocide and apartheid and must affirm that Never Again applies to everyone. 

• To call for a ceasefire. Whether we like it or not as Jews our voice is more loudly heard on issues of Israel, therefore it is our responsibility to speak out on it. Reform Judaism always taught me the values of peace and freedom for all peoples. Uphold those teachings. 

• Because it is important that the URJ not only stops supporting, but takes a stand against the genocide occurring. It is time for us as reform Jews to say “not in our name.” In addition it would help undo some of the dangerous propaganda that the URJ has perpetuated over the years. 

• For a free PALESTINE!

• The way Israel is carpet bombing Gaza and torturing innocent Palestinians is completely misaligned with the Jewish values I was taught at URJ Camps, and URJs voice on this matter is important. If nothing else resonates, Jews’ safety cannot be and will never be dependent on violence against and murder of Palestinians. 

• Being NFTY-MAR SAVP was so, so formative in my perception of justice, the development of my moral compass, and my fight for the Palestinian people. It is discouraging to see an organization that gave me so much reflection back so little. 

• My Jewish upbringing is why I am signing this petition. I see in this movement that I have been raised in so much beauty and pride in our Jewish values, and yet at one of these incredibly important moments, I am meant to see such a moral blind spot in condemning Israeli government war crimes.

• “It is not in spite of my Jewish identity that I support the liberation of Palestinian people- it is because of it. As I am filled with immense heartbreak for Palestinians and Israelis, I am grounded by the famous Jewish teaching: “If I am not for myself who will be for me? If I am only for myself, then what am I? And If not now, when?” (Pirkei Avot 1:14) 

• The narrative that Jewish/Israeli security must come at the expense of Palestinian freedom was instilled in me in almost every Jewish space I entered growing up. Heller High, OSRUI, and NFTY rhetoric glorified the IDF, advocated for unwavering support of Israel, and almost always omitted the mention of Palestine entirely. In the current moment, to only focus on American experiences of antisemitism and unconditional support for Israel is to only be for ourselves. 

• It is for the sake of my campers who have only grown up learning to praise Israel, for the sake of the next generation of Jews that the URJ plays such a monumental role in shaping, that I find it imperative to advocate for Palestinian human rights. It is because of my Jewish values that I urge the community to open our hearts towards justice. I urge us to create space for nuanced connections to Israel/Palestine— space for the ever-growing number of young Jews who cannot stand idly by in the face of genocide. 

• Because if not now, when? 

• As someone raised in the tradition of reform Judaism, I was taught that to take one life is to take a world, and to save one life is to save a world. How many worlds have been lost since October 7th? How many more worlds do we need to lose, how many more children, how many more innocents need to be slaughtered before a ceasefire is called? According to The Guardian, at the time a temporary ceasefire was called, the IDF estimated it had killed 1000-2000 Hamas members. This must be compared to the total death toll of 16000-17000. This means that at least 88 percent of casualties in Gaza have been civilians. This is unacceptable and directly against the Jewish values I was taught at the URJ, which prioritize saving lives and creating peace. As I have sung at countless shabbat shirim, not by might, not by power, but by spirit alone shall we all live in peace.  It is the responsibility of the URJ to call for this peace. 

• It’s time to look at ourselves and our institutions clearly in the mirror. 

• I cannot support the extermination of any group of people, and am horrified by my community condemning or supporting this.

• Genocide is always wrong and we should never side with the culprits and always fight for the oppressed.  Their voices deserve to be heard 

• Apartheid Nationalism and Genocide are antithetical to Jewish values

• I believe our silence on the ongoing crisis of Israel’s war on Gaza destabilizes our communities. Peace cannot be achieved through violence. Our (Jews, Muslims, Israelis, Palestinians) collective liberation and freedom is all intertwined and none of us are free until we’re all free. Killing 20,000 people, including almost 7,000 children will not lead to freedom.

• In support of my Jewish values

• Because the thoughtful and principled community I found in my NFTY youth group taught me the importance of pursuing justice as a Jewish value, and it is impossible to truly stand for Justice in this moment without calling for a ceasefire and an end to occupation.

• Because I refuse to abet apartheid under my name.

• The URJ has been a source of progressive values for me during my adolescent years. I call on them to act on those values and value the lives of Palestinian people just as much as they do Jewish people. 

• Permanent Ceasefire is the only way forward. The ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestine must be stopped

• It is our responsibility to stand against all forms of colonial violence, genocide, and occupation, especially as Jews considering our history and our tradition of peace, justice, and healing the world. I have Palestinian friends who fear for the lives of their family and their people. Collective punishment and indiscriminate bombing is unconscionable, even more so given that half of all Gazans are children who bear no responsibility for the recent violence. 

• I have been a member of an URJ synagogue my entire life. I am incredibly proud of my Jewish heritage and community, in large part because of my experience as an active member of NFTY, and later as president of my TYG and an active member of my college Hillel. I have never felt further from my Jewish community than I do today because of the failure of organizations like the URJ to recognize the destructive and genocidal nature of this war, and to use their platform to call for lasting peace and freedom – for Jews and Palestinians alike.

• Serving as NFTY SW SAVP empowered me to live a Jewish life, going on to become deeply involved with Harvard University Hillel, study Jewish history and Hebrew in college, and ultimately moving to Israel to engage in anti-occupation work. I thank the URJ for making me the politically engaged , religiously committed person I am today and am deeply disappointed that it is not extending its values to the civilians in Gaza and using its platform to push for a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike. 

• As reform Jews, we were always taught to question our beliefs, to challenge the status quo. Please be brave 

• If we want Judaism to survive in new generations, leadership must adapt. We need to separate Judaism from Zionism within our institutions so Judaism can thrive. Never again for anyone. 

• To advocate for peace and safe return of hostages 

• Jewish leaders like AIPAC have not represented the majority Jewish opinion for years to the detriment of the peace process and the lives of tens of thousands.  We can start to end that now.

• As a Jew, I believe our liberation is bound with the liberation of all marginalized peoples. This violence inflicted upon Gaza makes us no safer and flies in the face of our values of pikuach nefesh, tzedek, and tikkun olam. Do the right thing – call for a ceasefire now.

• complacency cannot be an option when a genocide is occurring  

• My Jewish values — cultivated in URJ communities — lead me to advocate for the cause of Palestinian liberation. I recognize that Jewish safety and the safety of all people are intertwined, and that Jews in the US have a responsibility to show that Israel’s actions do not represent the Jewish people on the international stage.

• The URJ was foundational in developing my Jewish and political identities, and it breaks my heart to see the community I called home turn its back on the values of justice that it preaches. I cannot justify giving my time or commitment to any organization that refuses to stand up against genocide.

• My deepest held values and dedication to social justice are the direct result of my involvement in URJ programs such as NFTY Missouri Valley (including regional board), Mitzvah Corps and Machon Kaplan. I am often proud to stand alongside the URJ in our commitment to social justice movements. However, I have been deeply saddened to watch the URJ double down on their stances and unwavering commitment to Israel at the expense of Palestinian lives.  

• Because I feel what is currently going on goes deeply against my and all Jewish values that we hold dear. Human life is precious and we must protect all lives.

• My Jewish values do not align with the current position of the URJ. Any military ‘solutions’ will only lead to more human suffering. Is that the Tzedek Tzedek Tirdov we wish to pursue? 

• I do not support the actions of the current government in Israel. 

• Israel’s actions in Gaza do not represent the opinions and beliefs of all (likely most) Jews. It is important for Jews to stand up against the human rights abuses being perpetrated, and make clear that Bibi does not speak for all of us. We only fuel antisemitism by remaining silent in the face of these atrocities

• The URJ says it cares about social justice, and it is time to put words to action and speak truth to power. What is happening to the Palestinian people is a terrible atrocity being perpetrated by the Israeli government. Meanwhile, I see posts from the URJ saying stand with Israel. We should stand with Israel while thousands of Palestinians are being killed, children orphaned? What a terrible shande. Please show the Israeli government what our Jewish values truly are. 

• Nothing has disgusted me more than watching the Israeli government carry out this mass destruction and displacement of the people living in Gaza in MY name. This is not what I was taught from my years of URJ education and I beg of all the Jewish institutions that raised me to follow their own values and place the importance of human life and rights ABOVE that of a nation state. 

• My Judaism teaches me pikuach nefesh, that every life is sacred and must be saved. When we destroy a single life, we destroy the whole world, and when we save a single life, we save the whole world. I cannot stand idly by and watch as my own people ruthlessly take away the lives of innocent children and families in Gaza that have truly nowhere to run or hide. Even worse, these murders are done in the name of Judaism, in the name of protecting the Jewish people, but it is NOT the Judaism that I practice and love. I pray for the safe return of the hostages and mourn the tragic loss of Israeli lives, but I know that killing innocent Palestinian families will not bring back our loved ones and will not subside our grief. The Jewish people must do better. 

• This is what Judaism is— Solidarity with other marginalized groups, NOT perpetuating genocide. This is what I learned in NFTY. Calling for a ceasefire is in alignment with both jewish and NFTY values.

• My experience with  URJ camps and youth group taught me to always stand up for what is right and just, to repair the world. As an organization that provides such loving communities for children, URJ should recognize the absolute horror that children in Gaza are facing, and call for an immediate ceasefire so no more lives are lost. URJ can support the idea of a Jewish state without supporting a government that is killing children and innocent civilians at shocking rates.

• Tikkun Olam. Never again is for everyone. Making other people refugees is not a Jewish value. Never learned about the reality of the Nakba.

• We need to have our Reform leadership act aligned with our values for human rights, social justice, and peace-building.

• Pikuach nefesh, no more innocent lives lost 

• Because if there was to be a state for jews, it shouldnt be built on the basis of genocide and settler colonialism. I’m signing this because Palestinians should not be bombed and dehumanized. I’m signing this because Israeli occupation is not for the Jewish people but for imperial political reach

• We have an obligation to fight for justice and see the image of G-d in all people. Even when we disagree, even when we feel hurt and vulnerable, we still have to do the right thing. 

• Because Judaism taught me not to stand idly by while an oppressed group suffers and that every life is precious. Also, I’m a midwife, and watching videos day after day of innocent children and babies dying is too heartbreaking to understand. 25,000 children in Gaza have lost one or both parents. This is unbearable. And it’s ours to bear.

• I am heartbroken that the religion I was raised in can’t find a way to lead toward peace in this crisis. Our leaders weren’t always such cowards.

• I feel betrayed by my Jewish education that the truth of Israel’s history has been so sugar coated. I feel a responsibility to speak up on behalf of the Jewish people that the Israeli government does NOT represent our values and interests.

• It is urgent for the safety of palestinians and Israelis to call for a ceasefire now 

• Because the Jewish community is on blast right now, and I want the world to know, in the name of Judaism, that Jewish values I was taught and strengthened in NFTY and TYG were rooted in tikkun olam and pikuach nefesh, and neither of those are represented in the genocide we are seeing. May this showing of members for a ceasefire allow the URJ to see that, when you stand on the courageous and right side of history, the side of justice and peace, we will stand with you.

• Because mass murder is bad

• I don’t want innocent people to die 

• I went to Poland twice on two different NFTY programs (their summer Israel trip as well as EIE) and that burned Never again into my brain, body and soul. Never Again means Never Again for everyone. It’s horrific to see such atrocities, and war crimes committed in my name and defended with such  inhumanity from people I know and love.

• Because URJ has a duty to uphold the commitment to Tikkun Olam it taught us about 

• As the URJ has said in their official statement, the only way to lasting safety and true democracy is through peace.

• I want to see the reform movement lean on its values and work on combating antisemitism by working towards a just and lasting peace for Israelis and Palestinians. I want the reform movement to take a strong stance against genocidal intentions and actions, even if it comes from our own community.

• I am a rabbinical student at Hebrew college, and largely didn’t consider going to HUC or pursuing rabbinic work in the reform movement because of the movement’s stance on Israel and Palestine. It is unconscionable to not be calling for an end to the genocide of Palestinians that we are seeing happen before our eyes. It is unconscionable to say that you stand for justice but won’t call for a ceasefire. It is unconscionable to teach tikkun olam but to be unwilling to live those values when the time comes. This violence will not keep us safe, and this mess won’t be solved through a military solution. Ceasefire now! 

• The Reform movement raised me to love Judaism, love the Jewish people and love justice. It is my intertwined love for a Jewish future and a future full of love and justice that have called me to become a Rabbi and have called me to call for a ceasefire. It is my love for the Reform movement that calls me to sign this letter and call into being a future of peace and justice for all in Israel/Palestine. 

• because it breaks my heart to see a community that raised me continue to support genocide 

• The reform movement taught me to center human life above all else. I was a proud regional SAVP. Please do the right thing. 

• Part of why the occupation of Palestine has been able to go on for so long is because “jewish safety” has been used as a justification. There is this idea in the zeitgeist that Jews will only be safe if Israel exists, and that for Israel to exist, Palestinians or any other ethnicity cannot live on the same land. It is devastating to see a genocide carried out in the name of Judaism and Jewish safety, when we know that peace is possible, and that one population’s safety should never negate another’s. Both Jews and Palestinians can and will live in Palestine one day, but it is necessary for Jews of the world to speak up and say – Not in Our Name! To denounce the violence being carried out under the guise of Jewish safety, and to speak for Jewish/Palestinian solidarity towards a liberated world. Having URJ speak up will help add credibility to the already deafening numbers of American Jews who are saying – never again means never again for anyone.

• Pikuach nefesh above all 💕

• The Judaism I was raised with in the reform movement taught that all life is precious and sacred. There is no exception for the Palestinian people. Their humanity and rights deserve protection. To carry out a genocide in the name of Jewish safety is abhorrent and inhumane. We must see our Reform movement stand in support of life, peace and justice and call for a ceasefire now. To do anything else is to be on the wrong side of history. 

• The URJ taught me to lead with curiosity and to prioritize justice. It’s where I learned that all life is sacred and that it’s up to *us* to do the work of repairing the world. Growing up in my URJ synagogue and with NFTY is where I learned to organize and is a large part of why I am a Jewish professional today. And it’s also why I feel heartbroken and betrayed that the movement that raised me has failed to speak out against the destruction of Palestinian lives that is being done in our name. October 7 was horrifying and I mourn alongside every Israeli who was killed, harmed, and kidnapped. But collective retaliation and mass destruction of Palestinian lives is not justice. Doubling down on endless occupation and ethnic cleansing is not justice. I see images of starving, dying, imprisoned Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank that feel eerily familiar. As one of the largest American Jewish movements, the URJ has the power to affirm that Jewish safety can never come at the cost of Palestinian life. This is a moment to move with courage and to imagine realities beyond endless occupation, walls, bombs, and orphans. 

• I am so grateful for my experiences growing up in the URJ, and the professional opportunities and communities it has given me. I had hoped to raise my son in the same communities, especially my URJ camp. However every time the URJ supports Israeli aggression with very few questions and refuses to support life age freedom for Palestinians it feels like a direct contradiction to the values I learned as a reform Jew and it pushes me further and further from the community. We as Jews need to acknowledge the deep flaws in Israel and start advocating for change.

• What is happening in Palestine is our problem too. 

• If we are to uphold the values that Judaism teaches us, we must support an immediate ceasefire and end the genocide of the Palestinian people. We cannot continue to act as the oppressor, when we ourselves know so deeply what it is like to be oppressed. 

• The past two months we’ve witnessed a horrifying genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza— over 20,000 murdered and 1.9 million people displaced, and counting. Never again means never again for anyone!

• I strongly agree with the Jewish values listed in this letter, and am horrified at the mass killing and destruction being done to Palestinians in Gaza. The murder and kidnapping by Hamas is also horrific. The response by Israel with the support of the US is wildly unjust and inhumane. I do not think there is a military solution to ending terrorism and building peace. We must find social, political and economic solutions to building peace, ending hate, killing and oppression, and building a society where everyone is safe and can thrive. I am the grandchild of holocaust survivors and have spent my life working for justice and liberation of all people and am horrified by the genocide that is being committed in the name of protecting Jews. This war is making us all less safe. Violence begets more violence. Nothing good will come from this. We must start with a permanent ceasefire and then do the very very hard work of building peace. 

• I believe it is a moral and existential imperative that Jews wake up to the harm being done by Israel in our names.   

• The death toll in Gaza is abominable. Militarism does not keep anyone safe. The URJ needs to stand for the social justice values it claims by advocating for a ceasefire. URJ youth programs need to teach kids and teens about education and apartheid. 

• Atrocity breeds atrocity 

• Because our Jewish institutions still support Israel even while they commit ethnic cleansing for all the world to see. The URJ holds influence and I am proud to sign this letter urging the URJ to set an example by calling out injustice enacted in our name and to say No More. 

• No more reform Jews should grow up in a congregation that continues Israeli, genocidal propaganda. 

• It is urgent to understand that the deepest of Jewish values require us to cease destruction and harm even in the face of being brutalized by destruction and harm. 

• I think the complicity of American Jewish organizations will be a defining moment in history. I think American Jews will face antisemitism for the rest of our lives as a result of the conflict in Gaza and the relative silence of Jewish organizations. I also believe URJ orgs need to change their education around Israel to include acknowledging the nakba, and abandon the narrative of “a land without a people and a people without a land”. I know myself and many of my peers (23 years old) will not support reform Jewish organizations so long as they stay complicit in apartheid and genocide.

• Because my Jewish and human values call on me to protect life. 
• It is fundamental to my Jewish identity to fight for the human rights of all people and I am saddened by the URJ’s public positions, which do not acknowledge Palestinians’ suffering

• The Jewish values I learned growing up as part of a vibrant Reform Jewish community in New York City – that all humans are made b’tzelem Elohim (in the image of God) and that tikkun olam (repairing the world) is an essential part of Jewish communal life – motivate me in my advocacy for a ceasefire. I am a graduate student focused on Jewish texts and history, hoping to find work in the Jewish professional world as an educator and provider of spiritual care. I want to see dedication to just peace and the protection of human rights for all people articulated by the leaders of the Reform movement and beyond. When Jewish leaders fail to call for a ceasefire and just peace, I feel deeply alienated by and disappointed with the tradition and community that I love. I hope the URJ leaders see this letter as a form of loving rebuke. We can all do more to use our power as American Jews to prevent even more horrific loss of life. 

• The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is catastrophic. The Jewish community cannot sit idly by.

• Because I believe a Jewish future cannot exist without the Reform movement, and a Jewish future also cannot exist without a lasting ceasefire in Israel/Palestine. The only way through is together. 

• Because I believe in ending the Israeli occupation of Palestine and a commitment to a ceasefire for peace.

• Because a lasting and permanent ceasefire in Gaza is absolutely critical. The indiscriminate bombing and murder of Palestinians must stop immediately. 

• To urge American Jewish leaders to act and stop the senseless killing of children and innocent people. 

• I am distraught over the continued loss of life and suffering caused by Israeli bombardment of Gaza. I don’t believe this killing and destruction makes Israelis safe — I don’t believe this is a path to peace ~

• Israel has proven time and again that they do not represent Jewish values. I want a world where I can be proud of my Judaism devoid of Zionism

• Because I will not allow a genocide to be carried out to completion in my name.

• Because I believe in a Judaism beyond zionism.

• Because I have basic empathy and humanity in my heart.

• The genocide in Palestine is an atrocity and we have an obligation as members of the world to use our voice to do everything in our power to stop this. Especially because of the connection we have to the land of Israel/Palestine and as descendants of genocide. 

• The Judaism I know values all human life – this war is in direct opposition to the teachings of our own religion and is being falsely justified in its name. 

• My Jewish community taught me to think critically and care about freedom and justice. I urge you all to support an immediate ceasefire. 

• These are the values we were taught

• I am signing this letter because the genocide of the Palestinian people must stop. I am signing this letter because I am terrified by the violence perpetrated in the name of the Jewish people. I am terrified by how much that violence resembles the violence perpetrated against the Jewish people, by Jewish Zionists. I am signing this letter because without the space to discuss and problematize the state of Israel with nuance in this community, innocent people will be killed—Jews and Arabs—and the reform Jewish movement will completely disintegrate. It is urgent on every level that we as reform Jews demand a ceasefire now.

• The incessant, indiscriminate bombing of the people of Gaza is not in line with my values as a Jew or an American, two identities that make me typically feel strongly aligned with the URJ and Reform movement. Many Jewish institutions and voices are saying this massive loss of life is unfortunate but necessary to keep Jews in Israel, and around the world, safe. But I can see with my own eyes the opposite is true. The longer we support, fund and justify this terrible war, in the name of Jewish safety, the more vulnerable Israel becomes to another horrific attack, and the more Jews in America and beyond will experience antisemitic assault and violence – that’s already happening, fears about it are legitimate. That’s if we’re only looking out for ourselves. But as a movement founded on social justice values, Reform Jews should be heeding the call for a desperate need for greater dignity, freedom and justice for all people – and not make an exception for Palestinians because it feels harder or inconvenient because it’s “closer to home”. I am a proud Jew, formed by reform institutions my whole life. It’s a fearful time but we, and you as our leadership, must be courageous – to call for an immediate, permanent ceasefire, and to help advocate for an end to the occupation and a more just future for Israel and Palestine, which will always be inextricably linked – saying it has to be us or them is a dangerous denial of the reality. It’s us AND them – our collective safety and rights and liberation. The URJ and the RAC has worked hard to gain influence and power at the highest ranks of our American system, to be able to advocate for the interests of American Jews and all people. Now is the time to leverage that power!

• I still believe in the reform movement and I have hope they will do the right thing.

• The values I have learned through URJ/NFTY camps and activities do not align with the atrocities that the Israeli military is inflicting. 

• To save a life is to save the world

• It is against Jewish values to harm and kill people and I also think this level of violence from Israel leads to increased antisemitism  worldwide

• The destruction in Gaza is horrifying, and it will create more and more enemies for Israel and Jews worldwide.

• Because as a Jew, I want to stand with fellow Jews pleading for a ceasefire in alignment with the Jewish values of protecting lives, all lives, and Tikkun olam.

• The mental gymnastics the URJ does to maintain its social justice framework while supporting Israel unconditionally is unacceptable and it’s unacceptable that the movement that I loved growing up teaches biased and wrong information to its children. 

• I am angry and saddened that Israel is committing genocide in the name of “protecting the Jewish state.” My Judaism taught me that violence and oppression is never the answer. I am ashamed of my fellow Jews who continue to support Israel in face of the atrocities that Israel has committed. 

• Given the connection to Israel, I distanced myself from all URJ affiliated orgs following EIE in 2009

• I support a free Palestine that represents all residents of the occupied territories. 

• The URJ has been using the support of young people as an excuse to push its own political agenda for too long. It’s time the agenda of the URJ reflected the will of its members and teens they exploit to achieve their political agenda of stagnation and status quo for global systems of power and oppression. Is the URJ done with false promises and propaganda? Call for a ceasefire now. Lobby for the deconstruction of the settler colonial apartheid state of Israel. 

• Zionism is a distortion of my religion that is being used to murder tens of thousands of innocents. An organization that’s afraid to take a firm stance against that does not represent reform judaism.

• Because tikkun olam is Jewish and Palestinians are part of the world and deserve life.

• Because the URJ taught me the Jewish value of B’tzelem Elohim (that all like if sacred and precious). Our actions must reflect that value. Lasting ceasefire now. 

• Our religion compels us to stand for justice.

• Signing because the Jewish values I learned through my reform Jewish education are in clear opposition to the actions of the Israeli government, both in this current siege and in the long term occupation 

• I believe a calling for a ceasefire is required by my Jewish value of preserving life

• Our Jewish community leaders need to do better – to represent all voices within the Jewish community and to stand for the sanctity of life, Jewish and non Jewish. Supporting the actions of Israel today is supporting the ethnic cleansing and genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza.  
• I want Reform Jewish communities to actually live the values they raised me with.

• It is imperative that the Jewish community comes together to stand against the genocide of the Palestinian people. We cannot allow injustice and oppression to continue, and we must use our voices and our Jewish values to fight for the dignity, rights, and well-being of all people. URJ programming plays a major role in the development of Jewish youth – the way we see the world, the way we understand Judaism, etc. and this is a responsibility to take seriously. There has been an unfortunate overlooking of the atrocities of the Israeli government and an indoctrination of a Zionist mindset that is destructive to both Jews and Palestinians. There must be accountability and efforts to move beyond this, towards freedom and peace for all.

• Free palestine and end zionist indoctrination in Jewish spaces 

• I look forward to the day when URJ Israel programming acknowledges the suffering the Israeli state and army are enacting on Palestinians.

• “Never again” means never again

• I’m signing this letter because we as American Jews must confront and reject the human rights abuses that Israel continues to commit in the name of protecting Jews around the world. 

• The Jewish values my reform synagogue in Brookline MA raised me with compel me to support an immediate ceasefire to save lives. I am ashamed the URJ hasn’t done the same. It’s not too late to join the right side of history in calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

• My years serving on the NFTY Northern board taught me to be a leader who fought for Jewish values. Nothing is a better reflection of these values than fighting for an end to occupation. 

• As a reform Jew this is the easiest decision to make. We were taught to value life, not just Jewish life. 

• I refuse to stand by while genocide is committed in my name—our name. I call on URJ to advocate for true Jewish values: Pikuach Nefesh, B’zelem Elohim, Bal Tashchit, Tikkun Olam, and many more. Never again, for anyone. 

• It is shameful for the Reform community to stand against peace and in favor of genocide. You have lost all credibility as a steward of contemporary and thoughtful American Judaism. From facing public harassment from my own rabbi over my concerns about the 2014 Gaza War as a TEENAGER — to having to watch my community stand with the genocidal Israeli state today — I am ashamed to have ever been affiliated.

• As Jews who have experienced genocide ourselves, we must speak out against genocide wherever we see it happening. It sickens me to see people perpetuating genocide against another people in the name of my safety, and I know that it will not ultimately make me or any Jews safer to oppress and kill another people. 

• Because it is the right thing to do, and the least I can do. I wish the URJ would be brave.

• As someone who grew up in the Reform movement learning about the importance of Jewish values like tzedek, Tikkun Olam, that every life is sacred and everyone is made God’s image, and most importantly, to love your neighbor as yourself, the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza is horrifying. Further, the dehumanizing rhetoric coming from top Israeli military and political officials makes it obvious that little care is being shown to the lives of civilians. As someone who has spent my summers bringing joy to kids at URJ summer camps, I want to vomit every time the death count of children in Gaza is updated. Indiscriminately bombing Gaza and killing its civilians will not bring safety to Jews – and asserting so is against every Jewish value this organization has taught me. At this point, it is glaringly obvious that there is no military solution to this crisis. We must call for a ceasefire and work towards a political solution that works to ensure peace, security, and political and civil rights for every single person living in the region. 

• Because a ceasefire is consistent with the Jewish values that I learned in URJ classes!

• It is disgusting that an organization home to many of the programs and people who taught me to value perspective, difference, Jewish community, justice, advocacy, and the value of a human life, has not stood up for these things on a global scale. Jews must stand up against Israel’s nationalist, militarized oppression and murder of Palestinians. It is in our blood and the fabric of our traditions to do so. My Palestinian friends have told me that the voices of American Jews are currently the loudest and most listened to in the midst of all this pain. I would like to see an organization that has been important to me and hundreds of other American Jews take heed of this. 

• Pkuach nefesh. Commandment of Aliyah must be broken to save lives.

• My wife and I, members of The Temple in Atlanta GA, unequivocally believe that the government of Israel is enacting a genocide. A ceasefire is the only option to release the hostages and end the carnage of Palestinians.

• I want proof that there were Jews who demanded better of their religion. You taught us all about Israel and the Holocaust our whole lives. I paid attention and I believed you and I’m paying attention now that I see the worst cruelties of the Holocaust being performed by the land I was taught to love as part of my soul. What do you do when a part of you becomes a murderer (were they this way all along?)? I can only demand change from who might listen to me, and be so so grateful there are at least all these hundreds of others who agree.

• it’s within our jewish values to oppose genocide 

• I was indoctrinated into zionism by a URJ temple and NFTY and the way I was lied to about Israel created so much distrust that I stopped practicing. And I’m not the only one. The lie of zionism is the biggest threat there is to Judaism. 

• resisting genocide is the most jewish thing i’ve ever done. justice and community have always been the engines of my spirituality, and those reform jewish values guide me towards fighting like hell for a free palestine 

• There is no military solution to this conflict, and the well-being of Israelis and Palestinians are intertwined. The destruction of Gaza and callous disregard for Palestinian lives are unconscionable. 

• In Judaism we are taught “tikkun olam,” to repair the world. Our values are rooted in our responsibility to implement change for a more just world through acts of kindness. I see no way Zionism can coexist with these values. How any person can ignore the mass extinction of the Palestinian people that continues to occur in our name. How our Jewish leaders can ignore the truth of the horrors Palestinians face every single day. I identify strongly with my Jewish background, and strongly to this day believe that the person I have become and values I hold were influenced heavily by Jewish experiences, such as NFTY. When others have turned a blind eye to injustice we have stood up, and I am so proud when I think back to these moments. Right now I am not proud. I am ashamed and humiliated. URJ needs to follow the values they preach and call for a ceasefire now. 

• No genocide in my name. Never again means never for anyone.

• I am disgusted this is happening in my name. I can’t wait for the mainstream and institutional Jewish communities to finally contend with the Israel problem and the fact that a huge percentage of Jews are not supportive of this zionist project and that doesn’t mean we don’t count. Time for solidarity and coalition with Palestinians and across lines of difference. No more segregation and apartheid. The sake of Judaism and our lives truly depend on it. The quicker a ceasefire, the more Palestinians will live. We must do everything we can to end the genocide.

• To free the remaining hostages, to prevent more deaths of Palestinian civilians, a ceasefire is a Jewish ethical imperative.

• Israel is bombing innocent Palestinian civilians in the name of Judaism, which does not align with my values as a reform Jew 

• In the words of Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, the whole of the Torah is a call for existential, spiritual interdependence. What affects one life affects the other. The rending of one spirit rends the other. The Ancients ask us: if we are only for ourselves, who are we? If not us, then who? If not now, then when? There is no divisibility. There is no ability to remain silent. At the signing of this letter, an estimated 20,000 Gazans have been killed by the Israeli army. Over 8,000 infants and children have been killed. There are credible allegations of execution-style murders of men, women, and infants in a UN school. The world is watching a punishing genocide of an innocent people, all in the name of Judaism. American Jews are watching some of the oldest mosques in the world be reduced to rubble, while the shema is pumped through the loudspeakers.  We are watching journalists bleed to death as children’s limbs are fished out of the rubble; we are watching children be shot to death in the West Bank; we are watching refugee camps be incinerated; we are watching shaking men and women scream for their loved ones, covered in dust, while soldiers hold combat knives to the Torah; while a flag bearing the magen david is raised over graveyards. We are watching soldiers raze communities to the ground, bomb families trying to flee, before raising a hanukkiah where homes once stood. We are told repeatedly that this violence is wrought for the defense, the salvation of the Jewish people. Our religion is publicly and internationally intertwined with an unthinkable derision towards human life, with naked and cruel bloodlust. If Reform Judaism cannot condemn the wholesale dispossession, slaughter, and destruction of the Gazan people—if our 2,000 year old tradition cannot maintain tzedek and pikuach nefesh as orienting mandates—then Reform Judaism is dead. It serves no purpose. The Ark is empty—its words of no use to us. And Judaism itself is worth nothing. 

• My Judaism and my time in the URJ was formative in how I’ve come to understand the world. I learned a strong sense of Justice and responsibility to the larger community. I learned that as Jews, we’ve seen what it means to be oppressed and we’ve vowed to stop that from happening to anyone ever again. 

• I feel so deeply betrayed by my time in URJ and NFTY that they not only are unwilling to call for a ceasefire but also actively aiding in the continued displacement of Palestinians. 

• To continue to be at the very least silent and most often actively in support of a Jewish only state is to be complicit in the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. Doing so is not only a shameful and dangerous conflation of Judaism with state violence but also a deeply inhumane way for us to exist. 

• I know that my Jewish liberation is tied up in the liberation of all people, including Palestinians. We are not safe or free until all of us are safe and free. 

• Not in my name – not in anyone’s name

• I loved growing up in the Reform Movement. It’s where I learned my moral values. Those are the values that drive me to call for a ceasefire now and I want to see the place I grew up take the right stand too!

• I believe the Reform movement has a duty to call for the end to this senseless destruction and killing. Why do we trust a government that hates us (Netanyahu) with the carrying out of a war dense with civilians? We know the Likud and its hateful allies do not sit down, negotiate, and find solutions, whether on religious issues, or with Palestinians and their leadership. We must condemn their actions with a full and mighty voice. 

• The Jewish Values I was taught are not aligned with occupation and oppression, and they certainly do not teach us to bomb our neighbors.

• Indiscriminately killing is never ok. The madness must stop. We are better than this. 

• I am heartbroken and deeply shaken by the ongoing bloodshed in Gaza. I want to see a political solution advanced, as there is no military solution. Additionally, I want to see more individuals and organizations in the mainstream Jewish community in this count have the clarity and moral courage to take a stand for a ceasefire.

• One year at a NFTY event, I attended a small seminar led by someone who used wolves and deer as a metaphor to describe the Israel-Palestine conflict. He explained that in a certain forest, the deer population was too large, and it was having a negative effect on the ecosystem as a whole. So, some humans introduced wolves into the ecosystem to hunt excess deer, thus restoring a better balance in the forest and promoting a better overall environment. He argued that a similar situation occurred in Israel, essentially saying that Jewish settlers need to colonize the land in order to “‘make the desert bloom.” 

• Palestinians are not deer, and Israelis/Jews are not wolves. Life is not a dumb nature metaphor. We are all simply people, and it is abundantly clear that an indiscriminate bombing and killing campaign is not benefiting any metaphorical forest or desert. 

• My Jewish upbringing and especially NFTY taught me to always stand up for what’s right, even if it’s hard, and even if people are screaming at you not to. I strongly urge URJ to call for a ceasefire, and we can hopefully begin to truly move forward and address the root causes (i.e. the occupation) of the 10/7 massacre and this entire, horrible conflict.”

• Because I know people – close friends, strangers, and co–workers –  who are acting casually antisemitic (it’s becoming normalized). Because the absence of electricity, water, and food sounds a lot like conditions in the Holocaust. Because ridiculing and dehumanizing any person should never be associated with Judaism. There is no lesson that I’ve learned from Torah that justifies torture, carpet bombing, starvation, displacement, and murder. The actions of Israel will bring about more antisemitism and serve as justification for people to want to persecute Jews yet again. A great way to radicalize someone is to destroy their homes, murder their family, and deprive them of basic needs. 

• I’m a non-observant Jew who believes the US and Israeli governments are committing GENOCIDE right now against the Palestinian people.

• The URJ is the largest representative body of the Reform Movement, and I believe that it should represent our movement’s values of peace, justice, and truth, not to mention our people’s ancient commitment to protecting the orphan, the widow, and the stranger, through calling for a ceasefire.

• Our Jewish values and our Jewish history teaches us that our pain and grief cannot be weaponized to justify violence against others. The lesson from the Holocaust should not be to protect Jewish safety at all costs but to take action against the destruction of a people. By staying silent, we are betraying our ancestors. 

• Because I can’t watch a genocide occur under the veil of Judaism

• Palestine deserves to be free

• I signed the Jewish Professionals for a ceasefire letter and all of the Rabbis who I knew for my entire life called us cowards for not being willing to risk losing our jobs, and possible legal action while we were standing up for others. I need them to know that they are no longer representing the whole of their constituents. There is a growing number of people who are non-Zionist and anti-Zionist. The only thing they are doing is telling people who are welcome in their community and it is no longer me. I spend my life building the Jewish community and to be called a coward for standing up for the values I was raised with, that were taught to me from the URJ is a betrayal. 

• To be Jewish is to pursue justice, love mercy, and walk humbly. We have to fulfill our obligation as Jews by standing up against injustice and calling for a ceasefire. For the sake of humanity, for the sake of our fellow b’tzelem Elohim. 
• We should not need to be signing a letter like this—pathways to peace without violence should be obvious and aligned with Jewish values. The ethnic cleansing of Palestinians that Israel is enacting is unacceptable and does not guarantee Jewish safety—in fact it has been causing more fear and instability for Jews, Muslims, Arabs, Americans, and all  global citizens. Ceasefire now. Free Palestine.

• I am disappointed and completely let down by our movements’ lack of integrity and support of the Palestinian people. 

• We must stand for peace in the midst of traumatic violence and occupation. Our Jewish values urge us to be conscious, assertive citizens of our own communities and that of our neighbors. 
• I am an atheist of Jewish ancestry who believes it is my obligation by ancestry to advocate and work for all those whose voices and lives are less valued by mainstream society than my own. I sign in solidarity with humanity, human survival, Palestinian rights, and the collective struggle for liberation of all oppressed peoples.

• To call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire for the Palestinian people

Other comments from signers:

• I chose not to give a gift from the heart at my temple this year for the explicit reason that I know part of that money goes to URJ pro-genocide lobbying. I sent that money to Gazans instead.

• Yisrael roughly means “to struggle with God.” Through this tenet of our philosophy, and several others, I believe it is deeply anti-Jewish to be deliberately uncritical of oppressive institutions of power, even when they claim to represent our people.

• Many policies of Israel, starting with the Nakba in 1948 and increasing with the right wing Israeli nationalism and nationalistic zionism is stirring the rise of anti-semitism. Israel’s right wing policies have put all Israelis and jews around the world in the way of harm by fomenting antisemitism in their oppression over Palestinians, constructing an apartheid state and denying democracy to Palestinians!

• Please use your influence to halt this continued violence and to bring the hostages home safely 

• My family left our Reform congregation and the Reform movement in 2021 ultimately over its failure to respond to that war in Gaza in a way that aligned with our values.