The Reform Kerfuffle
How much opposition exists to the movement’s future leader?
May 03, 2011
Sue Fishkoff reports in detail on the mini-rift in the Reform movement following the Union for Reform Judaism’s naming of Rabbi Richard Jacobs to succeed Rabbi Eric Yoffie as head of the umbrella organization of Judaism’s largest American denomination. It appears to be largely smoke sans fire: The lead dissident, Washington, D.C.-based Carol Greenwald, chairs a group that is dedicated to “Monitoring the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Failure to Expose Arab Anti-Semitism and to Chronicle its Dangers to World Jewry;” making Jacobs, a member of J Street’s rabbinic cabinet, the head of Reform Judaism may drive her and some others from the movement, but it seems far-fetched to see his appointment as an affront to all “mainstream Zionists.” (And, for what it’s worth, Abe Foxman agrees, calling attacks on Jacobs “harmful to the spirit of unity and common cause that unites the Jewish people.”)
Reform Defends Richard Jacobs as Critics Attack His Israel Position [JTA]
Earlier: Reform Movement Picks New Head
Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.
