Haredi Judaism consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict interpretation of religious sources and their accepted halakha and traditions, in opposition to more accommodating or modern values and practices. Its members are usually referred to as ultra-Orthodox in English; however, the term "ultra-Orthodox" is considered pejorative by many of its adherents, who prefer terms like strictly Orthodox or Haredi. Haredi Jews regard themselves as the most religiously authentic group of Jews, although other movements of Judaism disagree.
Elliot N. Dorff is an American Conservative rabbi. He is a Visiting Professor of Law at UCLA School of Law and Distinguished Professor of Jewish theology at the American Jewish University in California, author and a bio-ethicist.
Agudath Israel of America is an American organization that represents Haredi Orthodox Jews. It is loosely affiliated with the international World Agudath Israel. Agudah seeks to meet the needs of the Haredi community, advocates for its religious and civil rights, and services its constituents through charitable, educational, and social service projects across North America.
There have been Jewish communities in the United States since colonial times, with individuals living in various cities before the American Revolution. Early Jewish communities were primarily composed of Sephardi immigrants from Brazil, Amsterdam, or England.
The Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion is a Jewish seminary with three locations in the United States and one location in Jerusalem. It is the oldest extant Jewish seminary in the Americas and the main seminary for training rabbis, cantors, educators and communal workers in Reform Judaism. HUC-JIR has campuses in Cincinnati, Ohio, New York City, Los Angeles, and Jerusalem. The Jerusalem campus is the only seminary in Israel for training Reform Jewish clergy.
The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) is an abortion rights organization founded in 1973 by clergy and lay leaders from mainline denominations and faith traditions to create an interfaith organization following Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion in the U.S. In 1993, the original name – the Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights (RCAR) – was changed to the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice.
The Religious Action Center (RAC) is the political and legislative outreach arm of Reform Judaism in the United States. The Religious Action Center is operated under the auspices of the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism, a joint body of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and the Union for Reform Judaism. It was founded in 1961.
Jewish feminism is a movement that seeks to make the religious, legal, and social status of Jewish women equal to that of Jewish men in Judaism. Feminist movements, with varying approaches and successes, have opened up within all major branches of the Jewish religion.
Lilith is an independent, Jewish-American, feminist non-profit magazine that has been issued quarterly since 1976. The magazine features award-winning investigative reports, first-person accounts, entertainment reviews, fiction and poetry, art and photography. Topics range from rabbinic sexual misconduct, to new rituals and celebrations, to deconstructing Jewish-American stereotypes, to understanding the Jewish stake in abortion rights.
Noahidism or Noachidism is a monotheistic Jewish religious movement aimed at non-Jews, based upon the Seven Laws of Noah and their traditional interpretations within Orthodox Judaism.
Abortion in Israel is permitted when determined by a termination committee, with the vast majority of cases being approved, as of 2019. The rate of abortion in Israel has steadily declined since 1988, and compared to the rest of the world, abortion rates in Israel are moderate. According to government data, in Israel, abortion rates in 2016 dropped steadily to 9 per 1,000 women of childbearing age, lower than England (16.2) and the United States (13.2). 99% of abortions are carried out in the first trimester. Despite allegations of permitting abortion under limited circumstances, Haaretz noted in 2019 that this is not the case, and abortion is almost always permitted in Israel.
Hannah Greenebaum Solomon was a social reformer and the founder of the National Council of Jewish Women, the first national association of Jewish women. Solomon was an important organizer who reached across boundaries of religious conviction at the local, national, and international levels.
In Judaism, views on abortion draw primarily upon the legal and ethical teachings of the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, the case-by-case decisions of responsa, and other rabbinic literature. While all major Jewish religious movements allow or encourage abortion in order to save the life of a pregnant woman, authorities differ on when and whether it is permitted in other cases.
The American Council for Judaism (ACJ) is an organization of American Jews committed to the proposition that Jews are not a national but a religious group, adhering to the original stated principles of Reform Judaism, as articulated in the 1885 Pittsburgh Platform. In particular, it is notable for its historical opposition to Zionism. Although it has since moderated its stance on the issue, it still advocates that American Jews distance themselves from Israel politically, and does not view Israel as a universal Jewish homeland. The ACJ has also championed women's rights, including the right for women to serve as rabbis, and has supported Reform Jewish congregations and contributed to the publication of new editions of prayer books for religious services predominately in the English language for Jews in English-speaking countries.
Danya Ruttenberg is an American rabbi, editor, and author. She has been called "the Twitter rabbi" for her social media presence. She lives in Chicago.
Alice Davis Marks Menken was a Jewish American known for her social work, particularly with female Jewish immigrant juvenile delinquency.
Pauline Hanauer Rosenberg was an American progressive activist who devoted her life to advancing the well-being and rights of women, children, and immigrants. She served as the first vice president and second president of the National Council of Jewish Women.
Abby Chava Stein is an Israeli-American transgender author, activist, blogger, model, speaker, and rabbi. She is the first openly transgender woman raised in a Hasidic community, and is a direct descendant of Hasidic Judaism's founder, the Baal Shem Tov. In 2015, she founded one of the first support groups nationwide for trans people with an Orthodox Jewish background who have left Orthodox Judaism.
Nina Morais Cohen was a suffragist, author, and educator. She was a founding member of the National Council of Jewish Women and a leader of the woman's club movement in Minneapolis.
Fanny Fligelman Brin was an American political activist best known for her peace advocacy work in the interwar years. She fought strongly for women's rights and peace as a political realist and felt impelled to act at every political call for further violence. Brin influenced public opinion through her activism work in women's groups, including prominent leadership in the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) and active membership in the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) and the National Committee on the Cause and Cure of War (NCCCW). Her greatest impact was made through organizing large groups of women around the peace cause, exerting influence to push for peace work within the groups she was involved with, speaking to groups of women to educate about the importance of peace advocacy, and reaching women through her writing in NCJW's publication The Jewish Woman.
