UNION FOR REFORM JUDAISM

(Redirected from URJ Camp Coleman)

The 'Union for Reform Judaism' ('URJ'), formerly known as the 'Union of American Hebrew Congregations' ('UAHC'), is an organization which supports Reform Jewish congregations in North America. The current President is Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie, and the Chairman of the Board is Robert M. Heller.
The origins of the URJ began with the founding of the UAHC by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1873. At the time it consisted of 34 congregations. In 1950, the UAHC relocated its headquarters to New York City [1]. In 2003, the UAHC was officially renamed the Union for Reform Judaism by the General Assembly at the organization's Biennial Convention. The former name was dropped because it reflected Wise's (unrealized) expectation that the whole of American Jewry would eventually affiliate with the Reform movement, and also because it failed to acknowledge the URJ-affiliated congregations outside the United States. Today, the organization is often referred to simply as "the Union." As of 2005, some 900 synagogues were affiliated with it.
In 1875, the Union created the Hebrew Union College (HUC), the Reform movement serminary to train rabbis and later cantors and other Jewish professionals. Rabbis in URJ member synagogues are members of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR).

Contents

Youth

Political Outreach

Camps

Hava Nashira

External links

Youth

The URJ Youth Division funds and organizes two youth wings, NFTY and KESHER, for High School and College students, respectively. The Youth Division also runs international travel programs to Israel and Europe and administers the URJ Camping system.

Political Outreach

The political and legislative outreach of the URJ is performed by the Religious Action Center (RAC), operated in conjunction with CCAR. The RAC advocates policy positions based upon religious values, and is generally associated with political progressivism.

Camps

The URJ owns and operates 12 summer camps in the United States and Canada.[2] An additional camp is currently under construction in Washington, and a further four are operated by URJ-affiliated synagogues. When not in use as camps, some of these facilities are often used by other community groups, including NFTY national and regional events. Many of the camps have long provided the opportunity for high-school aged campers to travel to Israel during a summer.

Hava Nashira

'Hava Nashira' is an annual Jewish songleading workshop held every spring at URJ Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute camp. The workshop is open to URJ camp songleaders as well as to synagogue music specialists and all those with a serious interest in Jewish songleading and music. Hava Nashira draws the best of modern Jewish musicians, including Debbie Friedman, Craig Taubman, and Dan Nichols to lead specialty tracks. Examples of creative tracks offered in previous years: "URJ Camp Songleading" by Dan Nichols and Rosalie Will Boxt, "Repertoire Renewal" by Debbie Friedman, and "Music for Young Children and Families" by Peter and Ellen Allard.

External links

★ Union for Reform Judaism - Official website

★ Reform Judaism Magazine Home Page

★ URJ Camping