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Eric Yoffie
Eric H. Yoffie is a Reform rabbi, and President Emeritus of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ). He was the head of the URJ denomination from 1996 to 2012.Forward 50, 2007: Eric Yoffie , ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', November 10, 2006 Following his retirement in 2012, he has been a lecturer and writer; his writings appear regularly in '''', '''', and ''''. Family and career Rabbi Yoffi ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish religious movements, Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its Jewish ethics, ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous revelation which is closely intertwined with human reason and not limited to the Theophany at Mount Sinai (Bible), Mount Sinai. A highly Religious liberalism, liberal strand of Judaism, it is characterized by little stress on ritual and personal observance, regarding Jewish law as non-binding and the individual Jew as autonomous, and by a great openness to external influences and Progressivism, progressive values. The origins of Reform Judaism lie in German Confederation, mid-19th-century Germany, where Rabbi Abraham Geiger and his associates formulated its early principles, attempting to harmonize Jewish tradition with modern sensibilities in the age of Jewish emancipation, emancipation. Brought to Am ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexander M
Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Aleksander, Oleksandr, Oleksander, Aleksandr, and Alekzandr. Related names and diminutives include Iskandar, Alec, Alek, Alex, Alexsander, Alexandre, Aleks, Aleksa, Aleksandre, Alejandro, Alessandro, Alasdair, Sasha, Sandy, Sandro, Sikandar, Skander, Sander and Xander; feminine forms include Alexandra, Alexandria, and Sasha. Etymology The name ''Alexander'' originates from the (; 'defending men' or 'protector of men'). It is a compound of the verb (; 'to ward off, avert, defend') and the noun (, genitive: , ; meaning 'man'). The earliest attested form of the name, is the Mycenaean Greek feminine anthroponym , , (/Alexandra/), written in the Linear B syllabic script. Alaksandu, alternatively called ''Alakasandu' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Park51
Park51 (originally named Cordoba House) was a development originally envisioned as a 13-story Islamic community center and mosque in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The developers hoped to promote interfaith dialogue. Due to its proposed location, two blocks from the World Trade Center site of the September 11 attacks, the proposed building was widely and controversially referred to as the "Ground Zero mosque", and the issue was amplified as an astroturf campaign to influence the 2010 United States elections. The project would replace an existing 1850s Italianate building that was damaged in the attacks. The original design was by SOMA Architects principal Michel Abboud, who wrestled for months with the challenge of making the building fit naturally into its lower Manhattan surroundings. He felt it should have a contemporary design, but also look Islamic. His design included a 500-seat auditorium, theater, performing arts center, fitness center, swimming pool ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Islamic Society Of North America
The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) is a non-profit Muslim religious organization based in the United States and serving North America. It provides a number of programs and services to North America's Muslim communities and broader societies. ISNA holds an annual convention that is generally regarded as the largest regulated gathering of Muslims in the United States. It is headquartered in Plainfield, Indiana. The organization has been subject to various controversies throughout its existence that have been largely discredited. History Founding ISNA traces its origins to a meeting of a group of international students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1963, during which the Muslim Students Association was formed. ISNA regards the MSA's 1963 convention at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign as its first one. Headquarters In 1963, the MSA invited Pakistani-Canadian architect Dr. Gulzar Haider to design a headquarters mosque for the Plainfield ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Same-sex Marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 billion people (20% of the world's population). The most recent jurisdiction to legalize same-sex marriage is Recognition of same-sex unions in Thailand, Thailand. Same-sex marriage is legally recognized in a large majority of the world's developed country, developed countries; notable exceptions are Recognition of same-sex unions in Italy, Italy, Recognition of same-sex unions in Japan, Japan, Recognition of same-sex unions in South Korea, South Korea and the Recognition of same-sex unions in the Czech Republic, Czech Republic. Same-sex adoption, Adoption rights are not necessarily covered, though most states with same-sex marriage allow those couples to jointly adopt as other married couples can. Some countries, such as Nigeria and Russ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Separation Of Church And State
The separation of church and state is a philosophical and Jurisprudence, jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the State (polity), state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular state (with or without legally explicit church-state separation) and to disestablishment, the changing of an existing, formal relationship between the church and the state. The concept originated among early Baptists in America. In 1644, Roger Williams, a Baptist minister and founder of the Rhode Island, state of Rhode Island and the First Baptist Church in America, was the first public official to call for "a wall or hedge of separation" between "the wilderness of the world" and "the garden of the church." Although the concept is older, the exact phrase "separation of church and state" is derived from "wall of separation between Church & State," a term coined by Thomas Jefferson in his 1802 letter to members of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liberty University
Liberty University (LU), known simply as Liberty, is a Private university, private Evangelicalism in the United States, evangelical Christian university in Lynchburg, Virginia, United States. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia (Southern Baptist Convention). Founded in 1971 by Jerry Falwell Sr. and Elmer L. Towns as Lynchburg Baptist College, Liberty is among the world's largest Christian universities and one of the largest private non-profit universities in the United States by total student enrollment. Liberty University consists of 17 colleges, including the Helms School of Government and the Rawlings School of Divinity. Most of its enrollment is in online courses; in 2020, the university enrolled about 15,000 in its residential program and 80,000 online. Its high number of students can be explained in particular by its tuition fees, which are among the lowest in the United States. Liberty's athletic teams compete in NCAA Division I, Division I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jerry Falwell
Jerry Laymon Falwell Sr. (August 11, 1933 – May 15, 2007) was an American Baptist pastor, televangelist, and conservatism in the United States, conservative activist. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia. He founded Lynchburg Christian Academy, later renamed Liberty Christian Academy, in 1967, founded Liberty University in 1971, and co-founded the Moral Majority in 1979. Early life and education Falwell and his twin brother Gene were born in the Fairview Heights area of Lynchburg, Virginia, on August 11, 1933, the sons of Helen Virginia (''née'' Beasley) and Carey Hezekiah Falwell. His father was an entrepreneur and one-time Rum-runner, bootlegger who was agnostic. His father shot and killed his brother Garland and died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1948 at the age of 55. His paternal grandfather was a staunch atheist. Jerry Falwell was a member of a group in Fairview Heights known to the police as "the Wall Gang" be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evangelical Lutheran Church In America
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a mainline Protestant church headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA was officially formed on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three Lutheran church bodies. As of December 31, 2023, it has approximately 2.79 million baptized members in 8,498 congregations. In 2025, Pew Research estimated that 1.4 percent of the U.S. adult population self-identifies with the ELCA; more broadly, 2% of US adults, or 5.2 million people, identified with the ELCA and mainline Lutheranism. It is the seventh-largest Christian denomination by reported membership. As of 2012, churches with more members were the Catholic Church, Southern Baptist Convention, United Methodist Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Church of God in Christ, and the National Baptist Convention, USA. and the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States. The next two largest Lutheran denominations are the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) (w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jewish Secularism
Jewish secularism (Hebrew: יהדות חילונית) refers to secularism in a Jewish context, denoting the definition of Jewish identity with little or no attention given to its religious aspects. The concept of Jewish secularism first arose in the late 19th century, with its influence peaking during the interwar period. History The Jews and secularisation The Marranos in Spain, who retained some sense of Jewish identity and alienation while formally Catholic, anticipated the European secularisation process to some degree. Their diaspora outside Iberia united believing Catholics, returnees to Judaism (on both accounts, rarely fully at comfort in their religions) and deists in one "Marrano nation." Baruch Spinoza, the herald of the secular age, advocated the demise of religious control over society and the delegation of faith to the private sphere. Yet his notions lacked anything specifically Jewish: He believed that without the ceremonial law to define the Jews, their ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jonathan Sarna
Jonathan D. Sarna (born 10 January 1955) is the Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History in the department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and director othe Schusterman Center for Israel Studies at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. Early life and education He is the son of Hebrew College librarian Helen Horowitz Sarna and biblical scholar Nahum Sarna. Born in Philadelphia and raised in New York City and Newton Centre, Massachusetts, Sarna attended Brandeis University, Hebrew College in Newton Centre, Massachusetts, Mercaz HaRav Kook in Jerusalem, Israel and Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, where he obtained his doctorate in 1979. Career Sarna is regarded by ''The Forward'' newspaper as one of the most prominent historians of American Judaism. His 2004 book, ''American Judaism: A History'', [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Jacobs (rabbi)
Richard (Reuben Jacob) Jacobs is a Reform rabbi and the president of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), the congregational arm of the Reform movement in North America which represents an estimated 1.5 million Reform Jews in nearly 900 synagogues across the United States and Canada. He is the first Union president to have served most of his career as a congregational rabbi. Before being installed as URJ president in June 2012, he served for nine years at Brooklyn Heights Synagogue and then for twenty years at Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsdale, New York. Jacobs was among a group of American Reform rabbis that called for “urgent change” in the Reform movement. He focuses on environmentalism, social justice and liberal Zionism alongside traditional worship. He has served on the boards of several Jewish organizations, including the World Union for Progressive Judaism, American Jewish World Service and the New Israel Fund. Rabbi Jacobs was listed as number six in ''The Daily ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
