#182 - Rabbi Rick Jacobs

רוח מערבית - The Western Spirit

Following our thought-provoking episode with Prof. Rosenbaum, I am honored to sit down with Rabbi Rick Jacobs in this episode. 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. Together we tackle several of today’s most pressing issues: -Being a Reform Jew in a post-October 7th America -How the Reform and broader Jewish communities combat rising antisemitism -His thoughts on the perceived betrayal from the progressive movement -Views on the widening socio-political gap in Israel -Netanyahu’s role in compromising bipartisan support for Israel Rabbi Jacobs provides candid insights and challenges us to rethink how we approach these critical topics in both America and Israel. His perspective as a leader in the Jewish Reform movement offers valuable depth to the conversation about unity, political identity, and the future of Jewish communities worldwide.