Rabbi David Ellenson awarded the 2011 Roger E. Joseph Prize to ATZUM-Justice Works and Rabbi Levi Lauer, its Founding Executive Director, at Ordination and Investiture Ceremonies at Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York on Sunday, May 8, 2011. Established in 2002 in Israel, ATZUM endeavors to open eyes and extend hands to those in need, to confront and remedy injustices in Israel. ATZUM's work is founded on the belief that Israel should serve as an example for the rest of the world in addressing social problems and crises. The Roger E. Joseph Prize was established thirty years ago in memory of Mr. Joseph, a lawyer, World War II hero, and polio victim. Although almost completely paralyzed, he resumed his law practice and advanced causes of social justice, inspired by his own exceptional personal courage and passionate devotion to principle and justice. Click here to read Rabbi Lauer's address.

The Reform Movement, through Reform Judaism Magazine and as part of the Think Tank, wants to know what you think about how to strengthen the future of Judaism in North America. The magazine's next cover story will offer a behind-the-scenes history of changes in Judaism and Reform Judaism featuring information that even those well-versed in the subject have been surprised to learn-as a means to engage the entire Reform Movement as well as unaffiliated Jews in discussing the "Big Questions" of our present and future. Each of the major stories in the section-with authors/interviewees Rabbi David Ellenson, Rabbi Lawrence Englander, Rabbi Steve Fox, Rabbi Lance Sussman, and Rabbi Dan Freelander-includes 3 "Big Questions" derived from their reflections. The interactive website has just gone live at www.reformjudaismmag.org/thinktank. Add your thoughts to this conversation-this is an opportunity for your ideas to be considered by the Reform Think Tank as well as the leadership of the Reform Movement.

In partnership with the World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ), HUC-JIR sent 16 students to facilitate educational programming and prayer experiences in Progressive communities in the Former Soviet Union (FSU) during Passover. The Pesach Project, now in its ninth year, strengthens the connections between HUC-JIR and Worldwide Progressive Judaism, enriches Progressive communities in the FSU, and provides participants with the once-in-a-lifetime experience of sharing Pesach with the unique Jewish communities in the FSU. From April 17 to 22, 2011, the students visited 8 communities in Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia. The students traveled to the following cities:

• Laura Breznick and Steven Morris: Baranovich and Bobruisk, Belarus
• Ryan Daniels and Liz Piper-Goldberg: Chelyabinsk and Tver, Russia
• Rayna Dushman and Miriam Farber: Grodno and Lida, Belarus
• Michael Harvey and Marina Tecktiel: Lutsk and Lviv, Ukraine
• Andi Feldman, Daniel Fliegel, and Rachael Jacob: Odessa and Kirovograd, Ukraine
• Sarah Fishman, Jaqui McCabe, and Yael Rooks-Rapport: Simferopil, Feodosia, and Yevpatoria, Ukraine
• Ricky Kamil and David Malecki: Vitebsk and Mogilev, Belarus

Dr. Sarah Bunin Benor, Associate Professor of Contemporary Jewish Studies at HUC-JIR, is finishing her book, Becoming Frum: How Newcomers Learn the Language and Culture of Orthodox Judaism (forthcoming, Rutgers University Press), and she is looking to the public to help design the book's cover. The book is based on research in an east coast community that might be described as Yeshivish Modern (black hat, non-Hasidic) and that includes many FFBs (people who are "frum from birth") and many BTs (ba'alei teshuva: Orthodox Jews who once were non-observant). Becoming Frum offers a scholarly and accessible look at the linguistic and cultural process of "becoming" - an entertaining and insightful read for students, scholars, and anyone interested in religious studies, social science, or linguistics. The winning cover image will likely be a photograph, but it could be a drawing or painting.

Completing a course of study is always a time of celebration, but for the families of three students at the Cincinnati campus of HUC-JIR, this spring has particular meaning. Each of the students will be going into the family business, so to speak. They are following in the footsteps of their fathers, and in the case of Aaron Miller, the footsteps of his grandfather as well. Mr. Miller, along with Laila Haas, will be among the rabbinical students to be ordained on May 21. Miller's father, Jonathan Miller, is a rabbi at Temple Emanu-El in Birmingham, AL, as was his grandfather, Judea Miller, now deceased. Ms. Hass's father, Steven Haas, is a cantor at Temple Beth Sholom in Miami Beach, FL. Ariel Boxman, another HUC-JIR student, will not be ordained until next year, but she will be graduating with a Master of Arts in Hebrew Letters degree on May 19. At the same time, her father, Rabbi Bradd Boxman, will accept an honorary doctorate, a distinction bestowed on those completing 25 years of service as a rabbi.

Nearly 50 years ago, Time magazine described a rise in Jewish secularism that disturbed some leaders of the American Jewish community. Jewish support for a secular agenda added "fuel to the flames of anti-Semitism," In 2011, the emerging strength of Jewish secularism (or secular Jews, not necessarily the same) that Time wrote about has grown into a presence that represents about four in 10 of the country's self-identified Jews, according to studies, and which is subject to less criticism from Jewish and outside circles. Today, secular Jews don't feel compelled to defend their beliefs - or non-beliefs. A study is being conducted by the Los Angeles-based Institute for Jewish Spirituality on how many non-believing Jews are in the United States and how the Jewish community can accommodate them. The results, said Diana Schuster, a lecturer at HUC-JIR's Jack H. Skirball Campus in Los Angeles, will be used by the institute to develop retreats for "Jewish doubters" and for "clergy who work with the doubter population." "Outreach to secular Jews may help strengthen the Jewish community, by recognizing their connection to Jewish peoplehood," says Rabbi Rachel Cowan, Executive Director of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. "There's an un-vocalized tension at the core of synagogue services. The rabbi speaks about God and nobody really knows what that means."

Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati will hold Graduation Ceremonies on Thursday, May 19, 2011 at 7:30 pm and Ordination Ceremonies on Saturday, May 21, 2011 at 9 am. Graduation Ceremonies will take place at Isaac M. Wise Temple (8329 Ridge Road, Cincinnati) and Ordination Ceremonies will take place at Plum Street Temple (720 Plum Street, Cincinnati). Rabbi Ellenson will present honorary degrees and awards to leading academic, communal, and civic leaders; award earned degrees to HUC-JIR's graduates; and ordain the Rabbinical Class of 2011. Dr. Marc Saperstein, Principal, Leo Baeck College, will present the Graduation address. Dr. Edward Goldman, Bettan Chair Emeritus in Midrash and Homiletics, HUC-JIR/Cincinnati, will present the Ordination address.

Join the HUC-JIR/Cincinnati campus for a special 100th anniversary celebration on Sunday, May 22, 2011 at 4:00 pm. Rabbi David Ellenson, Ph.D., President, HUC-JIR, will present "The Contribution of the Jewish Seminary to American Life and Scholarship." Reception to follow. Free and open to the public.

The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives at HUC-JIR/Cincinnati will host "Travels in American Jewish History - A Journey of Jewish Identity & Discovery to Historic Savannah, Georgia" from June 1-5, 2011. This unique program will offer participants the opportunity to travel to Savannah to examine its particular Jewish heritage while studying with the foremost scholars of American Jewish history.