Reform movement may advocate for reparations for slavery | Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle

Reform movement may advocate for reparations for slavery

The Union for Reform Judaism is set to consider a resolution to advocate for United States reparations for both slavery and historic discrimination against black Americans.

The proposed resolution, if adopted at the URJ Biennial in Chicago next week, would have the Reform movement advocate for the creation of a federal commission to study and develop proposals for reparations.

The nation’s largest Jewish movement would seek “to redress the historic and continuing effects of slavery and subsequent systemic racial, societal, and economic discrimination against Black Americans,” according to the proposed resolution.

National Reform movement leaders referred to the proposed resolution and other social justice issues during a call with reporters on Dec. 5, 2019.

About 5,000 Reform Jews are expected to attend the URJ Biennial from around the nation and beyond, for worship, learning and discussion.

Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, said on the call that the conference seeks to make Jewish life “more vibrant and frankly more for the 21st Century.”