For immediate release – 19 April 2025
Statement from UJR-AmLat leadership
As Reform Jews and leaders of the Reform movement in Latin America, we receive this text with deep sorrow — but also with the strength of those who carry centuries of history, tradition, and commitment to the Jewish people. Joshua Hoffman’s article is not constructive criticism: it is a violent, polarizing, dishonest, and reductionist attack on the world’s largest Jewish religious movement, which for over two centuries has pursued exactly what he accuses us of abandoning — the balance between continuity and renewal.
Reform Judaism has not betrayed the Jewish people. We are a vital part of that people. We are present in synagogues, in the streets of Tel Aviv and Sderot, in the kibbutzim that were attacked on October 7th, in Israel’s defense committees, in the homes of those who proudly hang a mezuzah on their doorposts — from Buenos Aires to Shanghai, from Melbourne to Los Angeles, from Haifa to Eilat. We are educating, fighting antisemitism, building bridges — and also, without hesitation, defending Israel’s right to exist in peace and security. Reform Judaism is not something isolated or detached from the Jewish world — we are in the midst of Passover and about to welcome Shabbat. Thousands of Reform synagogues and homes are coming together in celebration and religious practice, in customs and traditions that have much more in common than in divergence with other Jewish streams.
Our commitment to human rights, social justice, and dialogue is not weakness — on the contrary, it is part of what has enabled political and social engagement in civil society. It is part of the prophetic ethos of the Jewish people — the one that proclaims “Justice, justice shall you pursue” (Deuteronomy 16:20), and that has always been able to ask not only “What is being done to us?” but also “What are we doing for the world?” Our universalism has never come at the expense of Jewish particularism — rather, it is born from it.
Contrary to what the article suggests, Reform Judaism has not relativized the horror of October 7th. We cried, we shouted, we prayed, and we acted. Our communities around the world mobilized donations, support missions, advocacy campaigns, and political pressure against the rise in antisemitism. Many of our rabbis, youth, and leaders were in Israel in the days following the attacks — not in search of likes on social media, but out of concrete solidarity.
Critical thinking, a Talmudic heritage, is what drives us to debate and disagree, including over how the current Israeli government — and its supporters — act in certain areas. That is a sign of democratic vitality — not of betrayal. What this article calls “progressivism with Hebrew subtitles” is, in truth, the ongoing effort to integrate Jewish values with the challenges of our time — just as our sages have always done.
Reform Judaism is not ashamed of defending minorities, promoting social justice, or seeking peace — all central Jewish values. We are currently celebrating a holiday that calls us to reflect on the importance of welcoming the stranger, on freedom, and on the pursuit of a land where the people of Israel can live in fullness. And we also affirm, unequivocally: we are one with the Jewish people, in Israel and in the Diaspora. We will defend our brothers and sisters, our values, and our dignity, without apologizing for being who we are.
History will not judge us by whether we were the “good Jews” in the eyes of a segment of our people that does not tolerate dissenting thought or refuses to accept any non-blind, non-uncritical support for Israel — but rather, by whether we remained faithful to our covenant with our people and to the millennia-old heritage we carry.
We are here. And we will remain. For Israel. For the Jewish people. For the future.
Flavio Levi Moreira, Miriam Vasserman, Adrian Sucari, and David Britva Beraha
President, Vice Presidents, and Executive Director
Union for Reform Judaism in Latin America
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Read the statement in Portuguese here, and in Spanish here. The PDF file with the statement in all three languages is available here.
Leia o comunicado em português aqui, e em espanhol aqui. O arquivo PDF com o comunicado nas três línguas está disponível aqui.
Lee el comunicado en portugués aquí, y en español aquí. El archivo PDF con el comunicado en las tres lenguas está disponible aquí.
