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Yoffie Stepping Down
As Reform Leader

NEW YORK (JTA) -- The longtime lead-
er of the Reform synagogue movement,
Rabbi Eric Yoffie, announced that he will
be stepping down in two years.
Yoffie, 63, presi-
dent of the Union
for Reform Judaism
for the past 14 years,
made the announce-
ment on June 10 in
remarks at a meeting
in Brooklyn of the
organization's board
Rabbi Yoffie
of directors.
"My energy and
enthusiasm remain undiminished,
but I see 65 as an age when I should
be taking into account the simple fact
that there are burdens to this job and
they cannot be borne forever:' Yoffie
said, according to a prepared text of the
speech. "Even more important, I recog-
nize the value of making way for new
thinking in our future-oriented move-
ment; leadership is an act of renewal

and re-creation, and at a certain point,
it is best to encourage others to try their
hand at these tasks."
Yoffie plans to stay on two years as
the URJ searches for a replacement.
During this time, Yoffie told the board,
he will focus on four priorities: improv-
ing the Reform movement's youth
group, increasing teenage participa-
tion in synagogue activities, creating
a center that will house the various
arms of the movement and boosting
intra-movement cooperation until even
before the center's completion.
As URJ president, Yoffie spearheaded
the controversial campaign to trans-
form Reform worship and liturgy, a
process that stressed a greater emphasis
on Hebrew and tradition, and a more
participatory musical style.
"I would say worship was boring:'
Yoffie told JTA in an interview shortly
before his announcement. "People
wanted worship that was community
building, heartfelt and participatory.
They were ready for leadership — and
they got it from local leaders and they

got it from the union."
In addition to leaving a strong
stamp on the Reform movement, Yoffie
emerged as one of the Jewish commu-
nity's leading advocates of a robust U.S.
role in advancing the peace process,
and he frequently criticized Israeli
settlement expansion. At the same time,
he was not shy about placing the onus
for the breakdown in negotiations on
the Palestinians. And in 2001, as the
second Palestinian intifada raged, Yoffie
delivered a highly publicized speech in
which he said that he had been wrong
about Palestinian intentions and for not
speaking out against Palestinian anti-
Israel incitement.
Yoffie also sparked headlines with
his willingness to cross ideological,
political and religious boundaries,
most notably when he delivered major
speeches to the Islamic Society of North
America, an organization that has
harshly criticized Israel, and Liberty
University, the Baptist college founded
by the late Jerry Falwell, a leading
Christian conservative.

its sense he said.
The American Israel Public Affairs
Committee applauded the new sanctions
and echoed Berman's call. "We call on our
government and our allies — including
the European Union — to immediately
implement complementary and crippling
sanctions, as authorized by this resolu-
tion, to stop Iran's pursuit of a nuclear
weapons capability before it is too late
AIPAC said in a statement.
Of the council's 15 members, 12 voted
in support. Turkey and Brazil voted
against; Lebanon abstained. Turkey and
Brazil had negotiated a deal with Iran to
enrich some of its uranium outside its
borders as a means of tracking its nucle-
ar program. The United States and other
major powers rejected that deal because
it left Iran with enough uranium to make
at least one bomb.
Iran maintains a presence in Lebanon
through its ally Hezbollah.

law, transparently, and with full respon-
sibility."
"I am convinced that the commission's
uncovering of the facts will prove that the
goals and actions of the State of Israel
and the IDF were appropriate defensive
actions in accordance with the highest
international standards," Netanyahu said.
The commission will set its own sched-
ule and protocol and will determine
whether its meetings will be open or
closed, according to the Prime Minister's
Office.
Retired Israeli Supreme Court Justice
Jacob (Yaakov) Turkel will head the com-
mission. Other members are internation-
al law professor Shabtai Rosen, winner of
the Israel Prize for jurisprudence and the
Hague Prize for International Law; and
Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Amos Horev, a former
Technion president.
Two foreign observers with experience
in the fields of military law and human
rights also were named to the commis-
sion: Nobel Peace Prize laureate Lord
William David Trimble from Northern
Ireland and international jurist Ken
Watkin, former judge advocate general of
the Canadian Armed Forces.
The Obama administration said the
commission, as outlined by Netanyahu,
has the potential to fulfill its earlier
demand for a "full and credible" probe,
but added that it was reserving judgment
until it saw results.

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Southeast Michigan Jewish Alliance

U.N. Iran Sanctions

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- The United
Nations Security Council passed new
sanctions against Iran, setting the stage
for new and tougher U.S. sanctions.
The June 9 vote was a victory for
U.S.-led efforts to garner international
support for isolating the regime until it
makes its nuclear program more trans-
parent. Key to its passage was the support
of China and Russia, both major traders
with Iran and veto-wielding members of
the council.
The resolution expands existing sanc-
tions and creates a basis in international
law for nations to target Iran's energy and
banking sectors. That sets the stage for
the U.S. Congress to pass sanctions that
would target third-party entities — com-
panies, individuals and states — that
deal with Iran's energy sector.
U.S. Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., the
chairman of the House of Representatives
Foreign Affairs Committee and a lead
sponsor of the expanded sanctions leg-
islation, said it would pass Congress by
the end of this month. Berman called on
other nations to do the same.
"We now look to the European Union
and other key nations that share our deep
concern about Iran's nuclear intentions to
build on the Security Council resolution
by imposing tougher national measures
that will deepen Iran's isolation and,
hopefully, bring the Iranian leadership to

Israel's Flotilla Inquiry
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Israel's Cabinet
Monday unanimously approved a corn-
mission of inquiry into the interception
of a Gaza-bound flotilla that left nine
passengers dead. Two foreign observers
were named to the commission.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
said the independent public commission
"will make it clear to the entire world that
the State of Israel acts according to the

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June 17 - 2010

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