Join the UTJ for 5782

Dear Friends of UTJ:

5781 was a very exciting year of growth for the UTJ.

Over the past several years, we have been pleased by our growth as an all-volunteer organization. We revamped our website, adding the UTJ Viewpoints section offering articles and videos on a wide range of subjects from a UTJ perspective. We also hosted two very important conferences, one on the shidduch crisis and one on the conversion crisis, and developed a significant following on social media, including our very active UTJ and Friends Facebook discussion group. Through we never doubted that there was strong interest in UTJ’s passionate, open-minded approach to Torah study and observance, the expansion of our internet and social media presence opened new doors for us to connect with like-minded people across the world.

This year, the UTJ took a major step toward its continued growth by hiring Rabbi Scott Kalmikoff as our Coordinator in January. Rabbi Kalmikoff has brought much needed energy to our organization and serves as a point person to help us follow through on our major goals. Adding Rabbi Kalmikoff to our core of volunteers has paid immediate dividends.

Some points of growth in 5781:

UTJ hosted three stand alone webinars and two multi-part webinar series on topics ranging from the halakhic process during the COVID pandemic to the history of the Talmud (video of all programs are available here). Information on some upcoming webinars can be found here.
MORASHAH, the rabbinic fellowship of the UTJ met regularly, with the MORASHAH board working diligently on membership standards so that we can build our rabbinic network.
The UTJ Panel on Halakhic Inquiry was reconstituted and is now hard at work responding to halakhic questions it has received.
We continued to strengthen our social media presence and to post new articles and videos to the UTJ website.

Of course, none of this could have happened without your support. More importantly, we cannot continue to expand the Union For Traditional Judaism without your support. If you have supported UTJ regularly over the past years, we thank you and encourage you to increase your support, just as we have increased our activities. If you have not had a chance to invest in the UTJ for a while, now is a great time to renew your commitment to everything that UTJ stands for.

Therefore, we ask you to join the Union For Traditional Judaism for 5782 with a generous membership donation.

b’Shalom,

The Union for Traditional Judaism
Rabbi David Novak, President
Rabbi Gerald Sussman, Executive Vice President