World Union for Progressive Judaism

World Union for Progressive Judaism
AbbreviationWUPJ
Formation10 July 1926 (1926-07-10)
FounderClaude Montefiore
Founded atLondon, UK
HeadquartersBeit Shmuel, Eliyahu Shama 6, Jerusalem
Membership
~1.8 million
President
Rabbi Sergio Bergman
Chair
Carole Sterling
AffiliationsURJ, JRF etc.
Budget (2014)
~5,000,000$
World Union for
Progressive Judaism
Regional affiliates
  1. North America
  2. United Kingdom
  3. Australia, New Zealand and Asia
  4. South Africa
  5. Israel
  6. Germany
  7. Netherlands
  8. France

The World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ) is the international umbrella organization for the various branches of Reform, Liberal and Progressive Judaism, as well as the separate Reconstructionist Judaism.[1] The WUPJ is based in 40 countries with 1,275 affiliated synagogues, of which 1,170 are Reform, Progressive, or Liberal and 105 Reconstructionist.[2] It claims to represent a total of some 1.8 million people, both registered constituents and non-member identifiers.[1] The WUPJ states that it aims to create common ground between its constituents and to promote Progressive Judaism in places where individuals and groups are seeking authentic, yet modern ways of expressing themselves as Jews. It seeks to preserve Jewish integrity wherever Jews live, to encourage integration without assimilation, to deal with modernity while preserving the Jewish experience, and to strive for equal rights and social justice.

The WUPJ was established in London in 1926 as the Union of all Progressive (also Liberal or Reform) movements. It moved its headquarters to New York in 1959, and to Jerusalem in 1973. In 1990, the Reconstructionists – who espouse a philosophy different from that of the former – joined the WUPJ under an observer status, being the first and only non-Reform member.[3] The WUPJ has regional offices in London, Moscow, and New York City.

As of 2021 the President of the WUPJ was Rabbi Sergio Bergman, and the Chair was Carole Sterling.

Past presidents have included Claude Montefiore (1926–38), Rabbi Leo Baeck (1938–56), Lily Montagu (1955–59), and Rabbi Solomon Freehof (1959–64).

  1. ^ a b "WUPJ history". Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  2. ^ Find a Congregation (under the rubric 'country'), urj.org. For the mutually exclusive list of Reconstructionist congregations worldwide, see Directory of Reconstructionist Congregations and Havurot, jewishrecon.org.
  3. ^ American Jewish Committee, American Jewish Year Book, 1992, University of Nebraska Press, 1992. p. 257.