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The Union for Reform Judaism was founded in 1873 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. It has grown from an initial membership of 34 congregations in 28 cities to more than 900 congregations in the United States, Canada, the Bahamas, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. It is the largest Jewish movement in North America and represents an estimated 1.5 million Jews. In 2003 the General Assembly approved a new name, Union for Reform Judaism; to better reflect today’s reality. The mission of the Union for Reform Judaism is to provide vision, leadership and programmatic support to Reform Jewish congregations and to perpetuate and advance Reform Judaism. The Union’s staff of about 300 professionals and support staff provide congregations and their members with creative programming ideas for all areas of synagogue life, including worship, education and social action. The staff also provides ongoing consultation and problem solving for member congregations and works to anticipate and meet their needs in a rapidly changing environment. The Union also operates the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in Washington, DC, and twelve camps.


The Union recently underwent a significant restructuring. While work was already underway to determine how best to restructure the Union, the current economic crisis accelerated the process. To advance the work of the movement and provide services that take advantage of the aggregate strength of the congregations, each congregation is assigned a Congregational Representative who is the primary contact for the congregation and is responsible for ensuring the congregation has the resources and specialists it needs. Congregational representatives, union rabbis and lay leader liaisons work in one of four Congregational Support Centers or remotely and a wide range of specialist consultants are located across North America. The Congregational Consulting Group (CCG) was also formed in 2009 as part of URJ’s reorganization to more effectively provide a diverse range of services to its members with the goal of strengthening member congregations and their professional and lay leadership. Collaborative work teams cut across specific areas of expertise and new research and evaluation functions enables the Union to lead with new ideas and vision. New technologies enable the Union to operate more effectively and efficiently as it tracks its work and regularly evaluates its efforts.