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Thanks to social media and electronic devices you can check in on Foursquare and read the Mishkan T'filah prayer book on a handheld device at the same time. Yet for all the modern...
In the process of becoming b’nai mitzvah, adult students grapple, struggle, and wrestle, and in the end, always bring Torah to life and life to Torah.
This year, as summer folded into fall, we celebrated our son Josh becoming a bar mitzvah, including the “Torah pass” from generation to generation.
Although my 13th birthday was in August of 1974, I became bat mitzvah in June of that year because my parents didn’t want me to worry about studying while at Camp Ramah in the Poconos over the...
Whatever our age, we must never stop learning; the quest for lifelong learning is vital. We can use the knowledge to better ourselves and to understand the world to decide how we must act.
One recent Shabbat, on the anniversary of his bar mitzvah, a young man with autism chanted Torah at our erev Shabbat service. I've been thinking about it since, and was genuinely moved by the whole...
As the synagogue’s lockdown drill began, I bolted the door, lowered the blinds, and took a seat next to the new bar mitzvah student I’d met only minutes before.
“There's a hill right across the street from our temple — it was fully engulfed — and there was a raining down of sparks onto our property," the rabbi told JTA on Monday.
Esteemed rabbis, my dear parents, family, and friends: Shabbat shalom. Thank you for coming to celebrate with me on this day on which I become a man. My bar mitzvah Torah portion, Acharei Mot,...
As a fall semester student in NFTY-EIE High School in Israel, I participated in a Rosh Chodesh service last month at the Kotel (Western Wall). Although no service at the Kotel is ordinary, by...
How can a young man keep his way pure? By holding to Your word. I have turned to You with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commandments. -Psalm 119:9-10Recently a new Reform rabbi in a...
As Netta’s mom, I maintain balance between others accepting Netta for who she is – a child who has medical and developmental needs – and holding expectations high.
Hidden away, they have been waiting for this day. To be used for the purpose for which they had been created. Beautifully, lovingly.
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Last fall, my granddaughter Ariella became a bat mitzvah in California, and made us very proud and happy.
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Like most parents, from the time we gave birth to our son, we had many hopes and dreams for him. We wanted him to have a good education, have friends and grow up to live a happy and prosperous life.
This week is Teacher Appreciation Week, and my synagogue got a jump on it by celebrating a little early. On May 3rd, we honored our congregation’s nursery school and religious school teachers,...
Last Friday, Women of the Wall outsmarted the Western Wall's gatekeepers when we managed to bring in a tiny Torah scroll to celebrate the first bat mitzvah at the Kotel in modern Jewish history....
I was young and inexperienced. (That should serve as an excuse if I need one). No one told me when I read Leviticus at 19-years-old that I shouldn't fall in love it. Yes, you read that correctly -...
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal tells the stories of several Brooklyn families that planned and carried out do-it-yourself b’nai mitzvah ceremonies and receptions for their teens at...
Inspired by Stan, our congregation's 83-year-old bar mitzvah boy, I’m thinking that I may not wait until I turn 83 to recreate some part of my entry into adulthood, according to Jewish tradition,...
Have you ever heard the sound of two Jewish souls reuniting across the generations? Last Shabbat morning, the heavens reverberated over Parkland, FL, as Ignacio Guzman, a 14-year-old immigrant from...
I wrote this drash in honor of (or is it in memory of) the fiftieth anniversary of my bar mitzvah on 21 September 1957 at Temple Beth Israel in Macon, Georgia. At not quite 13 - my birthday was the...
Throughout my years at Temple Beth Shalom in Needham, MA, I have developed relationships with a variety of people in our temple community. When I was in fourth grade, I joined the temple youth...
Today's North American Reform synagogues have increasingly begun to rethink and attempt to reinvigorate the contemporary practice of bar and bat mitzvah, a practice that may transform ...
This is liberal Judaism on the edge: Flinging doors open wide to those who would otherwise be left behind. The community is a voice of Judaism that is open to all who seek it.
I grew up in a liberal household where my parents told me to be what I wanted and to not change for anyone. I was a gay rights activist by the time I was 4 years old, talking openly with anyone who...
In the midst of the chaos of planning a bat mitzvah, carving out time to sit together as a family and learn a new ritual together can be a powerful and memorable experience for all involved.
Here are a few takeaways from Mrs. Obama’s book that coincide with Jewish values.
Praised are You, O Lord our God, who has freed me from the punishment (i.e. responsibility for the deeds) of this one. -Traditional parent's blessing at a bar/bat mitzvahHere at Shorashim, a...
A piece of my soul died when we decided that my son Ben’s autism would necessitate a reexamination of a conventional bar mitzvah service. Having guided so many young people through their studies...
Professionally and personally, I have witnessed the beauty in how the “different” can bring together families, their friends and their Jewish communities. In particular, I was privileged to be part...
Rabbi Hillel, a great teacher who lived from approximately 30 BCE until 10CE, taught us one of the most important precepts of our faith, "AlTifrosh Min Hatzibbur - Do not separate yourselves from...
I wore a button-down, tea-length peach dress with shoulder pads. My mother convinced me that it looked elegant, and that the matching peach tights really completed my look. Yes, this is admittedly...
Nate. My beloved boy. Just a few weeks ago, we stood in the middle of Rosenblum’s bookstore, where I asked him to pick out a yad (a pointer to use while reading from the Torah). He walked...
In 1937, my grandfather and great-uncle left Germany for America. My grandfather was young – maybe 17 – but he was mature and ready for the journey. Among his many preparations for the voyage and...
We met with the legislative directors who we could sense knew – and they knew that the teens knew – that our teens would be voting in just a few years time.
My family loves winter. Just about every weekend between New Year’s and the end of February, you will find us practicing with the Montgomery County Maryland Special Olympics downhill ski team. My...
“So what’s the theme of your son’s bar mitzvah?” It was such a simple question that it’s difficult to explain exactly why it stumped me. How was it that, when I was on the other side of the table,...
In building the ramp, we felt we had been true to the Talmudic maxim Kol Yisrael Areivim Zeh Bazeh, “All Jews are responsible for one another."
The film got me thinking about how Judaism has affected my own “story arc,” particularly my own sense of worthiness - and the story of Thor, the Norse god of thunder, taught me what it means to be...
Beloved daughter,
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The events of my son’s bar mitzvah day don't begin to tell the story of how Max arrived at that moment. Nor do they tell the story of the special connection that he, and we, have developed with the...
