More Than Words on a Page: Social Justice in our Prayer Books
When I left for college my freshman year, I was nervous about exploring a new Jewish community. However, I immediately felt at home as I walked into my university’s Hillel’s Conservative Friday night services and saw the Siddur Sim Shalom, the prayer book I had grown up with.
How Social Media Helps Me Keep Track of Jewish Time
When someone asked a friend of mine what his daughter enjoys most about living in Israel, he explained that she loves the way the country’s secular rhythms synch seamlessly with religious time in a way that doesn’t happen in North America. By way of example, he described Shabbat and holidays as characterized by closed shops, quiet streets, and low-key television programming.
Celebrating an Historic Rosh Chodesh with Women of the Wall
I woke up bright and early on Monday morning to head to the Western Wall with my students, participants in the NFTY-EIE study abroad program in Israel. At 7:00 a.m.
An American Teenager Helps Make History at the Western Wall
Rarely does a 16-year-old Jewish girl from suburban Massachusetts get the chance to look back on her day and recognize that she helped make history. She didn’t just talk about it or write about it; she actually experienced it, and all before 9:00 a.m.
Jew Against Jew: A Prayer After Violence at the Kotel
This is a prayer for Jews to love one another.
The Torah That Made History
It finally happened.
After a 26-year struggle, Women of the Wall read from a full size Torah scroll in the women's section of the Kotel.
Why Was Fred Rogers at High Holiday Services This Year?
If you attended worship services at a Reform congregation anywhere in North America during the last month or so, chances are good you heard a sermon about Mister Rogers.
How Two Congregations Are Recovering from Hurricane Florence
Rabbi Emily Losben-Ostrov was new to her congregation in Wilmington, NC, when she faced an unprecedented challenge: a Category 4 hurricane during the Days of Awe.
Being Holy - and Staying Alive
Acharei Mot, the first of this week's two parashiyot, begins on an unsettling note—a reminder of the death of Aaron's sons and the suggestion that such tragedies might occur again unless the priests take specified steps to prevent them
Emor: Words for the Next Generation
When the Rabbis divided the Torah into its 54 parashiyot (portions), they generally arranged for each portion to begin with a unique or otherwise significant word that would in some way summarize major themes of the entire section.