6 Powerful Jewish Travel Experiences to Remember
When you travel abroad, do you try to incorporate Judaism into your visits to other countries? There a myriad ways to experience Jewish life, culture, and, especially, history while traveling outside North America.
Shabbat: A Time to Sing and a Time to Listen
Often, it’s unrealistic to go from our hectic daily life to Shabbat without a buffer between the two – time to take a breath, adjust, unwind, and re-orient our thinking.
Helping Teens Understand Where They Fit in the Jewish Story
NFTY in Israel teens ask one basic question: How did Jews stay together over so much time? Retracing our history helps them find the glue that connects them to the story.
Let Me Clarify: I’m Not a Rabbi!
I am not a rabbi, but some people think I am, in fact, a rabbi – specifically, the rabbi of the synagogue where I am a member, a volunteer lay leader, and a teacher.
How and Why We Must Advocate for a Just Immigration System
The mass raids planned for this weekend in immigrant communities are heartbreaking, heartless, immoral, and bad public policy.
If I Can’t Fast, How Can I Observe Yom Kippur?
The Power of Shabbat, Even Over the Loudspeaker
Even as structure and routine begin to crumble, ritual observances don’t stop for the virus. As did many generations of Jews before us, we must adapt ritual to this unprecedented way of life, and Shabbat services, a mainstay for nursing home residents, necessitated creative adaptation.
Shabbat as Alternate Time, Especially During the Pandemic
Friday’s sunset could be no different than Thursday’s, a time marker notching off another day or another week, but Shabbat requires us to mark a more substantial difference, Regularity is key to keep track of our lives between other Jewish times and when days blur into each other.
Exodus 1:1-6:1: Moses and the Challenge of Diversity
This week we dive into the second book of the Torah, Exodus. While the book of Genesis traversed thousands of years, Exodus focuses on the evolution of the Israelites as a people for 40 defining years.
iPhone Shabbat Mode
As a Reform Jew, I lead a largely secular life. Most of my friends aren't Jewish. My daily schedule is governed more by school hours and work demands than it is by rituals of worship. And the synagogue plays only a peripheral role in my life.