Displaying 81 - 90 of 291
A House of Prayer for All Children
"Jews with disabilities are not invisible anymore," emphasizes Becca Hornstein, a consultant on disability and family-related issues and executive director of the Council for Jews with Special Needs. Twenty-six years ago, she began searching for religious education for her nine-year-old son who has autism and was told, "We're not aware of Jews with disabilities." At the time, the fledging special education program she soon helped launch at Temple Chai, Phoenix, Arizona instructed four students; today, 12% of the congregation's religious school children have a special need, and the temple is there to help.
My Monumental Bar Mitzvah Project
My bar mitzvah project was not as simple as I had envisioned it would be. I could never have guessed that I would be making a documentary that took so many hours of work.
What Works: The House That Ryan Built
Having grown up in a family that had sponsored and worked on several Habitat for Humanity houses and seen their new homeowners presented with keys, Ryan Coretz, 13, of Temple Israel in Tulsa, Oklahoma asked the guests at his bar mitzvah to make a contribution to Habitat for Humanity for "Ryan's
Create a M'gillah, Purim Puppets, and a Haman Piñata
Get involved with the megillah by making one, acting out the story with homemade puppets, and taking a whack at a villainous Haman piñata.
Sounds of Kaddish
Cantor Andrew Bernard is a member of the clergy team at Temple Beth El in Charlotte, North Carolina and volunteer chaplain at the Levine Children's Hospital.
My Secret Siblings
Childhood memories are vague at the best of times. Our remembrances tend to be pictures shown and stories told to us by others. But what happens when a family chooses not to remember because the memories are too painful or too shameful?
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?
For the sake of our health, and the Earth's, let's make a Jewish decision about what we put on our plates-curtailing red meat by 20% or more. Abraham is sitting at the entrance to his tent. Only three days before, at age 99, he has been circumcised. What is his very first act as a Jew?
The Civilized Diet
Every sensitive human being should evolve a personal dietary regimen guided by ethical considerations.
At Home with Death
When my wife Merrily died of ovarian cancer last fall, we did something highly unusual in this age and place: we kept her body with us at home until the funeral. I am glad we did. The custom of watching over a body is ancient, both in Jewish culture and in many others.
Holding Fast Then Letting Go
And then, finally, it was our turn, as the two white-gloved attendants pulled open the French doors, letting in the warm May breeze and the first measures of Elizabeth's processional music-the same melody that had accompanied my wife and her parents down the aisle thirty-three years ago.