Displaying 1 - 10 of 69
A Listening Ear - Middah Sh'miat Haozen
Sh'miat Haozen is the "pay attention" middah or virtue. We learn by many senses and focus on acquiring Torah by listening. Regardless of whether one can physically hear or not, we are all capable of listening.
What Is "Authentic" Reform Judaism?
Reform Judaism is both a living religion and a vibrant culture. As Reform Jews, we are charged with using the Torah as a guide to living meaningful lives and making the world a better place.
N'ilah: The Concluding Service on Yom Kippur
By Rabbi Richard Sarason
Yom Kippur is the only day in the traditional Jewish liturgical year to have five services: in addition to the usual four shared with Shabbatot, Festivals, and Rosh Hashanah (evening, morning, Musaf, and afternoon1), Yom Kippur has a concluding service called N’ilah (literally, "locking"). This name refers to the time of the locking of the gates of the Temple at the end of the day. In this respect, too, the rabbinic liturgy for Yom Kippur emphasizes and imaginatively enacts the ritual activities of the now-destroyed Temple on the Day of Atonement. But the image of “locking the gates” in rabbinic prayer is also construed figuratively as referring to the closing of the gates of repentance at the end of Yom Kippur and the sealing of the Book of Life for another year. This is why, during the N’ilah service, the wording of those petitions in the Amidah and in Avinu Malkeinu that throughout the penitential season have been phrased as kotveinu ("inscribe us" [for a good year, in the book of life, etc.) is changed to chotmeinu2 ("seal us . . .").
N’ilah: The Concluding Service on Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur is the only day in the traditional Jewish liturgical year to have five services: in addition to the usual four shared with Shabbatot, Festivals, and Rosh Hashanah (evening, morning, Musaf, and afternoon1), Yom Kippur has a concluding service called 
Reflecting on the Prayer Vigil: Congress Must Seize the Moment and Invest in Families
After 12 hours of storytelling and prayer at the Washington Interfaith Staff Community's Build Back Better Prayer Vigil outside the U.S. Capitol on October 20, it was clear: bold investments in our economic recovery are crucial to the livelihood of workers, children, and families in the US. To rebuild the American economy and address the structural inequities that long preceded the pandemic, Congress must pass a robust Build Back Better Act.
From the Shadows into the Light
We sat down with Qian Julie Wang, a New York Times bestselling author and a civil rights litigator, to talk about her acclaimed new memoir Beautiful Country and her Jewish journey.
Celebrate Tu Bishvat with Shalom Sesame: Tikkun Olam
Watch these Shalom Sesame videos with your children to learn about Tu Bishvat, then try some of the fun discussion ideas and activities recommended by Reform Jewish educators.
Noach for Tweens: Shut In On An Ark
Learn about Noah's ark in this edition of Torah for Tweens.
How Living in Switzerland Taught Me About Anti-Jewish Bias
During the height of the recession, I moved to Switzerland. I had already lived in France, Japan, India and Israel, and traveled much of the rest of the world.
Slam Dunk: Fantasy Sports as a Portal to New Youth Group Models
The Journal of Youth Engagement is an online forum of ideas and dialogue for those committed to engaging youth in vibrant Jewish life and living. Join the discussion and become a contributor.
By Beryl Trauth-Jurman
Fantasy Basketball. That is how Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation in Reston VA, decided to solve two problems.
I had just started as the Youth Activities Coordinator here at NVHC and after our first two or three events, I noticed that there was a certain group of kids who were never coming to events. These kids were interested in sports, but the synagogue was not able to host sports activities. That meant these kids never came to events. We knew we weren't going to reach them with our existing menu of programming, and I wanted to find a way to include them in something, meaning we would probably need something new.
I had a conversation with the education director and the rabbi, and we decided to start a fantasy basketball league—the logic being that, if we could not hold actual sports activities the next best thing would be fantasy sports. The idea worked: the league is made up entirely of kids who do not come to other events and one kid who is unable to attend other events at the synagogue due to scheduling conflicts. The league has given us some common ground—a Jewish community for these young teens who do not otherwise participate in one, and an opportunity for me to connect with them, even remotely. The league now accounts for twenty percent of the total participants in youth programming. That is the first problem that fantasy basketball solved.