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What's Happening in the Torah? Rosh HaShanah Activities for Families
Learn how you and your family can pursue social justice during the Jewish high holidays.
Our Second Annual Rosh Hashanah Sermon Round-Up
This was the year that Reform rabbis spoke about race. More than 200 rabbis participated the NAACP’s Journey for Justice, and it gave rise to some powerful sermons.
At Rosh HaShanah, Reform Jews Appeal for an International Response to the Syrian Refugee Crisis
In Jewish tradition, the entire month before Rosh HaShanah is devoted to a searching examination of our words and deeds over the past year. This examination, this accounting, is both personal and communal.
First (Probably) Annual Rosh HaShanah Sermon Round-Up
What did Reform rabbis talk to their congregations about this Rosh HaShanah? Based on my totally non-scientific survey, Israel was far and away the most popular topic.
Anti-Gun Violence Activities & Coalition
Anti-Gun Violence Activities & Coalition Temple Beth El 5101 Providence Road Charlotte, North Carolina 28226 704-366-1948 Temple Beth El's website e-mail Temple Beth El Some Social Action programs are devoted to hands-on projects of direct assistance.
Brain Calisthenics: Activities for Healthy Brains
Playing certain cognitive games can help make your brain healthier or maintain an already healthy brain. Organizations such as the AARP offer tips on brain health. Many games are available online or through book stores.
Pursuing Social Justice: Yom Kippur Activities for Families
Learn how you and your family can pursue social justice during the Jewish high holidays.
Creating New Rituals and Tradition for the School Year and the New Year
For children, traditions and rituals are significant; they provide predictability, support, and familiarity, while bringing families together and creating unity and a sense of belonging.
Twenty Becomes One: Seeing Our Congregations as Family, Especially During Hardship
In the fall of 2008, I was the executive director of a 1,000-household synagogue. We had recently finished a major sanctuary renovation, and our membership numbers were on an encouraging upward trend. Our finances were sound, and we had big plans for the year ahead. The new president of our board was writing her first Yom Kippur appeal as I was busily taking care of the last details of our High Holiday preparation.
Then, two weeks before Rosh HaShanah, Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy, after which the bank loan market crashed. Banks large and small suffered huge losses, and during the first week of October, the stock market experienced a sharp downward spiral. That week was was Kol Nidre, and our president ascended the bimah (pulpit) to deliver an appeal for donations on the very day on which many in our congregation had lost a significant amount of money – money they were counting on for homes, for retirement, for food.
The president delivered a masterful appeal that evening, and even on that worst of economic days, we collected Yom Kippur appeal monies in excess of what we had collected the previous year. The next day, on Yom Kippur, the stock market fell 700 points, sending the entire country into a recession that, some would argue, continues to this day.
Adopt a Family
Congregation provides holiday meals and gifts to less fortunate families in their area. Community Contact Information: Congregation Shir Ha-Ma’alot Irvine, CA www.shmtemple.org Goals: Engage congregation in addressing local poverty. Assist local families in acquiring specific needs.