The Syrian Refugee Crisis: We’re Doing What Our Beliefs and Values Tell Us to Do
On Rosh HaShanah, I asked our congregation this question: “Who do we want to be in this new year?”
Stop Cuts to Family Planning
Coming Full Circle: The NFTY in Israel Tikkun Olam Experience
Putting Down Roots: Why Our Jewish Family Needs a Yard Full of Trees
We celebrated the holiday of Tu BiShvat – the “Jewish Arbor Day” – way back in February, and we won’t celebrate it again until January. But no matter: I need to talk about the trees now.
Canadian Jewish Community Welcomes the Country's First Syrian Refugees
Similar to governmental leadership on this issue, the Jewish community in Canada has taken great strides in their response to this crisis.
How Should Reform Jews Observe Tishah B'Av?
I had never even heard of Tishah B’Av until I was 12 years old and participating in the inaugural season of the Camp Institute for Living Judaism (later to renamed URJ Eisner Camp
Tishah B'Av: What's in a Name?
William Shakespeare wrote in Romeo and Juliet, “What’s in a name?” The holiday of Tishah B’Av, which literally translates to the “Ninth of (the month of) Av” is so named to remember the destruction of the ancient temples in Jerusalem (in 586 BCE and 70 CE) said to have occurred on that day.
How to Bring Judaism’s Strength of Spirit to All
I will give them in My house and in My walls a place and a name, better than sons and daughters; an everlasting name I will give him, which will not be discontinued.
Isaiah 56:5
A New Approach to Camp Recruitment
Our younger youth look up to their older siblings wearing camp t-shirts at the congregational “Camp Shabbat” and wonder – what’s this all about? Learn how one congregation designed an integrated program that gets the kids writing letters home during the school year.
The Synagogue President: Unsung Hero of American Judaism
Anyone who has been a synagogue member or professional knows that the synagogue president is the unsung hero of Judaism in America. The synagogue president, often by personal nature and always by congregational legislation, is the number one volunteer at a synagogue, performing work that often borders on being a full-time, albeit unpaid, job. The president is charged with vast governance, management, and financial powers. Partnering with the clergy, overseeing the business operations of the synagogue, presiding over the governance of the congregation, and serving as the chief financial officer and revenue generator is just the tip of the iceberg of a modern synagogue president’s responsibilities.