Putting the "Mitzvah" Back in B’nai Mitzvah
Here’s how one congregation took a three-pronged approach to improving students’ mitzvah project requirement and thus their entire b’nai mitzvah experience.
How the Reform Movement is Responding to Hurricane Harvey
We are now starting to get accurate reports of the damage – and they are staggering. Building on our initial response, here are a few new developments and details.
Vayishlach for Teens: Shabbat Sha-raps
In this parasha, Jacob and Esau are going to meet, possibly to fight, but first Jacob meets someone who tells him of his great future. Jacob is renamed Israel (which means “one who wrestles with God”) and goes to meet Esau, and they have a joyous reunion. Isaac then dies, and sadly, so does Rachel as she gives birth to her last child. Listen to learn more about the family.
Leaving Lucy Pear
Award-winning novelist Anna Solomon’s second novel Leaving Lucy Pear, now out in paperback, is a masterfully woven web of ambition and lies.
What Is Jewish About Japan?
My family and I recently spent time backpacking through Japan. Witnessing people at their holy sites, we were struck by how familiar their customs were to us as Jews.
Comedy, Disability, and the Inclusive Synagogue: An ELI Talk
Pam Schuller is my hero. Pam is my hero because she understands, through personal experience, that our communities are stronger when they are diverse, accepting, and embracing of all of their members.
We Will Not Let Hitler's Legacy Rise Again
If you won't stand for Hitler's legacy to rise again, then I ask you: When hate is screeched from the airwaves, you must stand on higher mountains and call out words of love and affirmation.
Youth Professional Development 101: About Us
What is a dreidel?
The word dreidel derives from a German word meaning “spinning top,” and is the toy used in a Hanukkah game adapted from an old German gambling game. Hanukkah was one of the few times of the year when rabbis permitted games of chance. The four sides of the top bear four Hebrew letters: nun, gimmel, hey, and shin. Players begin by putting into a central pot or “kitty” a certain number of coins, chocolate money known as gelt, nuts, buttons or other small objects.
2016 in Review: URJ Engaged More Young People In Meaningful Jewish Life Than Ever Before
More than 20,000 youth, teens, and young adults participated in a URJ Youth program here at home, in Israel, and around the world, setting a record for the 9th year in a row. These programs instill a sense of joy, compassion, and pride in being Jewish while nurturing a young person’s innate desire to make a difference in the world. The essential skills of empathy, creativity, and collaboration cultivated by our programs are more important than ever before. Here are just a few of the ways that the URJ’s youth programs engaged more youth, teens and young adults.