Creating Terrific Photo Opps, One Family at a Time
“I have a son with special needs. I would love to feel like there might be a place for him at Camp Harlam.” The words stood out to me on the page as if they were wrapped in neon lights.
10 Steps to Leading Your Own Shabbat Hike
Leading your own synagogue Shabbat hike is incredibly easy. In just 10 steps – simple but effective – you can embark on a moving spiritual experience. And, as we discovered on Congregation Or Ami’s own Shabbat hikes, the journey is inspiring and refreshing.
Summer is Coming: A Look at Shabbat at Camp vs. Home
Summer is coming soon, and it’s all I can think about this Shabbat, when I am at home in D.C., dreaming of Massachusetts. Because out of all of the things I love about camp, it’s possible I love Shabbat the most. And as my countdown ticks down, my excitement riles up.
How One Jewish Author Wrote a Happier Ending for Her Family
Author Carol Ascher speaks of her new novel as part of a trilogy with her memoir and an earlier novel. All three, she says, reflect a struggle to understand her background as the eldest daughter of Jewish refugees who fled the Nazi regime.
Jewish Camp Glossary
Make Each New Song More Joyful than the Last
Recently, as I was leaving the sanctuary on Shabbat morning, a man who was a guest of the bar mitzvah family approached me. Warmly shaking my hand and thanking me for a “lovely service,” he asked several questions about the music I sang, during both the morning service and the Kabbalat Shabbat service the night before.
How a DNA Test and a Dream Led Me to Judaism
I hired an ancestral DNA expert to analyze my Jewish blood but, frustrated with my demands for details, he sent a curt email I will never forget: “You’re either Jewish or you’re not,” he wrote. Maybe this search was as much about my faith as it was about my heritage. Maybe I really was a Jew at heart, too.
Faith Groups Thank Obama Administration for Guidance on Transgender Students
Washington, D.C., June 10, 2016 – In response to the Obama administration’s May 13 guidance, directing public schools to ensure transgender students can access facilities that align with their gender identity and expression, over 30 faith groups sent this letter commending this important step for equality and inclusion of transgender and gender non-conforming people:
How to Give Your Services Fresh Air and Sunshine This Summer
Outdoor services offering kid-friendly, informal or abbreviated worship, and camp-style music are popular during the summer. Here’s a sampling of good ol’ summertime Shabbat celebrations in some Reform congregations across North America.
The Lost Pesach: When Illness Keeps You from Celebrating the Holidays
This year marked the first time in my life I did not attend a Passover seder. Instead, Erev Pesach found me in an ambulance on the way to the hospital.