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Sukkot: Festival of Voting Booths
It is a tradition that we observe as Americans as well, as we enter into booths each fall (and occasionally at other moments during the year) in order to make our voices heard and exercise our right to vote.
Sukkot, Diversity, and Unity: How Each of Us is Like the Four Species
While all Jewish holidays serve as great opportunities to practice audacious hospitality, Sukkot has always stood out to me as the most audaciously hospitable of Jewish holidays.
URJ Greene Family Camp, TX
The mission of Greene Family Camp is to create a fun, safe, educational friend-filled environment that teaches and practices Judaism. GFC serves all Reform Jewish congregations in Texas and Oklahoma, encouraging personal and spiritual growth through creative programs and varied activities.
Stop Cuts to Family Planning
The past few weeks have brought mixed news in the realm of sexuality education. At the end of June, we wrote about a House sub-committee vote to eliminate programs proven to reduce teen and unplanned pregnancy, reduce abortion and save tax dollars in Fiscal Year 2016.
Since then, a Senate sub-committee voted to advance similar cuts, proposing a budget that would significantly cut funding for the evidence-based Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP) and for Title X family planning centers, while increasing funding for abstinence-only until marriage programs by 300 percent. By gutting funding to family planning services for low-income individuals and undermining evidence-based programs like TPPP, these appropriations bills would leave millions of Americans without information and services to keep themselves safe and healthy.
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.
Coming Full Circle: The NFTY in Israel Tikkun Olam Experience
by Sharon Mann
The phrase “what goes around, comes around” came to mind recently as I remembered back five years to the time I saw my daughter, Ayelet, off on a flight from Tel Aviv to Toronto, Canada. She was headed to URJ Camp George, a Reform Jewish summer camp where she would spend the summer as a camper, part of an Israeli youth delegation from the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism.
Now, she’s graduated from Mechinat Gal’s Pre-Army Academy, a post-high school Israeli gap year program that emphasizes volunteer work, leadership training, and enrichment studies. As a staff member at The Hannaton Educational Center, she’s come full circle, welcoming North American teens from NFTY in Israel to her home, eretz Yisrael (the land of Israel). At Hannaton, the teenagers participate in a tikkun olam chavaya (repairing the world experience) that includes hands-on volunteer work as they learn to make a positive contribution to Israel and the world.
Fighting Racism in Israel
Ring… ring…
“If you are in contact with a goy and need assistance, press 1,” is the first option offered by Lehava's hotline.
Eat, Drink, and Be Merry – Even in a Pandemic
Aligned with the rhythm of our earth turning on its axis, our season of returning (
Thanksgivukkah Food: The Ultimate Hybrid Holiday
It's already begun: the panicking over cooking for Thanksgiving. If you’ve looked at a Jewish calendar this year or read the myriad articles about the coincidence of millennia, you know why the excitement over Thanksgiving is more extreme this year than others: It coincides with the second night of Hanukkah.
Learn About Hanukkah Traditions with Shalom Sesame
Together with your children, watch these Shalom Sesame videos, then try the activities recommended by Reform Jewish educators.