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Sukkot in a Time Of Pandemic: A Poem
This year, even if you do not have a sukkah to visit, you can still experience the kavanah (intention) and the ruach (spirit) of Sukkot.
It's Sukkot, Let's Vote: The Letter I Wrote to My Neighbors about Our Sukkah
Known as z’man simchateinu (season of our rejoicing), Sukkot is the only festival associated with an explicit commandment to rejoice.
Family Matters
If you need a hammer, I will be a hammer, if you need a nail, I will be the nail… We are as bars of iron, elastic but iron. Metal that can be forged to whatever is needed for the national machine. A wheel? I am the wheel.
Drive Thru Judaism: An Antidote to Quarantined Community
Craving personal connection to actual people? Missing in-person contact with your clergy and community? Consider “Drive Thru Judaism” as an antidote to quarantined community.
Let's Move into a Healthier America
As someone who has traveled a good amount, I can’t say I’m always proud of some of the American stereotypes that are out there, worst of all - that Americans are overweight. This is more than a stereotype nowadays when one in three children in the United States is either overweight or obese. In order to fight the past few decades’ transition to unhealthy behavior, First Lady Michelle Obama started the Let’s Move Campaign in 2010.
Perfect Weather for a NFTY T-Shirt: Chance Encounters and Shared Humanity
“I was in NFTY!” a stranger told me, spotting my years-old T-shirt. This feeling of knowing all of us, that we truly did meet at Sinai, or at least a camp, provides comfort during uncomfortable times.
This Year, Bring Torah into the Voting Booth
Taking Torah into the voting booth also means that pikuach nefesh, saving human life, is Judaism’s highest mitzvah, so consider your voting options carefully.
Jewish Life Flourishes at Belarus Summer Camp
The fears and uncertainties surrounding the continuing crisis in Ukraine has had an effect on this year’s Inter-Regional Summer Camps. Despite a few changes, camp went on as planned, providing campers with much-needed relief and fun, as well as exposure to Jewish life.
It's Election Season: 7 Key Actions to Take Between Now and Nov. 3rd
Election Day is fast approaching, but our work is not done yet. There’s still time to make a difference and ensure every voice is heard and every vote is counted this election.
L’dor V’dor: From Adults, to Teens, to Kids, Camp Shalom Inspires
The Journal of Youth Engagement is an online forum of ideas and dialogue for those committed to engaging youth in vibrant Jewish life and living. Join the discussion and become a contributor.
There’s a reason so many people have been talking about summer camp: The camp environment provides daily Jewish living experiences that often prove to be transformational. It is the place where religious school lessons come to life, where Jewish friendships begin, and where the foundation for our children’s Jewish future is laid. Indeed, study after study cites Jewish camp as a critical factor in the development of a strong Jewish identity.
As the vice president and education director, respectively, of Congregation Beth Shalom of the Woodlands, we encourage parents in our congregation to make summertime Jewish time by enrolling their children in a Jewish camp. The Woodlands, however, is a surburban community an hour and a half north of Houston and its Jewish community – too far for daily commuting by most families in our temple. Therefore, for the last decade or so, we’ve set aside two weeks in June to run Camp Shalom, creating an opportunity for our kids (ages 3 to 12) to escape the Texas heat and enjoy the benefits of Jewish camp.