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Brain Calisthenics: Activities for Healthy Brains
Playing certain cognitive games can help make your brain healthier or maintain an already healthy brain. Organizations such as the AARP offer tips on brain health. Many games are available online or through book stores.
Adopt a Family
Congregation provides holiday meals and gifts to less fortunate families in their area. Community Contact Information: Congregation Shir Ha-Ma’alot Irvine, CA www.shmtemple.org Goals: Engage congregation in addressing local poverty. Assist local families in acquiring specific needs.
Celebrate Sukkot and Social Justice with Washington Hebrew Congregation and Dan Nichols
Join Washington Hebrew Congregation ( virtually or in person!) on Sunday, September 27 at 4:30 pm ET for an evening of rocking out with Dan Nichols & Eighteen and the D.C.
Sh'mini Atzeret and Simchat Torah: History
As Sukkot comes to an end, we encounter additional special days in the Jewish calendar: Sh’mini Atzeret and Simchat Torah
History: The Hanukkah Story
Although according to Jewish custom Hanukkah is considered a “minor” Jewish festival, today it ranks—along with Passover and Purim—as one of the most beloved Jewish holidays, full of light and joy and family celebration.
Sh'mini Atzeret and Simchat Torah: Customs and Rituals
The symbolic message of the customs associated with Simchat Torah emphasize that the Torah represents our heritage and history, and links Jews to each other over many generations.
Hanukkah: Customs and Rituals
Learn about the music, rituals, and food associated with the celebration of Hanukkah.
Cakes and Miracles: A Purim Tale
Even though Hershel can no longer see, he remembers what things looked like before he lost his sight - and creates beautiful shapes from his mother’s hamentashen dough. His cookies earn him a compliment and a possible future job from the town baker.
Tu BiShvat: Customs and Rituals
The Jewish mystics of the 17th century, the Kabbalists, created a special ritual—modeled after the Passover seder—to celebrate God's presence in nature. Today in modern Israel, Tu BiShvat has become a national holiday, a tree planting festivaTu BiShvat is not mentioned in the Torah. Scholars believe the holiday was originally an agricultural festival, corresponding to the beginning of spring in Israel. But a critical historical event helped Tu BiShvat evolve from a simple celebration of spring to a commemoration of our connection to the land of Israel. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E. and the exile that followed, many of the exiled Jews felt a need to bind themselves symbolically to their former homeland. Tu BiShvat served in part to fill that spiritual need. Jews used this time each year to eat a variety of fruits and nuts that could be obtained from Israel. The practice, a sort of physical association with the land, continued for many centuries.l for both Israelis and Jews throughout the world
Pirkei Avot
Originally known simply as Avot (literally, “fathers” or “ancestors”), Pirkei Avot is among the most well known of all writings in Rabbinic Judaism.