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Expand Your Congregation’s Reach: New Arts & STEM Online Programming for Jewish Families
These all-new winter sessions are perfect for families to enjoy high-quality, remote Jewish experiences that speak to them, on a schedule that works for their life. New, unaffiliated families will be connected with URJ congregations in their area – like yours!
Winter Break Fun for Jewish Families: New Online Arts & STEM Online Programming!
This winter, ReformJudaism.org is proud to introduce a simple way for families with school-aged children to take part in fun, meaningful Jewish experiences that will also help them connect to and engage with their local Reform Jewish community.
Family and Medical Leave Denied to Same-Sex Couples in Non-Marriage Equality States
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was signed into law 22 years ago to allow workers to take a maximum 12 weeks unpaid time off of work to care for a new child (including adopted and foster children); care for a sick child; act as a caregiver for a parent; address personal serious health concerns; and care for wounded service members. After the decision in United States v. Windsor, in which the part of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) defining marriage as between a man and a woman for federal purposes was struck down, the Department of Labor announced that FMLA would apply to eligible employees in same-sex marriages if the employee resided in a state that recognized their marriage. Rachel Laser, Deputy Director of the Religious Action Center, submitted comments last August to the Department of Labor in support of this change when it was proposed.
Remembering Helaine Heller, z"l, and her Family's Lasting Impact on the Reform Movement
We mourn the passing of Helaine Heller, z”l, who died earlier this month. In 2016, the Heller family, of Scotch Plains, N.J., made an endowment gift of $5 million to fund what was then known as NFTY-EIE High School in Israel.
It’s Hard to be a Jew at Christmas, But Even Harder on Tu BiSh’vat
It is a truth universally acknowledged that it can be difficult to be Jewish at Christmas time. It has seeped into North American cultural consciousness so thoroughly that South Park even wrote a song about it, complete with trademark expletives.
How PJ Library® Helped Our Congregation Engage Families with Young Children
Congregation Children of Israel is a 150-family congregation in Athens, GA. As a small congregation, we were looking for creative ways to welcome and engage families with young children, one of our target membership demographics. The answer came in the form of PJ Library®, which enables us to offer book subscriptions to local families raising Jewish children ages six months to 8 years. Our congregation joined the program in 2007, and it has been a huge success.
Double Booked Through the Lens of JDAM: The High Price of Autism
This post originally appeared on June 3, 2014 as part of the RAC's blog series, Double Booked: A Conversation on Working Families in the 21st Century.
By Rabbi Rebecca Einstein Schorr
In November 2010, after more than a decade as a congregational rabbi, I sent my congregation the following letter:
A story is told that before a child is born, his soul peers down from the Heavenly Abode and selects the parents who will be right for him. Having voiced his choice to the Holy One, Blessed be God, the soul is then dispatched to his eagerly awaiting parents.
It is a great responsibility, then, to live up to the expectations and needs of our children who, as this legend teaches, have chosen us because of the belief that we will be the best parents for them.
No Holiday Dilemma this December
I looked forward to the lights that adorn houses and streets in celebration of the holiday, not to mention watching Christmas specials on television and getting extra days off work to be with family. However, things changed last year when my family and I joined our friends to help them decorate their Christmas tree.
We Let Our Kids Plan Hanukkah This Year
This Hanukkah, it hit me: We can do anything. The beauty of this holiday — and especially of experiencing it amidst a global pandemic —is that we have the opportunity to make it our own.
Breakfast with Fahim
Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's household…When Pharaoh summons you and asks, "What is your occupation?" You shall answer, "Your servants have been breeders of livestock from the start until now, both we and our fathers" - so that you may stay in the region of Gos