Displaying 1 - 10 of 226
How to Prevent Halloween from Overwhelming Your Family
Halloween brings me a bit of stress each year. On a very basic level, I'm just not a fan of this holiday that, in recent years, seems to have become so much bigger than ever before.
The Concept of “Home" Defined Through Chuseok and Sukkot
When I lived in South Korea, my Korean family celebrated and taught me about Chuseok, the Korean fall festival holiday. During Chuseok, many Koreans travel back to their hometowns, spend time with their families, and cook and eat a lot of traditional foods. Chuseok is often referred to as "Korean Thanksgiving," but I think Chuseok more strongly resembles Sukkot.
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.
Sukkot and the Challenge of Refugees
A young man came to a rabbi for a chat.
“I’ve bought a new car” said the young man to the rabbi.
“Congratulations,” he replied.
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.
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.
Resolution in Support of Paid Family Leave
Year Adopted:
Submitted by the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism
Background
You Shall Have Joy
This week, we read a special portion from the book of Exodus for the holiday of Sukkot that explains, "You shall observe… the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year."
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.