Hard to believe but the Biennial opens today and we are ready to go! Yesterday registration opened and went very smoothly. Most of the pre-Biennial programs wrapped up and there were several Union Committee meetings. I visited the Maintenance of Membership Committee, Resolutions, and Camp Committees to thank them for their hard work to make the Biennial a success. I also visited with the new Union Trustees to welcome them to the Union Board and encourage them to really dig in and have a great Biennial.

By Barbara Shuman

It's 7:30 am and (at last!) I am on the plane, en route from Pittsburgh to sunny San Diego. In 7 hours, after a brief stop in Phoenix I will be there. One thing I already know: I have over-packed. Looking at the schedule online I note that there will be no time to change clothes before dinner. In fact, there may be no time to change clothes until Shabbat! I even threw in exercise gear at the last minute. Who am I kidding? The only exercise I may get is walking back and forth to, and within the Convention Center, jogging to workshops, sprinting through the Judaica stalls, and stretching as I look at the URJ Press books and CDs.

By Dr. Alex Cohen

I finally arrived here in one piece (after a scary landing in Atlanta about 7:30 this morning) and the city and harbor look beautiful from the air. The check-in to the hotel and registration was painless and done promptly. Everyone will be getting plenty of exercise because this convention center is huge. It looks like it's going to be a great convention. I'm off to pre-convention meetings. More later...

By Ginger Jacobs

As I get ready to go to San Diego, I am thinking about previous Biennials.

I remember the one in Miami in 1969, we had a candlelight march to end the war in Vietnam, we had people reading the names of all the soldiers killed there, we voted to boycott California grapes in support of Cesar Chavez. After the march, we had an unplanned song fest in the lobby of a Miami Beach fancy hotel, let by Theodore Bikel who happened to be there.

I wonder what wonderful memories will be created this week in San Diego. I hope to meet some of you, whether in workshops, lunches, services or walking around the incredible exhibit area. Look for me, I have short white hair and will have my name tag on. Looking forward to being there with you.

Two days out and everything is on schedule. The weather today in San Diego was absolutely ideal and it should just get better as the week goes on. Warm sunny days, cool clear nights - what more could one ask for in December? The Union staff arrived today and the Union office is set up and running. All the name tags are printed and ready to be distributed to registrants as they check in at registration starting Tuesday at noon in the Convention Center. The local arrangements office is also up and running and volunteers from the host congregations start checking in Tuesday at 9 a.m. The exhibition hall is being set up - it's really amazing to watch how a vast empty space is turned into a marketplace! Below you can see a picture of the exhibition space just being set up.

Sometimes timing is everything. For the past week I have been listening to XM Radio’s “Radio Chanukah” and it has been quite effective in ramping up my excitement for Biennial. Some of the stars from past Biennials have been featured and it was great fun to hear them, their music, and their commentaries knowing that I would be with some of them this week at Biennial.

Today over 50 local arrangements committee members and volunteers stuffed the delegate bags. This year the delegate bags are eco-friendly (as are the delegate name tag holders), made strictly from recycled materials. The delegate bag stuffing was finished in under three hours – near record time!

The local arrangements office will be set up tomorrow for the volunteers. You will recognize the local arrangements volunteers by their colorful orange, white, green and blue vests.

Jay Geller, Biennial Program chair, and Shirley Gordon, Biennial Program vice-chair, will be posting regularly with updates and observations from the stage and back room.

We are both looking forward to greeting all of you on December 12 at the San Diego Convention Center where we will gather with delegates from over 700 Union congregations to study with HUC scholars, learn effective synagogue management tools, find exciting new congregational programs, discuss important issues to Reform Jews, listen to dynamic and challenging speakers, sing and celebrate our Judaism, and make new lifelong friends.

Social Action is at the core of Reform Judaism and the Biennial is the perfect place to put our values into action. Rabbi Marla Feldman, director of the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism explains that there are many opportunities to pursue justice, such as the Adopt-a-Soldier and Nothing But Nets campaigns, during the 69th Biennial in San Diego. Click on the play button below to learn more.

Flying, driving and even taking the train leaves footprints, carbon footprints. Our travel to and from the Biennial is detrimental to our environment. However the Union has set up a way for you to easily offset your personal carbon footprint. Logon to the Religious Action Center’s Carbon Neutrality webpage and learn more about Carbon Offsets and what you can do to help. For more eco-friendly tips please visit the Green Biennial webpage.

By Ginger Jacobs

A week from today, I’ll be driving down to San Diego for the North American Board meeting, starting the 2007 Biennial for me. Yes, I know I’m lucky, I don’t have to get on a plane, clear security and all. Just drive my own car!

I’m looking forward to this Biennial, getting to see long time friends and meet new people. The last Biennial in Houston was one of the very few I have missed in the past 30 years.

Music is everywhere at the Biennial, from plenary sessions to the URJ Books and Music Stage, our Shabbat worship to late night gatherings. It takes a lot of planning to be sure that the melodies and music that is prepared for the convention’s worship services is new and fresh, and much of that responsibility falls to Cantor Alane Katzew, director of Music Programming at the Union. Click on the play button to listen to the musical conversation.

This is the blog, below is a podcast – it is all part of the Union’s expanded Web presence at the Biennial. But what does it all mean? Click the play button below to hear from Jonathan Lam, the Union’s webmaster to learn about Web 2.0, postcasting, blogging and more.

Mare Winningham, who was scheduled to perform during the Biennial, sat down to speak with Peter Bebergal of Jewcy, an online Jewish community magazine, last August. They talked about her new Jewish country/ gospel music album Refuge Rock Sublime, her conversion to Judaism and her movie and television stardom which spans three decades.

It’s rare that you hear about a celebrity’s foray into Judaism that doesn’t involve Philip Berg and the Kabbalah Centre. Madonna changed her name to Esther, but we haven’t yet seen an album bearing that nom de plume.

There’s much excitement building around the Symposium on Gender in Jewish Education.

For the past 8 months I’ve sat on conference calls as I was asked to represent NATE (National Association of Temple Educators) on the planning committee for the Symposium. It was an honor working with my colleagues to plan the 2 day seminar.

We are gearing up for what I believe to be an invaluable opportunity to hear from some respected individuals in the field on this topic. This Symposium will also provide an opportunity to connect with old friends and most certainly to meet new people from around the country,

Our two features speakers are Dr. William Pollack and Dr. Gail Reimer.

Hello all! I was born and raised in Darlington, SC and attended Beth Israel Congregation in Florence. After college and medical school I moved back home to Darlington where I practice Family Medicine at Pee Dee Health Care, PA, and occasionally take care of NASCAR drivers when the race comes to town.

I am married to the former Dyan Roth of Philadelphia and we have two children, David 16 and Ginny, 14. My wife was re-elected to the city council for a second four year term earlier this month (female, Jewish and a yankee running for election in a small southern town...who would have thought??).

Hi - my name is Barbara Shuman and I live in Pittsburgh. PA, where I am a member of Temple Sinai. I am also a member of the Union's National Board, a past president of the Pennsylvania Council (one of Union's 14 Regions) and from 1988 - 2005 I was the coordinator of the Kallah program. I am now a member of the Joint Commission on Worship, Music and Religious Living and for the past 9 years have coordinated the Jewish Meditation Kallah (sponsored by Lev Shalom, in association with the Union). In Pittsburgh, I am a VP of the Agency for Jewish Learning and co-chair of its Adult Learning committee.

Hi, I am Harry Levy IV from San Antonio, TX. I am a past President of Temple Beth-El here in San Antonio, and am currently active on the Regional Council and North American Board of the Union. I am married to the NFTY-TOR regional advisor (Mary) and have three grown children (Deborah, Kelly, and Jacob). I am a Kutz alumnus (1974) and am still active in Jewish camping as a member of the Greene Family Camp committee.

My name is Ginger Jacobs. I live in the San Fernando Valley in the greater Los Angeles area. I belong to Beth Chayim Chadashim (better known as BCC) where I have been a member since 1988. I have a Master's in Public Health from UCLA and help teach patients in a large medical provider group. I take the Judaic values seriously, Pekuah Nefesh, saving even one soul is like saving the whole world.

Hi! I am Phyllis Sommer, the Associate Rabbi at Am Shalom in Glencoe, Illinois, a north suburb of Chicago. I'm originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where I was a member of Congregation Shalom as I grew up. I am married to Rabbi Michael Sommer and we are the proud parents of David, age 6, Sam, age 2, and Yael, 9 months. I blog about my family and Jewish family life at Ima on and off the Bima, and I blog about Jewish and world stuff at my other blog, Thoughts from Rabbi Phyllis.

Well it is getting exciting! The Biennial is only a few weeks away and everything really is getting rolling. Events are being finalized and speakers are being confirmed; everyone is running around to ensure we keep our word to host the best event in North American Jewish life this December.

In an effort to maximize your Biennial experience we have launched the Union’s first ever Biennial Blog. This space for you, Reform Jews who come to event, those who can’t make it (but you should try) and those looking to learn more. This blog hopes to provide a space for Reform Jews to experience the Biennial, in a 2.007 version.

Web2.0 offers people so many tools to learn, celebrate and share in ways that were impossible just five years ago. This “second generation” of the Web allows for people to add to the conversation, post their own pictures of the event and become full—if virtual— participants in communities. We created this space for you to take part in the Biennial through these new mediums. We will have regular contributors before, during and after the Biennial, updates about the events, awards and news live from San Diego and more. We also invite you to link to the Biennial Blog and we will feature other Reform Jewish blogs in a forthcoming Bloggeroll.

So as you get ready to fly/drive/sail (had to get it in there somehow, have you seen the logo?) log-on to this blog, leave a comment or send a post about what you are doing in your congregation. Thanks and I hope to see you in San Diego.

Donald Cohen-Cutler
Communications Manger
Union for Reform Judaism

Donald H. Harrison is the editor of the San Diego Jewish World, an online Jewish newspaper and the author of the"The Jewish Citizen" column. This week he interviewed members of the Local Arrangement’s committee for a feature in the Jewish World.

San Diego gears up for Reform Judaism's national convention
 
SAN DIEGO – Improving relations between Jews and the Islamic world will be a front-and-center issue December 12-16 when San Diego plays host to the biennial convention of the Union for Reform Judaism.