RJ Blog

by Maggie Freed Climate change is the greatest challenge our earth faces—and the longer we wait, the more difficult it will be to turn it around. Scientists agree that we are causing extreme weather by our greenhouse gas emissions, particularly from burning coal. If we don’t get serious about it, island nations will disappear, coastal cities will be inundated, hundred-year storms will occur every 10 or 20 years, droughts and fires will become more frequent and severe, and we will be leaving our children and grandchildren with an unlivable world. Physicians for Social Responsibility warns of the devastating health effects [...]

by Rabbi Andy Bachman Earlier today, I stood on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art together with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and many of Congregation Beth Elohim’s (CBE) neighbors and friends—the Brooklyn Public Library, The High Line, the Guggenheim Museum, the Tenement Museum, and many, many others. I was absolutely thrilled when the mayor announced that CBE has been chosen from among hundreds of applicants from throughout the five boroughs as one of only 40 finalists in American Express’ Partners in Preservation (PiP) program with the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission and the National Trust [...]

by Rabbi Rebecca W. Sirbu Many people are very attached to their synagogue’s physical building. Their father or grandmother’s name may be on a plaque on the wall. They remember going to school there as a child, or have celebrated a marriage or bar mitzvah within its walls. A familiar physical space can bring comfort whether someone enters it once a week or once a year. So you can understand the great pain which occurs when a community can no longer afford its building. Many communities across the country today are struggling with budgets, and wondering how they can afford [...]

by Isaac Nuell One generation goes and another generation comes; but the Earth remains forever. —Kohelet 1:4 As Jews, we understand our responsibility to care for the earth, tending to it so that future generations may benefit just as we have. Inevitably, the very acts of being Jewish and maintaining Jewish community have an impact on the environment. Recognizing this, our task is to mitigate the consequences of living a modern Jewish lifestyle. So how should environmental stewardship work its way into our houses of worship? How can we ensure that our Judaism has a minimal impact on the environment?

by Rabbi Marc Berkson There we were, in the wilderness, standing at the foot of Mount Sinai, in the presence of the Eternal. Yet God knew–far better than we–that we could not stand forever at the foot of that mountain; that our journey had to continue; that we could not always encounter God as we did at Sinai as Moses ascended to the Torah. And since the journey to the Promised Land had to continue in our wilderness, God knew we needed a place where we could meet, where we could be back in God’s presence. But God also knew [...]

by Michael J. Crosbie, Ph.D., AIA In the fall 2011 issue of Faith & Form I wrote an editorial about gifts to congregations and the challenges to sustainability that they might pose. Since then, I was asked by the church in question to develop some guidelines for the congregation’s leadership in determining whether a gift might be acceptable based on its impact on sustainability. Here, I share the guidelines with you. Where did the gift come from? Was the gift produced in a part of the world that uses child labor, unsafe labor practices or working conditions that are environmentally [...]

by Michael J. Crosbie, Ph.D., AIA I’m on the Buildings and Grounds Committee of my church. Recently, an email from our committee chair let us know that a parishioner had come forward to donate an irrigation system for our memorial garden. The chair wanted the committee’s feedback on the gift. “Sounds good to me” was the general reaction, so I felt like a wet blanket when I wrote back that I thought accepting this gift would be a mistake.

by Rabbi David Fine Changing demographics, declining religious school enrollment, troubled finances-a sure formula for frustration (to say the least). It could also be the prompt for thinking anew about the way we do business. This may not only be happening in our congregation, but also in our neighboring Jewish congregation. There will be those who will shrie (yell), “oy gevalt!” and want to walk away, and those who will shrie for merger. Before resorting to one or the other, let me offer several considerations:

This is your opportunity to ask and answer any question about architecture and sacred space. Do you have a question you’d like to ask? Please let me know at JErger@urj.org. Let’s hear your answer to our new feature, the Question of the Month. Watch the video below and let me know your thoughts in the comments section.

by Rabbi Rick Schechter “A great miracle happened there,” we say, as we spin the Chanukah dreidel each year while eating latkes fried in oil. But what was “the miracle” of Chanukah? Our tradition recounts more than one. The first miracle is that a small band of Jews defeated the more powerful Syrian army in their struggle for religious freedom and independence. As our thanksgiving prayer at Chanukah time puts it, “God delivered the mighty into the hands of the weak, and the many into the hands of the few.” The Maccabean victory is a remarkable story of courage, dedication, [...]

by Michael Hauptman, AIA For American Jews, the festival of Sukkot is a celebration of the fall harvest, of family traditions centered on constructing a backyard sukkah, decorating it with autumn vegetables and having family meals inside. Besides the Thanksgiving aspect of the holiday, Sukkot reminds us of our forty years spent wandering the desert after we left Egypt, when we slept in huts and looked at the stars through the spaces between the branches and leaves that made up the roof. Tradition calls for us to invite friends and even strangers to join us in the sukkah, making the [...]

Twenty-eight years ago, Temple Aleph Bet (TBA), a 120 member congregation in a small city in the Northeast, decided it was through with renting space and was very desirous of a permanent home. TBA purchased its first building, and after a few years, funds were raised to pay off the initial mortgage as well as to renovate and make TBA’s new home a sacred space. Along the way, as “things needed fixing” (painting, new carpeting, a new refrigerator), specific congregants were asked to make one time contributions of no more than a few thousand dollars, and gladly did so. Fast [...]

This is your opportunity to ask and answer any question about architecture and sacred space. Do you have a question you’d like to ask? Please let me know at JErger@urj.org. Let’s hear your answer to our new feature, the Question of the Month. Watch the video below and let me know your thoughts in the comments section.

by Phillip Katz Architects often talk about the practical aspects of buildings and less about the passions that influence and inspire them. Yet, the design process is a constant balance between sacred and functional. Judaism provides a context for human conduct that affects everything in life, including synagogue architecture and sacred space.