RJ Blog

by Missy Goldstein Last fall, as a junior attending the University of Florida (UF), I was considering all the possibilities for the upcoming spring break.   I know that typical UF students spend their spring breaks on cruises and at beaches, drinking and getting awkward tanlines.  I was not excited by the prospect of getting sunburned or putting myself in a bathing suit.  Sure I could visit my parents in Texas, but since it was a recent relocation, there would be no friends there for me and sitting on the couch all week just sounded boring. I thought about my Jewish [...]

by Rebekkah Karp (As part of her Netzer Year, Rebekkah spent two months training and volunteering with Magen David Adom – the Israeli Red Cross – while living in the city of Karmiel.) I ate fast food or a chocolate sandwich for lunch nearly everyday, I drank an average of four cups of coffee everyday, I walked to and from work everyday (yes, there’s an uphill both ways) – sometimes even in the rain.  I yelled at my roommates to keep it down when I had to go to sleep way earlier than them.  I once spent five hours watching [...]

by Tyler Benjamin Tyler Benjamin, a third year John V. Lombardi Scholar at the University of Florida, just returned from a three-week study opportunity in South Africa. Read Part One of his unforgettable Shabbat experience, and enjoy Part Two, below. Let me start out by saying the food was delicious and the company, excellent. But as always, it the conversation made the night. I present to you, the cast of characters from my chance Shabbat, an America in South Africa: Chips Chips’ real name is Ivan, but only his father ever called him that. All the friends and family he’s [...]

by Steven Portnoy For five years–the last two as chair–I have had the privilege and honor of serving on MRJ’s Reform On Campus (ROC) committee. Let me start by giving you a little background about MRJ, of which ROC is a part. Now almost 90 years old, MRJ began as the North American Federation of Temple Brotherhoods. In 2007 we became Men of Reform Judaism, a name that reflects the changes that have occurred in the organization during the last 85 years. In the 1990s MRJ began the Reform On Campus initiative, which for almost 20 years, has succeeded in [...]

by dccOriginally posted on Jewschool By now you all have heard of the Princeton referendumbeing offered by a group of concerned students at the Ivy League campusin New Jersey. Sabra Hummus has been declared an enemy of Palestine andshould be banned from campus there should be other options for students to purchase when they desire a creamy Middle Eastern dip. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for meaningless political action incollege; after all I was an elected member of the student senate back incollege, so I know all about that. But when it comes to an eliteinstitution of higher [...]

by John Wofford “I’m way out of my league,” I think to myself as I sing the Sh’ma with a congregation of devout Jews. Though I’ve long said goodbye to Christianity, I know the faith well. Honestly, you could transplant me back to the Bible Belt and I could easily recapture my old rhythms. When you’re a preacher’s kid, certain things come naturally no matter the distance or time elapsed. I may be a Michigan student and Jew-by-Choice, but I’m a Georgia son who spent more years than I care to admit on the front row of a sweaty Pentecostal [...]

by Elliot Kort My liberal Jewish guilt was really starting to bug me. In the wake of the 2008 presidential election, I reflected on how I perceived the nation was changing. In doing so, I faced a cold, hard truth; I hadn’t done anything but vote. I hadn’t pledged my time, volunteered to go door-to-door, lobbied friends and neighbors on a certain issue, or helped to register other voters. In essence, I hadn’t done a single thing beyond showing up and casting my ballot. By saying that, I can already sense people recoiling. I can hear them saying, “But voting [...]

by Aliza Gazek(Originally published in Ten Minutes of Torah and Reform Voices of Torah) As I walked up to my freshman dorm this September, carrying a metal-frame backpack and sap-infested clothes from my wilderness orientation program, I heard people shout, “ALIZA!” The welcome cheer that followed my name is but a blur, overshadowed by my amazement that these people–whom I later learned are my resident advisors–knew my name and pronounced it correctly even though we had yet to meet. “I’m a-LEE-za, like an alligator,” I say as I press my palms together in front of me and make snaking motions [...]

by Rabbi Paul Kipnes (originally posted at Or Am I?) It all started with Consecration.  In celebration of the beginning of their formal Jewish education, these cute kindergartners ascend to the bimah to stand before the aron kodesh (holy ark) to receive a mini-Torah from the hands of their parents. Nervousness surrounds us as children wonder where to stand, as parents step forward unsure of how to guide them.  Still, smiles mingle with tears as we watch our babies continue to grow up. And we bless, shehecheyanu, thanking God for getting us to this special day.  Then we stand again on the [...]

By Hanan Cidor, KESHER Shaliach First published in It’s an Israel Thing Although I’m currently in Israel, it seems as if there was no escape this week from the leading story in the world media about the military operation currently undergoing in the Hamas controlled Gaza strip. Truth be told, and maybe that’s very fitting to an Israeli, I’ve changed my mind about this operation more than once ever since it started Saturday morning. The basic excuse to start this whole thing is justified in my eyes. For the past seven years, the last three being after Israel has disengaged [...]