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Internet Round-Up: The Best Jewish Stories on the Web

Justin Dorsen — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 17:57:08 +0000

Here are just a few of the recent stories from across the webosphere that speak directly to (and about) Reform Jews. What Jewish stories have you been reading recently? Leave a comment and let us know!

“Congregation Needs To Be Involved in Israel To Make a Difference,” The Jewish Daily Forward
Rabbi Andy Bachman, the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Elohim in Brooklyn, writes that the best way to discuss Israel is to convince his congregation to actually visit the country and to insist that people “roll up their sleeves and dig in.”

“Bar Mitzvahs on the Beach,” Tablet
Destination bar and bat mitzvah celebrations are increasing in popularity. While Israel is the original b’nai mitzvah destination, many teenagers today choose to read from the Torah in places like Costa Rica or Aspen. Rabbi Bradley Solmsen, Director of Youth Engagement for the URJ, says, “I think the advent of destination bar mitzvahs shows that people are looking for more meaningful experiences. We need to pay attention to this trend.”

“Does Birthright Stifle Teen Travel?” Jewish Exponent
What factors have led to a 40% drop in 13-18 year olds traveling to Israel since Birthright began in 2000? This article explores the possibilities. While sending high school students to Israel can be financially burdening, allowing teens to experience Israel at a younger age may be worth the price tag; at the same time, Birthright sends young Jews ages 18-26 on a free 10-day trip to Israel. This puts many parents in a dilemma. Should they pay the cost and send their kids to Israel during high school, or wait until they are older and encourage them to participate in Birthright?

“For parents with BRCA gene mutation that led Angelina Jolie to remove her breasts, the biggest fear is for children,” Daily News
Just like Angelina Jolie, Susan Glucksman (a former board member of URJ Camp Eisner) and her two younger sisters all carry the BRCA gene mutation, which leads to a high risk of break cancer. Because of this, all of their six children have a 50% of having the mutation as well. Faced with the facts, these mothers struggle to decide whether to test their children, especially because medical professionals don’t recommend generic testing until the age of 18.

“7% of Israeli Jews are Reform or Conservative,” Daily Jewish Forward
Though there are just 110 Reform and Conservative synagogues in Israel, the Israeli Democracy Index for 2013 reports that approximately 7.1% of Israeli Jews define themselves as Reform or Conservative. That said, a majority of Israelis – about 76% – report that identify as secular or declined to respond the survey.

“National Board of Trustees for URJ elects Edmond teen,” Edmond Sun
Evan Traylor, a sophomore at Kansas University and outgoing president of NFTY, was recently elected as the youngest person to become a full member of the North American Board of Trustees for the Union for Reform Judaism. URJ chairman Steve Sacks said of Evan’s landmark membership, “The voices of our young people are important, not just because our constitution requires it, but because we really do want to hear the voices of our teens represented in the movement’s governing body.”

Observations from a Bar Mitzvah Family Meeting in Columbus

Guest Blogger — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 18:00:37 +0000

by Rabbi Misha Zinkow

It was evident to me when I sat down with the Greens that Isaac was not a happy camper. I’ve known him since he was about 4; he’s a great kid, an upbeat and cheerful child, and the son of communally-active and highly engaged parents. So an unhappy face on this one was inconsistent with the subject of our meeting, about which I presumed he would be excited: his bar mitzvah next year.

Since I know that Isaac is comfortable around me (comfortable enough not to feel like he needed to present himself disingenuously), I asked him, “What’s with the face and body language?” And Isaac was predictably honest: the looming prospect of sitting in his bedroom, headphones clamped over his head to perfect the recitation of prayers with which he was already familiar from his day school experience, and to memorize a Torah and Haftarah portion, were simply not activities he was feeling inspired to do. No surprise in that revelation.

The more Isaac described how trapped he felt by the journey on which he was about to embark, the more eager I grew, and when he was finished with his description of the impending doom, I could reveal to him that we, his rabbi, cantor and educator, all understand his consternation, are sympathetic. What’s more, we even agree with him – which is why I was able to say,“Isaac, we want to suggest a totally different way to think about and approach your bar mitzvah.”

The long-faced boy immediately uncurled himself from his slouch to pay attention, even if a little skeptically. Now that I had stirred Isaac and his mother’s curiosity, I was able to explain how we hoped to make the bar mitzvah experience deeper and more meaningful for him and his family.

It goes like this: the bar mitzvah student and his parents read the week’s Torah portion and look at some supplementary commentaries and material we provide. From the Torah portion, they harvest a Jewish value (or perhaps more than one) to which they resonate. Perhaps it is a value they already appreciate and act on, or a value to which they aspire to embrace more fully. We then provide study materials on that value(s) from primary and secondary sources, and set up a series of touch-base meetings to make sure that they are making their way through the materials and for conversation about the study material.

The bar mitzvah student will have three ways to experience and “live” the value: through Torah, Avodah and G’milut Chasadim. The “Torah pillar” is the study of the portion and commentaries. The “Avodah pillar” will be the learning, or review, of a set of prayers our BMR task force determined were “essential” (e.g. Sh’ma, the first three benedictions of the Sh’moneh Esrei, Torah and Haftarah blessings, Kaddish Yetom), and the learning of a few verses of Torah and perhaps Haftarah (this, compared to the 15-18 Torah verses and the 9-12 of Haftarah our b’nai mitzvah currently memorize). The “G’milut Chasadim” pillar will be communal engagement through the value – acts that animate the value on two fronts: locally and with the global Jewish community and/or in Israel. And finally, we will ask the student to create a presentation that reflects his/her experience, to be presented during the Shabbat service or Kiddush following the service.

It would be untruthful to say that Isaac leapt out of his chair with gratitude and enthusiasm. However, when I finished the explanation of the “new-and-improved Bar Mitzvah,” his attitude and demeanor had undergone a major change, and he was very enthusiastic, as were his parents, about this new way of approaching what to him was destined to be a life-cycle passage through which he would, at best, sleep-walk.

Isaac is the fourth child to whom I have presented our vision for a revolution in the way we “do” b’nai mitzvah. All of them, and their parents, while anxious about what the outcome will “look like,” are excited about being the first to experiment with breaking out of our inherited practice, which we have acknowledged may no longer be the best practice.

Rabbi Misha Zinkow has been Senior Rabbi at Temple Israel in Columbus, Ohio since July, 2004. Temple Israel is participating in the B’nai Mitzvah Revolution Pilot Cohort.

Originally published at B’nai Mitzvah Revolution

Hectic Times, in the Very Best Way

Rabbi Daniel Freelander — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:00:45 +0000

Despite the fact that summer, with its hopefully slower pace, is just around the corner, the last few weeks have been packed!

At the end of April, I joined 117 congregational presidents who had gathered in Atlanta for the annual Scheidt Seminar, the URJ’s unique leadership training initiative specifically designed for current and incoming presidents. During the gathering, we honored with an aliyah those participants whose parents or grandparents also had served as presidents. In a moving tribute to these former leaders, 25% of the participants stepped forward, not only to recite the Torah blessings, but also to carry on their families’ tradition of leadership l’dor v’dor.

From Atlanta, I headed to Jerusalem together with 33 other North American delegates to attend the World Union for Progressive Judaism’s Connections conference. During the five-day gathering, 200 leaders from around the world participated in workshops, worship and discussions, all of which focused on our commitment to building and sustaining vibrant, Progressive Jewish communities throughout the world.

Upon my return to the States, I immediately headed to the URJ’s Kutz Camp in Warwick, NY, where spring, allergies, and terrific plans for this summer’s teen program all were in full bloom. Space is limited, so, if they have not already done so, please make sure your congregation’s teen leaders register soon.

Last week my own congregation, Barnert Temple in Franklin Lakes, NJ, celebrated its 165^th anniversary, and early the next morning, I headed to Greenville, SC, to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of Temple of Israel. Between these milestone anniversaries and the inspirational Confirmation services and Shavuot study sessions that were held in our communities in the last couple of weeks, the strength and vibrancy of the Jewish community these devoted Confirmands are poised to inherit are what keep me going during these hectic times.

Internet Round-Up: The Best Jewish Stories on the Web

Kate Bigam — Fri, 17 May 2013 07:00:53 +0000

“Modern-Day Rabbi Must Be CEO, Teacher, and Spiritual Leader at Once,” Forward
Are rabbis the new CEOs? Anne Cohen reports that “expectations have changed.” Rabbis are now required to read a spreadsheet as well as the Gemara. They need to be accessible, media-savvy public speakers; business-oriented entrepreneurs; fundraisers; program generators, and in touch with popular trends. To prepare rabbinical students for the challenges ahead, seminaries are reassessing their curriculum to focus more on professional development and pastoral skills than ever before.

“Let There Be War at the Wall,” Haaretz
In this op-ed, RabbI Eric Yoffie writes that his first reaction to the ugly confrontation at the Western Wall on Friday was to be appalled and sickened. “But on reflection,” he says, “I’ve changed my mind: I welcome the war that the ultra-Orthodox have chosen to launch. As offensive as these actions were, there are multiple reasons to expect that good might emerge from the nastiness of recent days.”

“Almost Half of Israeli Jews back Women of the Wall,” Times of Israel
Forty-eight percent of Israel’s Jewish population, including 64% of its secular citizens, support the Women of the Wall organization in its bid to enable alternatives to traditional prayer services at the Western Wall, according to a poll released Sunday. Only 26% of those who described themselves as traditionally religious supported the movement; none of the ultra-Orthodox respondents supported the movement.

Things I Love About B’nai Mitzvah

Guest Blogger — Tue, 07 May 2013 13:00:17 +0000

by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat

I love the excited buzz in the synagogue before Shabbat morning services when one of our kids is going to be called to the Torah as b’nai mitzvah.

I love the eager, nervous energy I feel emanating from the family. The parents, caught between the mundane organizational details they were worrying about yesterday and the growing awareness that today is something different, a different kind of time. The younger sibling, if there is one, rolling their eyes but also realizing that this is going to be them someday.

I love standing outside in the field behind our sanctuary, listening to the wild tapestry of birdsong, while the photographer adjusts: you put your arm around her, there, okay, turn a little bit this way, look at me, smile! The family always makes such a beautiful tableau, and I know they’ll look at these photographs for the rest of their lives.

I love running through the Torah portion with the bat mitzvah girl one last time before services begin. Her voice is a little bit higher, her pace faster, today than ever before. By now I’ve practiced chanting this Torah portion with her so many times that I know it by heart, too.

I love the feeling of standing before the assembled community — members of our congregation; our small core of Shabbat morning regulars; visiting family and friends — and welcoming them into this place and this moment, this celebration of Shabbat and this celebration of a young person taking their place in our community.

I love inviting anyone who’s never seen the inside of a Torah scroll up to the bimah, and unrolling it. Asking them to say, aloud, what makes it different from the books they usually read. It’s in Hebrew; it’s on parchment; it’s a scroll; it’s handwritten. Then I point out things they might not have noticed: there’s no punctuation. There are no vowels. There are no musical notations.

I love seeing one of our kids shine. Hearing them read from Torah, and offer blessings, and teach something of what they’ve learned to the entire congregation.

I love hearing the blessing the parent(s) offer. Without fail, hearing the earnest words of love and pride they offer to their child is one of the most moving moments of my day, and reminds me of my own place in the chain of generations, between my parents and my son.

And I love chatting with people after the service, finding out what moved them and what spoke to them. It can be hard for me to gauge, when a lot of people have assembled who maybe aren’t necessarily singing along, whether the service is reaching them. But every time, I hear from someone who didn’t expect to be moved, or who didn’t expect the service to be accessible, and was pleasantly surprised.

Mostly I love knowing that we’ve co-created a beautiful memory for the new young adult and for their family, and that our community is now one adult Jew richer.

Blessed are You, Adonai our God, source of all being, who has kept us alive, and sustained us, and enabled us to reach this moment.

Rabbi Rachel Barenblat was ordained by ALEPH in 2011. Author of 70 Faces (Phoenicia, 2011), a collection of Torah poems, she serves Congregation Beth Israel in North Adams, MA.

Originally posted at Velveteen Rabbi

Special Prayer Services in Boston Tonight

From the URJ — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 17:58:36 +0000

As the entire country struggles at make sense of the acts of terror that took place yesterday in Boston, the Reform Movement sends our thoughts and prayers to all of those affected by the bombing. We pray for the victims of this senseless crime and for everyone’s safety and healing.

Throughout the Boston area, Reform Jewish synagogues are planning special services to allow the local Jewish community to grieve and pray together. For more information on any of the services below, click through to the congregation’s website or Facebook page for event details.

Boston: Temple Israel, services at 7pm
Brookline: Temple Ohabei Shalom, services at 6pm
Brookline: Temple Sinai, services at 5:30pm
Lexington: Temple Isaiah, services at 7pm
Newton: Temple Shalom, sanctuary open and clergy available 7-8pm
Wellesley: Temple Beth Elohim, services at 7pm
Westwood: Temple Beth David, services at 7:30pm tomorrow (Wednesday)

For bereavement resources, visit urj.org/bostonmarathon.