RJ Blog

“Camp Newman helps us feel closer to God”. This is how I opened my dialogue with our 2013 leadership staff at our annual Spring retreat. You could have imagined the response. Even some of our Rabbinic students felt uneasy about this language and its timing (opening conversation). “God” talk is scary for many of us.

I have heard it said that the single most valuable Jewish experience young people can have is Jewish camp. Jacobs Camp is the absolute personification of this belief. We love it and so do two more generations (so far!) of Orgel family members!

By Rabbi Micah Greenstein Rabbi Greenstein is the Senior Rabbi of Temple Israel in Memphis, TN.  He is the father of Cara (Songleader & Marketing Intern), Jake (Garin Counselor) and Julia (Talmidim Camper). Here’s the question: What is the strongest factor in the Jewish identity formation of a rabbi’s kid? School? Shul? The fact that the child’s dad or mom is a rabbi? Divine intervention? In my case, it’s none of the above.  It’s Jewish summer camp. While there are many worthy pieces to the Jewish identity jigsaw puzzle, in my rabbinic family, Jewish summer camp is the hands down winner. [...]

By Erin Boxt As a young Jewish child growing up in Columbia, South Carolina, I was often asked what Jews believed about the “afterlife.”  Of course, not everyone was so polite in their questioning. But, that is a whole different story! I will admit that I was very confused growing up about a lot of things and the ideas of heaven and hell were clearly two of the most confusing topics for me. So, what did I do? I went to my rabbi and asked him very bluntly, “Do Jews believe in Heaven?”

by Donnie Kanter Winokur This post is to entice you to read this feature article in the New York Times Magazine of February 5, 2012.  Atlanta author and journalist Melissa Fay Greene spent almost a year in the trenches with our family to create a compelling piece for The Times entitled, “Wonder Dog,” in which she eloquently introduced to the world the profound impact our son’s service dog, Chancer has had not only on our son’s existence, but also on that of our entire family.  We believe that this article has helped to expose a hidden public health crisis, the [...]

Today is the first day of the second year following the death of my son, Mitch. It is also the date upon which I had committed to beginning a blog about my spiritual journey and contemplations. This morning, God provided one of those “Invisible Lines of Connection” of which Larry Kushner writes to prove that this is the right day. I was crossing from Penn Station to my Midtown office in NYC, picking out a different route, as I do each day. Rounding a corner, a young man caught my eye, and then my body in a tearful hug. He [...]

by Aya Betensky In the early ’80s, in New Jersey, we “converted” from Conservative to Reform Judaism (a story in itself) and started going to Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple in New Brunswick. At our first Friday night ser­vice, we were amazed to find a woman cantor with a beautiful voice, who welcomed us by stepping down from the bimah and teaching the congregation a new song that would be sung later in the service. Lee Coopersmith imbued us with an aura of Shabbat beauty and community that we had been missing before. At these Friday night services I heard familiar [...]