RJ Blog

I do not know of any colleague who has not, at one time or another, sat with a family as a loved one neared the end of life. It can be a heart-wrenching, spiritual, troublesome, anxious and fulfilling encounter — all at the same time. Sadly, too many families find themselves alone and adrift in a sea of medical terminology and health care controls. The physician, having tried “the arsenal of medical technology,” may ask what the family wishes to do next. This month’s edition of Atlantic Monthly includes a thought-provoking piece on the need for “The Conversation.” Author Jonathan [...]

Is your congregation interested in offering classes on “Judaism 101″? The Union for Reform Judaism is offering grants to help congregations offer Taste of Judaism™, a free, three-session class for beginners – Jewish or not – that explores the topics of Jewish spirituality, ethics and community values. Taste of Judaism™ is a high-visibility, low-threshold program of liberal Jewish content designed to pique the interest of all who are searching for an access point to Jewish life.  The class is designed for those who would like to explore or re-explore the foundations of Jewish tradition and are looking for an entry [...]

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 [...]

It’s May. Can you believe it? Every year it seems to sneak up on me. But here it is. Most synagogues and Jewish professionals are at the point in the year that I typically call the “race to the finish line.” We are busy completing our program years, winding down religious schools and looking toward Shavuot as a point where we might briefly catch our breath; all while planning for next year by finalizing calendars and budgets. We can probably agree that the much anticipated summer months will allow us a chance to regroup, reflect and start it all over [...]

May is Jewish American Heritage Month, which is a great impetus to talk about congregational heritage preservation. These days, communities are rapidly changing and Jewish communities are no exceptions: Congregations that were once large and thriving now find themselves with dwindling membership rolls; meanwhile other congregations are experiencing unexpected growth and are faced with the positive challenge of growing their physical space along with their membership size. With all of these changes, it is more important than ever to implement an archiving plan to ensure the rich history and traditions of your synagogue endure after all the changes and for [...]

by Deborah Belsky I started learning Braille Hebrew when I was 9 years old. I was taught by Reverend Harry J. Sutcliffe, a blind Episcopalian minister, who taught Hebrew to many blind students in Brooklyn in the early 1960s. Hebrew Braille is easy because most of the letters have the same dot configuration as English letters. The vowels are other Braille symbols that are not used as consonants, so the Hebrew student learns them in the context of the Hebrew. For example, an “ah” sound is a Braille “C” which is not used in Hebrew. This is close to what [...]

This week, I was contacted by a colleague at another Reform synagogue. She shared that a member of their community is interested in endowing a special education program for their religious school, and she hoped that I might be willing to dream with them a little. She asked me, “What would you do with $30,000? With $50,000?” Wow. First and foremost, just as every child with a disability is unique, so is every synagogue community that seeks to include them.  Therefore, my answer to the question will vary depending upon a number of factors: Do you have an existing program [...]

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: [...]

Mazel tov to the 36 individuals – including 10 Reform rabbis – included in the Jewish Daily Forward recently released list of America’s Most Inspiring Rabbis. The list includes 36 rabbis who, editor Jane Eisner says, are “shaping 21st-century Judaism.” Among them are following Reform rabbis, all nominated by their congregants and others with whom they work:

Religious leaders have long known that if you want to attract worshipers and increase your membership rolls, food can be a valuable tool. Christian services are often followed by coffee hours, and for Jews, Sabbath worship – on Friday night or Saturday morning – is generally followed by a Kiddush. For some in the Jewish world, the Kiddush has become an elaborate feast at which sumptuous food and fine wines and liquors are offered to those, both members and guests, who come to pray. This new phenomenon, healthy in some ways and deeply unsettling in others, was described in a [...]

by Shelly Christensen In parashat Bo, “Moses held out his arm toward the sky and thick darkness descended upon all the land of Egypt for three days. People could not see one another. For three days no one could move about; but all the Israelites enjoyed light in their dwellings.” God hardened Pharoah’s heart again leading up to the final plague. While the light glowed for the Israelites, the Egyptians were bound by darkness. It must have been terrifying to live in the thick, enveloping darkness. Imagine living in another kind of darkness; darkness where the light of God never [...]

by Robin Messing Bogdanoff It started in August 2011 with, of all things, a shirt pocket. It was a very small pocket on a child’s striped tee shirt that caught my eye, because the shirt had been miraculously reinvented into a tote bag. What an inspired idea, to turn an iconic T-shirt into a bag! Strong and compact, yet expandable, colorful, playful, infinitely useful – and not difficult or expensive to make. For my $10 purchase, Massachusetts textile artist Crispina ffrench included instructions on how to make more bags and gave me permission to share the instructions with our synagogue community [...]

by Rabbi Jeffrey Brown Our temple, in the southern Westchester County suburbs of New York City, first began addressing the implications of the forecasted blizzard (Winter Storm Nemo) during the day on Thursday, February 7th. Our weekend schedule was to have included 8pm Erev Shabbat services on Friday night, a Shabbat morning service and b’naei mitzvah (which was to include our entire board and Communal Worship Committee, in conjunction with a lunch and study discussion we were hoping to have later on Saturday). We also had a program scheduled to take place in a congregant’s home Saturday evening, plus religious [...]

A highlight of my trips to Kiev has been visiting the Progressive synagogue, Congregation Hatikvah. It was hardly necessary for Rabbi Alex Duchovny to explain their hope (Hatikvah): upgrade their small, shabby facilities, to help make Progressive Judaism attractive as a religious force in Ukraine, where Orthodox institutions, even if not Orthodox lifestyles, are dominant. Well, the good news is that today a new, modern, Progressive synagogue in Kiev is in process, thanks to the hopes and dreams of Rabbi Alex and his congregation and the generosity of the Beutel, Klau, and Molloy-Posner families. As Oscar Hammerstein taught, “You gotta [...]