RJ Blog

by Zachary Rolf You can teach kids from books, show them documentaries, bring in guest speakers, and so on, and so on. But the learning – the real life learning – that takes place when you put a group of kids together in (supervised/controlled) intense immersion-like programming is unmatched. We know how tremendously impactful Jewish summer camps are. As Jewish professionals, it’s on us to create experiences like that year-round. Two years ago, 20 teens from Central Synagogue in Manhattan explored the streets of Prague. Last year, 30 discovered Berlin. This year, 38 teens traveled with us to Amsterdam in [...]

by Brad Meltzer During the High Holy Days, we are often asked to think about the content of our character. Have you stopped to think about how you will be remembered when you die? What will people say about you? What will they think? Were you good? Bad? Did you matter? Scary questions, right? They’re the ones I had to face directly when a reporter from the Wall Street Journal saw some charity work I had done and said, “That’s going to be in your obituary.” It caught me by surprise. I didn’t like people thinking about my death.

by Rabbi Ruth Abusch-Magder “Passport, name, purpose of your trip?” are ritual questions asked by customs agents. They are routine and familiar to anyone who has entered another country. However, when one thinks about “customs,” it can raise important questions about belonging and “why are you here?” is not always the most welcoming of questions. One does not, of course, need a passport to enter a synagogue, NFTY, or Jewish summer camp. But as much as we would like to think of these and other key Jewish institutions as warm and welcoming, the same questions that cause anxiety at passport [...]

by Rabbi Donald Kunstadt Why would a rabbi want to travel to Berlin, Germany? Certainly there are more pleasant places to visit, from Tahiti to Hong Kong, on the bucket list of life. Well, for one, Germany is closer. Second, I must admit a curiosity as to what modern-day Berlin is like. It has a reputation for being über hip. After traveling there, I don’t know if I would characterize it in that way; however, it certainly is a progressive city by American standards. Third, my father leaving Vienna at the age of 16 as a refugee from the Nazis [...]

by Rabbi Joel Mosbacher You shall leave the Peah (corners) of the field– they are for the poor and the stranger among you. (Leviticus 23:33) And though no definite amount is given for Peah, one should not make the Peah less than one-sixtieth of the entire crop. It is all based upon the size of the field, the number of poor who will be collecting it, and the abundance of the crop. (Mishnah Peah 1:2) I love these texts so much; in many ways, I think of them as the Jewish touchstone for our obligation to the less fortunate amongst us. And there’s nothing [...]

by Ramie Arian and Abby Knopp “Camp changes lives, from the cabin to the dining hall, and every inch of grass and gravel in between,” wrote Sara Beth Berman, in her application to become a Nadiv educator. What is Nadiv? Nadiv is an exciting pilot program the Foundation for Jewish Camp has just launched which is building partnerships between Jewish schools and nonprofit Jewish overnight camps in six communities across the United States. Conceived in collaboration with the Union for Reform Judaism and with funding from The AVI CHAI Foundation and The Jim Joseph Foundation, Nadiv is placing full-time, year-round [...]

by Rabbi Erin Boxt In just under a month as the rabbi of Temple Kol Emeth in Marietta, Georgia, I have been reminded of several very important aspects of life: the fragility of life, the energy of the youth, and the challenges and desperation that exists when a person in your life is ill (or even if you are ill yourself). This morning, I officiated my first funeral for a Temple Kol Emeth family. While I tried my very best to be a comfort and support for the family, I certainly felt the emotion present from the initial meeting with the family [...]

by Rabbi Joshua Strom While I don’t remember the exact numbers, I believe there were 35 counselors-in-training at URJ Camp Harlam the summer of 1997. Though we had just turned 17, we were somehow a little older, a little wiser, a little more worldly, perhaps, than most of our friends at home. When we went back to school in September, the changes were obvious, if only to us, and we wondered what else a young person could do over a summer that could possibly be as meaningful, as powerful, as transformative. Whatever that seed of difference was, however one might [...]

by Rabbi Evan Moffic Are you special? A Massachusetts English teacher recently made headlines when he answered this question with a resounding “No!” Speaking to graduates at an elite high school, David McCullough countered the words of Mr. Rogers and, for the younger generation, the friendly green dinosaur Barney. He said to the graduates, “You are not special. You are not exceptional … You are one person in a planet of 6.8 billion people.” Why would McCullough say these words? Because he believes them and feels they are important to say. And why say them at a graduation address? Perhaps [...]

by Micol Zimmerman Burkeman If this were “Sesame Street,” C would be for cookie. If this were “School House Rock,” C would be for conjunction (what’s your function?). But within the Jewish community, C is – or should be! – for collaboration. Words like “collaboration,” “networking,” and “innovation” are dropped so much in both the for-profit and not-for-profit worlds that you would think you were actually living in an episode of “Sesame Street,” with Big Bird teaching Mr. Hooper all about the magic of collaboration. Yet clichés are clichés for a reason, and as the old cliché goes, “Two heads [...]

by Allison Rosenfeld I finished my glass of wine and, with a final brush stroke, stood back to look at my masterpiece. I tried to decide if the two people I’d painted were falling from the sky or rising from the ground. Either way, I was happy with my final product at Bottle and Botega, a wine and painting studio in Chicago. This might not be the scene that comes to mind when asked to describe a 20-something studying Torah, and yet here I was, recreating creation instead of my typical Monday night of “The Bachelorette” and a Lean Cuisine. [...]

by Rabbi Sari Laufer “Welcome to the community. You have some mighty big shoes to fill.” If I had a dollar for every time someone said that to me in my first year on the job, well, I’d probably have enough for some pretty great shoes. Some pretty fabulous shoes… that I don’t own When I was hired, the job existed because the longtime, very beloved, associate rabbi had taken a job as senior rabbi at a dynamic suburban congregation. While I hope to emulate many of his wonderful characteristics; he is warm, dynamic, engaging, and spiritual, I knew there [...]

by Sari Biddelman As a nursery school student at the Rodeph Sholom School, I was asked to define community. I drew a self-portrait in the center of a circle surrounded by my family and closest friends. It was not until middle school when I was asked to consider this term again, that I reflected on what my community means to me and what I can do for it. I have always felt a connection with my synagogue, Congregation Rodeph Sholom in New York City, and made close friends there as I became a bat mitzvah, participated in mitzvah projects, and [...]

by Ruth Schapira The more things change, the more… well, you can fill in the blank here. This is on my mind as we approach the summer and thousands of Jewish teens anxiously await the beginning of Jewish camp. I thought that by now there would be some changes in the synagogue world.  I’m not even talking about broad, sweeping, systemic change. Or the changes suggested by some 15 teens a few months ago. Incredibly, I have been hoping for one small specific change ever since I was about 10 years old and attended a Jewish summer camp (which I did for six years after that and [...]