RJ Blog

by Rabbi Joan Glazer Farber The world is gearing up for another celebration on Saturday night. No it is not Havdalah that most are contemplating though I think Havdalah is definitely an option. On Saturday night at midnight, the entire world will acknowledge and celebrate the beginning of 2012, a new year. As Jews, we live in two worlds and it is at times like these that we are challenged to find meaning in both.

by Seth KrollTemple Shalom, Newton, MA Youth are the best adopters of technology.  They generally seem to have a natural ability to conceptualize how technology works, implement it into everyday life, and then create new social norms for its use.  Last month the Youth Department at Temple Shalom (Newton, MA) threw away the “no cell phone” in class or service policy and in fact embraced the use of cell phones as an important tool and resources in learning and ritual efforts. The schedule of our High School program has been redesigned this year.  Students meet for class by grade three [...]

by Liz Piper-GoldbergAlso posted on Ten Minutes of Torah In this High Holiday season of cycles, endings, and beginnings, Simchat Torah is the transitional moment in our annually-renewed relationship with the Torah. This final fall holiday occurs on the twenty-second day of Tishrei, at the end of Sukkot. Each year, at Simchat Torah we celebrate the conclusion of reading the portions that make up the five books of the Torah by immediately beginning again with the first portion, B’reishit. Accordingly, we read the last portion of Deuteronomy, V’zot Habracha from one Torah, and then follow with B’reishit 1:1 from a [...]

by Annette PowersOriginally posted on The Huffington Post Yom Kippur has meant different things to me throughout my life, but while in the process of getting a divorce, the acts of atonement and forgiveness have taken on new significance. Like most Jewish kids, Yom Kippur was the one holiday I dreaded. Growing up, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar promised nothing but endless hours spent in a gloomy sanctuary. All the adults, cranky and with bad breath from fasting, stood around muttering droning prayers in a language I didn’t understand. After my Bat Mitzvah, I felt obligated to fast [...]

by Melanie Aron(Originally published in Ten Minutes of Torah and Reform Voices of Torah) Moses looked out and they were all there: the machers, the big shots, those in positions of power, and also the nobodies, the day laborers and the dusty little kids who wandered the camp cheerfully escaping their mother’s watchful eyes. There is some dispute among the commentators about who the identified leaders were, “you tribal heads, you elders, and you officers” (Deuteronomy 29:9). Targum Neofiti prefers “wise men” to elders and “commanders” to officers.1 Targum Yonatan2 elevates the heads of tribes to “chiefs of your Sanhedrin” and Sforno,3 a medieval Sephardi commentator, prefers [...]

by Marc Rosenstein(Originally published in Ten Minutes of Torah and Galilee Diary) Order Now! The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the Israelite people thus: In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe complete rest, a sacred occasion commemorated with loud blasts. You shall not work at your occupations; and you shall bring an offering by fire to the Lord.         -Leviticus 23:23-25 You can tell Rosh Hashanah is approaching: 1.  The chatzavim (Mediterranean squill) stalks have sprung up in open spaces, empty lots, and along the highways, their sudden, delicate white flowers against [...]

by JanetheWriter Earlier this week, I posted this status update on Facebook: It’s 21 Elul and the Rosh Hashana videos have begun. Here’s the first one that crossed my desk this morning: Temple Rodef Shalom, Falls Church, VA. Later the same day, a flyer from Temple Israel Reform Congregation of Staten Island landed on my desk.  It asks that when congregants come to temple for the High Holy Days they “wear something of a loved one who has passed–a pin, a scarf, a necklace, or bring a small picture in your pocket…. It will make their light shine again.” Indeed, [...]

by Rabbi Rex PerlmeterURJ Worship and Spirituality Specialist andDirector, URJ Congregational Consulting Group If you’re a baseball player or fan, and you hear someone speak of “The Show,” you know it can mean only one thing – the big leagues. In synagogue life, I suspect if someone used that phrase, we wouldn’t have to strain too hard to guess what they intended. By no means do I suggest that we should think of the High Holy Days as an entertainment or sporting event. On the other hand, considering the effort and thought that go into them and their prominence in [...]

by Art Grand The Chassid master Sefat Emet says that this week’s Torah portion gives us the answer. The Torah portion describes the offering of the first fruits on Shevuot.  Every spring, our ancestors would gather the first fruits of their crop and carry them to Jerusalem, where they would say a prayer and offer the fruits to the priest.  Sefat Emet wonders why this commandment is mentioned at the very end of the Torah. He teaches that the commandment refers not only to the ancient offerings of Shevuot, but to a kind of spiritual offering that we should make [...]

by Rob BerkovitzURJ Congregational Finance Specialist The truth is… that there is no perfect formula for dues! There are many possibilities for dues models from fixed minimum models to fair share. All the models can be successful and can be unsuccessful. When the topic of dues comes up many congregational leaders struggle with the issue of congregants who feel that dues are cost prohibitive, that it is too expensive to be a member of a congregation or question when someone needs an abatement whether it is truly a financial need or just that the synagogue is not a priority. We [...]