RJ Blog

When It’s Hard to Believe Life Will Get Better  By Billy Dreskin In this week’s double parashah, B’har/B’chukotai, we read (among many other topics) of the mitzvah to observe the yovel, the fiftieth “Jubilee” year. From the second half of Leviticus 25:10: “It shall be a jubilee for you: each of you shall return to your holding and each of you shall return to your family.”

By Rabbi Joshua S. Taub The chief executive of a large company was greatly admired for his energy and drive. But he suffered from one embarrassing weakness: each time he entered the president’s office to make his weekly report he would wet his pants! The kindly president advised him to see an urologist at company expense. But when he appeared before the president the following week, his pants were wet again! “Didn’t you see the urologist?” Asked the president. “No, he was out. I saw a psychiatrist instead, and I’m cured,” the executive replied. “I no longer feel embarrassed!” – [...]

by Helaine Bach In case you didn’t know, May 4th was National Star Wars day. If you didn’t, chances are that by some means on that day, you found out. You may have been greeted with a “May the fourth be with you” or found out through posts on Facebook. The fourth of May this year happened to land on a Friday. I went to school, put up with the corny Star Wars puns, and when school let out figured I was done for the day. I was wrong. The rabbi of our congregation is a bit of a Star [...]

by Rabbi Stacey Blank Last week, I was invited to speak before the “Ami-Chai” Pre-Army Preparation Course of the Zionist Council of Israel, based on Kibbutz Keramim. It is becoming more popular in Israel to delay the mandatory army service which begins at age 18 for one year and to participate in a Pre-Army Preparation Course which generally combines service in the community with study and leadership training for the army.

On behalf of all the branches of our American Reform Movement, Chag Sameach and Shabbat Shalom. Tonight we, as a movement, celebrate Israel’s 64th Birthday. We might wonder, to paraphrase the McCartney song we sang decades ago, “Does Israel still need me when she’s 64?” The truth is we, the American Jewish community, our Movement, and Israel need each other.

Tonight and tomorrow, we celebrate Yom HaAtzmaut, Israeli Independence Day. It is observed on or near the 5th of Iyar in the Hebrew calendar, which usually falls in April. On May 14, 1948, soon-to-be Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion issued a declaration of the State of Israel – which means that this year marks the 64th anniversary of the creation of the Jewish state. Here at RJ.org, we’ve been blogging all month with a special spotlight on Israel, including a few special posts about Yom HaAtzmaut, in particular, and we’re featuring the Reform Movement’s many resources and programs. This week also [...]

By Melissa Beiser Israel was that man that my parents were trying to set me up with for years that I’ve been avoiding planning a date with. Israel is that friend that I always wanted to meet but we always seemed to move in different social circles. Israel is that remedy that all of my classmates raved about the healing properties of but I always neglected to ask for a prescription or even a free sample of. Most of all though, Israel is a gift. I was told all about how it is a gift by Hillel members, Chabad goers, [...]

by Arlene Chernow I was raised by loving, secular Jewish parents in a neighborhood with not too many Jewish neighbors. It wasn’t until my children were young that I began to discover Judaism.  I found that Judaism, especially Reform Judaism, was a great fit for what I believed (which is what I have since heard from many Jews-by-choice). The more I learned, the more I came to love Judaism and all it encompassed–the wisdom of the sages, its values, Torah study, and the calendar of holidays to celebrate with my family and community. But Israel? How did I feel about [...]

by Stacey Zisook Robinson When my son was born, I cradled him against my heart, arms wrapped gently yet surely around his small and fragile body. I would stand, holding him, our breaths mingled, our hearts beating in an elegant call and response, one beat to the next, and I would sway, a slow and gentle side-to-side rock that lasted for the eternity that exists between heartbeats. I could feel his body relax into the motion, like oceans, like drifting, like peace. I loved the simplicity of that rhythm, the warmth of him, the smell of his newness and his [...]

National Harbor, MD December 17, 2011 We gather again on this Shabbat as a Reform family – experiencing together these precious hours of sacred time, praying as only we know how. Shabbat, above all, is a time for celebration and praising God – and that is what we have done. As usual at these services, we do it mostly through music. We sing because we are commanded to sing; because music reaches deep down into the crevices of our souls and connects us to God; because music is God’s gift that summons our emotions and ties us to our tradition [...]