RJ Blog

On an institutional level, summer camp can model the values we hope to instill in our campers on a personal level. For campers to feel safe, we must use supportive and nurturing language. For campers to challenge themselves, we must provide opportunities, encouragement and confidence. And, if we want our campers to be innovative, we must create a culture in which exploration, curiosity, and honest reflection are valued. In a recently published article, American Camping Association CEO Peg Smith refers to camp as a “classroom without walls.” According to Smith, camp is a unique experiential learning environment where, unlike a [...]

by Rabbi Dan Medwin Last week, I was given a wonderfully challenging task as the CCAR rabbinic staff member at the NFTY Convention:  Take fifty participants from the Youth Engagement Conference and a two-hour prayer lab session, and plan multiple services for about 900 NFTY Convention participants.  While seemingly impossible, I jumped at the opportunity.   After all, we produce Visual T’filah and all the prayer books for the Reform Movement – I could do this! Working with my colleague Rabbi Noam Katz and Jewish musician Dan Nichols (and joined by rabbis Erin Mason and Ana Bonheim), we were tempted to [...]

by Lauren Biletsky Cell phones and services: It’s often frowned upon when someone takes out their cell phone during services. Why? Well, let’s go back to the question of “Why?” Why what? Why are cell phones being taken out? Why is it frowned upon? And what are we doing on our cell phones? We’re using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and text messaging, of course! How disrespectful! But… is it? Does it have to be? Do cell phones, social networks, and applications necessarily need to be frowned upon when in the sanctuary? Many people will immediately say yes. But me? I’m one [...]

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 [...]

by Alan S. Halpern I confess to a prejudice. When a synagogue or church website proclaims, “We are a warm and welcoming congregation,” I am immediately skeptical. Why tell me you are warm and welcoming? Just be warm and welcoming. When I visit a friend’s home, my friends don’t claim to be warm and welcoming. They open the door, they smile, they say “hello,” and they invite me inside. Synagogues must do the same. At our congregations, someone has to answer the phone, open the door, and greet our visitors. Someone has to write the newsletter, maintain the website, post [...]

by Lisa Colton What is a synagogue? A congregation? A community? We are more than a nonprofit organization, or a local center, or a collection of people who share certain practices or get together for holidays. It feels significant to me that words like “congregation” and “community” are grammatically singular but inherently refer to a multiplicity. The duality of meaning here is so critical for how we lead, congregate, and self-identify. A rhizome is an organism that shares DNA across what appears to be a big, diverse group of organisms. Bamboo is a great example of this: What appears to [...]

Every congregational website should have – and post in a conspicuous place – a privacy policy that clearly states how information gathered on the site is used and how visitors may contact the congregation for further information. Your congregation’s webmaster should be able to give you the technical information that is unique to your congregation. The information that follows is for guidance only, and the Union for Reform Judaism recommends that any policy be reviewed by an attorney.

A group of five or six girls sitting around, talking, laughing to the point of tears. The scene could be anyone, anywhere, and it has repeated itself countless times over the years: on a bunk bed at Greene Family Camp, around the campfire under the stars, in dorm rooms, and now, a few years after college, in front of our computers in a Google “Hangout,” Google’s multi-person video chat.

Shabbat is a time to unplug. Otherwise, there will be no Shabbat. Many, many Reform Jews have had no Shabbat for a very long time. Even when we want to be attentive to the holy, we can’t seem to do it. In our sophisticated, highly educated community, the pace of our lives has long been cranked up to a level that could not have been imagined 50 years ago. Shabbat is usually a time for more work, or a time to engage in a hectic whirlwind of errands. And then technology came along and made everything worse. Technology stalks us. [...]

by Tanya Schevitz Observing Shabbat was not something Sabbath Manifesto creator Dan Rollman grew up with and he wasn’t really interested in doing it in his adult life – until a few years ago, when he attended a weekend retreat to talk about making Jewish traditions and rituals relevant to a new generation. As the sun set for Shabbat, he began to think of how dependent – or addicted – he was to technology, and that this connectedness never allowed him a moment of pause. With the launch of his Universal Record Database (now RecordSetter.com), an open platform for world [...]

by SooJi Min Every Wednesday morning, the senior staff of Temple Beth Emeth meets for a couple hours. The structure is usually the same – d’var torah, highlights from the week, cholim (a discussion of those who are ill), and updates. It was on one such morning – April 18, 2012 to be exact – that our senior rabbi, Bob Levy, sat in his usual spot (a black leather recliner) and looking at me, made two requests: (1) Can you find out how we can optimize our website for smartphones? and (2) I’d like a QR reader for TBE. QR [...]

In our super-connected, I-can’t-be-without-my-cell-phone world, we’ve all experienced technology woes. One day, it’s the battery in your phone. The next day, your laptop won’t boot up and all you get is the blue screen of death. A few months ago, I started collecting examples of a different kind of technology trouble: Jewish autocorrect. As I do with so many other things in my life, I’m happy to share my collection of auto-corrects and spell-checker suggestions. Some are hilarious, others befuddling, and still others just plain nonsensical. I hope they’ll make you chuckle – and prompt you to share your own [...]

by Rabbi Gary Glickstein Rav A.I. Kook, the former Chief Rabbi of Palestine, often remarked that our role as Jews is to fulfill the vision that “The old shall be renewed, and the new shall be made holy.” (Letters vol. I, p. 214) Last month The New York Times reported on a high-tech High Holiday service led by a young rabbi, Amy Morrison, in Miami Beach. I am proud to say that Rabbi Morrison is a relatively recent addition to our rabbinical team at Temple Beth Sholom. The service, which took place at the Jewish Museum of Florida, was one [...]

by Rabbi Adam Grossman “Bond, James Bond.” Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the film series this past October, this famous introduction – expressed in the initial film, Dr. No, and uttered in every movie since – personifies pure confidence and sophistication. This leads the fictional character to be calm, cool, and collected no matter the circumstance or pressure he faces. While Bond’s self-assurance is intoxicating, what many fail to realize is that behind 007’s poise, success and adaptability sits the fictitious Q – the head of research and development for the British secret service. The character Q helps to ensure [...]