Rabbi Sharon G. Forman

Rabbi Sharon G. Forman (she/her) was raised in Norfolk, VA and was ordained by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1994. She works in the field of Jewish education, and has served as a b’nai mitzvah teacher at Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsdale, NY for the last 18 years. She is the author of Honest Answers to Your Child’s Jewish Questions and The Baseball Haggadah: A Festival of Freedom and Springtime in 15 Innings, which makes the seder accessible for lovers of these two springtime rituals. Her essays on motherhood have appeared in Literary Mama, Mamalode, Mothers Always Write, The Bitter Southerner, Kveller, Parent.co, and ReformJudaism.org. You can find more of her essays at https://www.sharonforman.com. She resides in Westchester County, NY, with her husband and three children.

an image of space and the sun is starting to rise over the earth
Parenting

How NASA Engineers Helped Me Become a Better Jewish Parent

Rabbi Sharon G. Forman
"Good Night Oppy," a documentary streaming on Amazon Prime about the two robotic rovers that NASA sent to Mars in 2003, grabbed me by the heart. What I did not expect to experience from this movie was a potent lesson in parenting from NASA engineers.
bar mitzvah cake
COVID-19

B'nai MItzvah (Bar and Bat Mitzvah) Tutoring: Pandemic Style

Rabbi Sharon G. Forman
After two years of teaching remotely and watching far too many movies and television series on Netflix on the same computer screen I use to interact with these students, I wonder if I feel less connected to these "virtual" students than the hundreds of young people I taught in person over the past decades.
Promotional poster for the Netflix show Shtisel
Arts and Culture

A Bittersweet Reunion with the Shtisel Family

Rabbi Sharon G. Forman
Sometimes the acting ends in joy and other times the results are devastating. Ultimately, the writers and actors draw us into their stories so that we cannot deny that art can elicit understanding, peace, and even deep love.
Torrah and Kippah
Matot - Mas'ei

Are We Capable of Evil?

D'Var Torah By: Dr. Ruhama Weiss, Ph.D.
Who distinguishes between Israel and other nations? The enormous ethical mission that the Reform Movement has taken upon itself in the last generation is the spiritual and practical strengthening of the belief that all people are created in God's image. This week's double portion tells of a battle in which the Israelites viciously vanquished the forces of the Midianites. Does their behavior reflect the image of God? Does ours?