Have We Forgotten What It Means to Be Outsiders?
Genesis teaches that every person is created in the Divine image. Knowing that, we are instructed to greet each person as if we were greeting God. Yet, too often, we don’t greet others at all; we look right past them.
Why Shabbat Is the Opposite of Busy, and Five Ways to Get in on It
"Busy." It’s a word that rolls off my tongue with such ease that it scares me. Being busy – overscheduled and overcommitted while deeply resenting this state of being – takes a great toll on my physical, psychological, and spiritual wellness. And I'm not alone. Busy has become emblematic of success in our 21st-century society -- and yet, more than ever, people are exhausted, burned out, and desperately seeking refuge from their everyday existence.
Elie Wiesel Calls Us to Pursue Justice
“If I survived, it must be for some reason.” Elie Wiesel spoke those words in a New York Times interview in 1981. Throughout his life, Wiesel lived with purpose and lent meaning to his survival. As a witness to the most extreme atrocities and in his lifetime as an activist, he changed the way we think about human rights and the way we understand our responsibility to each other.
A New Moment to Come Together Against Islamophobia
This week, the Jewish community celebrates Rosh Chodesh Tammuz, a holy day that continues through today.* While we in the Jewish community are celebrating a new month, the Muslim community is observing Eid al-Fitr, one of two Muslim festival holidays commemorating the end of the holy month of Ramadan and the beginning of the month of Shawwal.
This confluence of celebrations is bound to happen because both Judaism and Islam follow a lunar calendar. But even the fundamental fact that both faith traditions follow a lunar calendar is an important reminder that we have more in common than what makes us different. The coinciding holidays remind us to celebrate the similarities of our faith traditions, exploring the values, teachings, or practices that unite us.
"I Belong at Jewish Camp": Celebrating a Diverse Community
URJ Crane Lake Camp, a Reform Jewish summer camp in Stockbridge, MA, recently released this beautiful video about what it means to be a Reform Jew, both at summer camp and beyond. In sharing the video, Crane Lake posted, “We are all different and unique and yet so similar. Being Jewish isn’t about what you look like or where you come from. It’s about how it makes you feel.”
What I Learned When I Volunteered in a German Refugee Shelter
When I asked IsraAID where I could go to help refugees, they told me Berlin. I agreed somewhat reluctantly. Germany was the last place I wanted to go. My mother survived Auschwitz; the rest of her family was not as fortunate. I had a visceral dislike for the country and had never intended to visit it – but I have since changed my mind.
What Got Jews in the Pews to Sing?
Synagogue music experienced a radical transformation in the late 1960s, as sing-along tunes that originated in youth group and camp settings replaced the earlier performance-oriented style. The duo, Kol B’Seder, made up of Rabbi Daniel Freelander, then a voice major at the Hartt School of Music, and Cantor Jeff Klepper, then a Kutz Camp-trained song leader, helped usher in the new era of Jewish liturgical folk music. Their 1973 setting of “Shalom Rav,” like Debbie Friedman’s “Mi Shebeirach,” have since become so ubiquitous worldwide as to be considered traditional.
I asked Rabbi Freelander, who is now executive director of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, how a small cadre of camp-based singer-songwriters launched a revolution that got Reform Jews singing in the pews.
When It Comes to Inclusion, Does Your Community "Get It"?
Some communities just get it: They understand that inclusion a mindset, a way of thinking about how we treat one another, ensuring that everyone has a place. These communities understand that inclusion is who we are and who we want to be. I've been fortunate to know and work in a few such communities - like URJ 6 Points Sci-Tech Academy in Byfield, MA.
Why Summer's Parched Soil is Ripe for the Seeds of Hope
Events on the 17th of Tammuz, and others that also have been ascribed to this date, are the reasons it has long been observed as a day of mourning in Jewish tradition. Though the day and the rituals of this time of year are not often marked by Reform Jews, traditionally, the 17th of Tammuz begins the “Three Weeks,” a period of mourning lasting until the 9th of Av.
The Torah In Haiku: Korach
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