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How to Observe Shavuot from Home This Year
The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted so much of how we engage Jewishly, but Shavuot is a fantastic holiday for families to celebrate from the safety of their homes. Here are a few ways you and your family can observe this rich, festive Jewish holiday this year.
Why We Wear Orange on June 4th
Everyday more than 100 Americans are killed by guns and over 300 more people are injured. Friday, June 4 is Wear Orange Day, a national day of awareness about the scourge of gun violence in the United States.
Two New Films, "An American Pickle" and "Palm Springs," Reflect High Holiday Themes
Both films show us ways to examine our flaws and make amends, either with the people we’ve wronged or for the ways we’ve scorned the sacrifices of those who came before us.
How to Use the URJ Reflection Tool
We recently introduced the URJ Reflection Project, a tool for the High Holidays that can be found at reflect.reformjudaism.org. Here, we share suggestions of how to use its many ideas with your congregation.
"Life Is in the Transitions": Wisdom from a Bestselling Author
"If I were to sum up what I learned after five years of working on this book, it is this: Transitions work. When life gets us stuck, a life transition is the means of getting unstuck."
Building Bridges Through Language and Culture: A Gay Jew Discovers Israel in Arabic
Matt Adler, who speaks eight languages, detailed his experiences living in Israel in his new book. We spoke to him about his life in Israel and how his intersecting identities impacted his time there.
Who Cares About Israeli Democracy?
I agreed with my friend that democracy isn’t perfect. And I agreed that we must do everything to protect Israel as a majority Jewish State. I pushed back, though.
Fighting for Global Jewish Communities of Color and the Right to Make Aliyah
What do the Abayudaya community of Uganda, the “Jews of the Amazon” of Peru, and the Adat Israel community of Guatemala have in common? They began as “emerging” Jewish communities.
Inspired 5781: More Art, More Awe
I grew up going to services. A lot of services. I was adept at counting the ceiling tiles, reaching into the thousands as my grasp of numbers grew more sophisticated. The melodies became part of my life soundtrack; I hummed them as my mind wandered during the rabbi’s sermon.
22,202 CE: A Year With No Rosh HaShanah
Soon, Jews around the world will celebrate the beginning of the Jewish new year, 5781, and many of us will do so not from our synagogues as usual, but rather from our homes, looking into our computer sc