10 Ways Working at Jewish Summer Camp Will Transform Your Career
The Courage to Advance Authentic Judaism in Israel
Thirty years ago this month, a modern-day Jewish hero was freed from prison. Back then, it never would have occurred to me that Natan Sharansky and I would become colleagues. Today, nonetheless, I am honored and proud to count this man – who has inspired generations of Jews around the world and engendered goodwill even in politically complex scenarios – within my circles. Ours is a relationship borne of a personal bond that began while he was still a Soviet prisoner.
Why Do We Ditch Decorum on Purim?
Once a year, through burlesque, Jews are given license to deviate from the rules and norms that helped their communities survive in the face of adversity. But ultimately, the disorder associated with Purim serves as a dramatic justification of the need for rules in our lives.
Prayer for an Open Heart
Many of us have had those moments – of sitting with others in synagogue or during a private moment – when prayer seems flat. The words don’t seem to reach us where we are at that time or place; they can’t lift us beyond our everyday worries and concerns. When I’m sitting in synagogue with my son, Akiva, I’m usually focused on his concerns.
Black Hat and Beard Optional: What Makes a Jew?
A rabbi with a black hat and beard once told me that a black hat and beard don’t make a Chassid, a pious Jew who goes beyond the law in fulfilling their duties toward others and God – and a specific gender doesn’t, either.
What Being Jewish and a Girl Scout Have in Common
Scouting promotes so many values we want for our daughter: love of nature, respect for the environment, equality and teamwork, and responsibility for our fellow humans. Judaism, of course, imparts these same teachings.
With All of Your Heart
The mezuzot (plural of mezuzah) snuggle next to one another in a ceramic bowl like a litter of newborn puppies seeking each other’s warmth. Peeking out from painted purple butterflies, the golden crown of a Hebrew letter shin reflects a ray of thin February light bouncing off its companion’s metal covering. Shards of the blue glass my husband stepped on at our wedding sparkle in a test tube inside the twisting copper of another family artifact – a mezuzah designed especially for wedding couples. An elephant trunk on my sons’ Noah’s ark mezuzah has broken in half, releasing the intact parchment scroll bearing 22 perfectly copied lines from the Book of Deuteronomy.
L'Taken Students Call for Compassion for Immigrants and Refugees
In late January, high school students from across the country came together in Washington, D.C., for the fourth L’Taken Social Justice Seminar of the
Webinar: Reproductive Rights at the Court
There are two important cases at the Supreme Court this term that could have major implications for reproductive rights: Whole Woman’s Health v.
Raising the Minimum Wage is about Gender Equality
We know that a low federal minimum wage contributes to great economic hardship for millions of families.