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
Sports vs. Values: What are We Teaching Our Children?
What do we teach our children when we seek entertainment in the spectacle of two human beings each trying to maim the other or render her senseless? And yet, should we be surprised? After all, we live in a country where mass murder occurs on a regular basis.
The Good Book: Writers Reflect on Favorite Bible Passages
The Bible continues to be the best-selling book in history, perhaps because each reader can identify with some aspect of its ancient text. It is this notion that informs the essays of the 24 novelists, poets, scholars, and journalists who answered the call to write about a Biblical book or passage with personal meaning to them.
Five Ways Jews Can Respond to Anti-Muslim Rhetoric
As Jews, we have an obligation to defend a fellow minority under siege – but some of us don’t speak up because we don’t know what to say. Here is list of statements you are likely to hear and how you might respond.