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It's Elul: 6 Ways to Get Ready for the High Holidays
Elul, the Hebrew month that precedes the High Holidays, is traditionally a time of both rejoicing and somber reflection when we take stock of our spiritual selves and our lives. Elul rituals prepare us for the many acts of repentance and forgiveness that are hallmarks of the upcoming Days of Awe, starting with Rosh HaShanah.
Reform Movement Adopts Three New Resolutions
This week, the URJ's North American Board adopted three new resolutions, concluding the consultative and inclusive process that began before the Biennial. These resolutions add to the canon of hundreds of URJ resolutions that outline its values and priorities.
If Anne Frank Had a Gun
I am often asked why Jews went like sheep to the slaughter during the Holocaust. The question falsely assumes it was possible to resist, but Jews failed to do so.
A Year of Strategic Change, Reckoning, and Gratitude
HUC-JIR has taken many steps this year to move our College-Institute towards a vibrant and sustainable future, and many more will soon follow. Together with our partners across the Reform Movement and the North American Jewish communities, we are embarking on our next chapter with hope and big dreams for our shared future.
Becoming BMitzvah
I love seeing how our students at Temple Shalom of Newton transform throughout the process of becoming BMitzvah. It's the end of my first year coordinating the BMitzvah program and my colleague Allison Lobron, an experienced leader in inclusion and social emotional learning, and I are hosting an end of year celebration for our BMitzvah students.
Finding Hope
Thursday night's passage of a bi-partisan gun bill filled me with hope, even as the Supreme Court ruled against New York, which forces some states to actually loosen their gun regulations.
Six Ways to Make Your Digital Content More Accessible (and Why You Should Care)
If you're one of the many people creating digital content - whether you write for a blog, deliver PowerPoint presentations, manage a website, share your videos on YouTube, or simply send emails to communicate with people in your community - it is important to learn about what accessible content is, and how to create it.
Enough is enough: What you can do to help stop American gun violence
Buffalo, Uvalde, Tulsa, and other recent incidents of gun violence highlight the fact that the U.S. has been locked in a cycle of apathetic “thoughts and prayers,” while little federal action has been taken on this public safety and public health issue. We must end the helpless, apathetic cycle of “thoughts and prayers.” Enough is enough. To stand idly by and do nothing in the face of such senseless slaughter is unconscionable and antithetical to our Jewish values and beliefs. To paraphrase Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, we will pray with our marching feet and voices.
Shalom LinkED: Online Jewish Values Learning
What if your congregation’s students learn about Jewish values and living online with Shalom LinkED once a week for 18 weeks next year and celebrate, build relationships, and learn Hebrew together during the remaining weeks? How might your congregation’s educators focus and deepen their work if some planning and teaching is taken care of by leaders in the field?
The Susan Zukrow Mackevich Seeds of Compassion Fellowship Grows Connection between Early Jewish Education and Camp
Sometimes an outsider’s perspective yields a beautiful question. Susan Zukrow Mackevich, whose second yahrzeit was April 27, provided that kind of perspective for us at the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), Early Childhood Educators of Reform Judaism (ECE-RJ), and Chicago-area early childhood Jewish educators.