10 Ways to Welcome Teens at the High Holidays
Looking for innovative opportunities to engage your teens around the High Holidays? These 10 ideas come directly from the source – youth professionals across North America.
“Sing with Liberty,” a Prayer of Immigration and Welcoming
This prayer/song is based on “New Colossus,” the sonnet by Emma Lazarus appearing on a plaque inside the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. Those familiar with the sonnet will recognize the images and phrases reflected here; it was written as an antidote to attempted hijackings of the message of the Lazarus poem.
Gratitude for Work
This is a simple prayer of gratitude for having a job. It can be easy to take for granted at times, especially with a challenging job or a difficult boss.
This prayer appears in the Labor Day section of This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day, along with a social justice prayer "Against Worker Exploitation," also very appropriate for this day.” Optional language appears in [brackets].
11 Ways to Celebrate Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance, and Inclusion Month in Your Synagogue
In honor of Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance, and Inclusion Month, we offer a few suggestions to help congregations adopt further awareness and understanding of disabilities.
Galilee Diary: Suburban Sprawl
On a recent perfect early spring day (warm sun, cooling breeze, brilliant wild flowers) we took the children and grandchildren on a short hike to the mountainside adjacent to Shorashim, picnicking under an olive tree. On the way, we encountered toads, lizards, a scorpion, and caterpillars; our lunch was serenaded by the muezzin of the village of Shaab, with the backup chorus of the jackals that live in the open areas.
What Do Jews Have to Do with Jazz? Plenty!
If you love jazz and Jewish culture, as I do, it seems only natural to seek out connections between the two. That’s exactly what a select group of jazz lovers in New Jersey did this past fall and winter, bringing to the fore the exceptional exhibit, Jazz, Jews and African Americans: Cultural Intersections in Newark and Beyond. The show was a collaboration of the Institute of Jazz Studies (Rutgers University-Newark), New Jersey Performing Arts Center, WBGO, the Jewish Museum of New Jersey, New Jersey City University, and Congregation Ahavas Sholom, an historic synagogue in Newark that houses the museum.
How My Jewish Values Inspired My New Business
When I think of the many factors that helped shape me into the woman I am today, I think, in particular, of lessons from my mother. Her wisdom inspired me and imbued me with a strong voice and commitment to social justice. That commitment led me, in part, to the business I recently started.
Need a New Way to Teach Jewish Values to Your Kids? Shaboom! Is the Answer
Last spring, the team at BimBam (formerly G-dcast) approached the URJ’s Families with Young Children staff in their effort to ensure that Shaboom!, the company’s new videos for families accurately reflect Reform Jewish values and philosophies. My colleagues and I were happy to help.