Escaping Danzig with Help from a Box of Chocolate
In the summer of 1937, my great-uncle George and his wife, Margaret, together with my grandmother, Toni Prinz, and my father, Ray, boarded a ship for Copenhagen. Great-aunt Selma and her husband, Mor, escorted them to the ship to wave goodbye and at the very last minute “gifted” them with a small box of chocolate produced by MIX Konfect, a local company.
Hidden under the chocolates were gold coins Uncle George had packed in the box in anticipation of the trip. George and Margaret carefully accepted the box with its concealed $10,000. My father, just 12 at the time, had about $3000 worth of gold pieces sewn into his suitcase and his coat hem. The mishpucha (family), ostensibly on vacation, traveled overnight to Copenhagen where they visited Tivoli Gardens and after a couple of days, returned to Danzig. While in Copenhagen, Toni and Ray wired their money to Union Bank in Los Angeles, California, where a few family members already lived. George and Margaret similarly wired funds to other places in North America.
A Dybbuk Strikes Again in a Spooky New Polish Film
Based on the 2008 play Adherence by Piotr Rowicki, the new film Demon plays on the Jewish folktale of the dybbuk, an evil spirit that possesses a living person, often during a wedding, when the bride and groom are particularly vulnerable (which is why they traditionally wear white).
How I Found My Spiritual Home - and More - in Judaism
For many years, I felt inhibited to knock on the door of a synagogue. Simultaneously, my heart and gut knew where I belonged. There is in fact Jewish ancestry on my father’s side – contested by some relatives; strong enough to reinforce my feelings of visceral kinship.
On Yom Kippur, Our Actions Should Aim for the Bullseye
I often use the imagery of a bullseye when teaching young children the complicated concepts related to the High Holidays and Yom Kippur. Each day when we try to do our best, it’s like we’re aiming for the center of the bullseye. But sometimes we say something that hurts someone a friend’s feelings, or we do something unkind to a loved one. That’s when we land on an outer ring and miss the mark.
Hearing Refugees' Stories Compelled My Synagogue to Take Action
While volunteering at a refugee center in Berlin summer, through the auspices of IsraAID, I had the opportunity to hear some poignant, pe
What I Did This Summer to Fight for Civil Rights
Earlier this month, I traveled from New York City to North Carolina to attend the launch of the Reform Movement’s new initiative, Nitzavim: Standing Up for Voter Protection and Participation. I decided to participate after traveling with fellow congregants from Temple Shaaray Tefila in New York City on two other civil rights trips.
Confronting Death is an Important Part of Life
If on Yom Kippur we rehearse our own death, then on Tishah B’Av (observed last month), we begin the annual process of preparing for death. The seven-week period from Tishah B’Av to Rosh HaShanah provides an opportunity to cultivate our souls, to reestablish our relationship with God, and to reconcile with ourselves and others. We transform the potentially passive experience of judgment into an active process of self-awareness, acceptance, engagement, and transformation.
A Ruckus on the Bimah on Rosh HaShanah
The early American synagogue occasionally reflected its frontier environment. Fist fights, defending the honor of women congregants, and even duels were not unheard of. Perhaps the best known of these riotous events involved a rabbi and the president of the synagogue in Albany, New York, in 1850. And not just any rabbi, but the future founder of the American Reform Movement, Isaac Mayer Wise! The president was Louis Spanier, wealthy, charismatic, and the brother-in-law of Samuel Mayer, the chief rabbi of Hanover in northern Germany.
Disney and Elul: What Do They Have in Common?
I am a huge fan of everything Disney – movies, Mickey, and now even Marvel. Our family has vacationed at Walt Disney World (WDW) and Disneyland more times than we can count. Our daughter was married at WDW, and we have a room in our home devoted to Disney “stuff.” Believe it or not, some recent Disney movie releases have a distinct connection to the Days of Awe.
A Love of Judaism, From Uganda to Georgia
Ugandan native Shoshanna Nambi, 27, was one of a dozen Ugandan Jewish young adults who spent this summer working as counselors and specialists at Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) camps. In this interview she talks about that experience and what it’s like to grow up Jewish in Uganda.