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.
Suffering in Silence: Jews, Therapy, and the Stigma of Mental Illness
I was 20 when I learned that my first love had committed suicide. His death shattered me, both mentally and emotionally – but it also saved my life. You see, in the months leading up to his suicide, I had been planning my own.
Who Should Teach About Hanukkah and What Should They Be Teaching?
Now that my daughter is in preschool, I've come to realize that hearing about cultural and religious practices directly from the practitioners only emphasizes our otherness.
Slaughter Does Not Honor Anyone: Remembering that Fateful Day in Pittsburgh
As I was leading Torah study at our synagogue nearly a year ago, an evil man murdered my friends and co-religionists because to him, Jews are strangers and dangerous.
Hope for Independence and Peace for All
On Shabbat a group from Physicians for Human Rights Israel, the only Israeli non-profit allowed to enter Gaza, goes to the West Bank to offer a mobile medical clinic.
Why Pray to a Silent God?
Why pray to a silent God who is not looking down at us and waiting to hear what we want or legitimately need?
Parashat D’varim: Escaping my Comfort Zone
Eventually, I felt as if The Holy Blessed One had nudged me out of my rest, telling me that I’d stayed there long enough: that my destiny as a Jew awaited me.
Why I Love the "Awesome Days"
The “Days of Awe” is a good name for the High Holiday season because when we are in awe of something, that's a good thing, but I like “Awesome Days” so much better.
Mexican Shakshuka: Connecting to My Mexican and Jewish Identities through Food
As Jews of a variety of backgrounds and histories, I see food as the perfect way to embrace our differences that bring us together as a people and a family.
130 Congregations Can’t Be Wrong: What Newly Gathered Data Teaches Us
In 2016, the Union for Reform Judaism piloted an experiment. What would it look like if congregations could take an intentional look at themselves from different vantage points? What if each congregation could compare its internal data to congregations of like demographics?