Displaying 1 - 10 of 57
Stories We Tell: How Do You Use It
Have you ever had a great idea that wasn’t useful until you applied it? This week, join Rabbi Phyllis Sommer of Am Shalom in Glencoe, IL, as she tells the story of a rabbi and a soap maker who explore this idea and realize their professions have more in common than they might have thought.
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Stories We Tell: Zoo Seder
On this special Passover episode of Stories We Tell, Rabbi Mark Kaiserman, Rabbi of the Reform Temple of Forest Hills, tells the story of a little girl who’s excited for a very different Passover seder her family is planning and how a little imagination might be what we all need right now.
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Stories We Tell: My Havdalah Set
Have you ever seen yourself as the “most” important? Have you felt your contributions mattered more than others, only to find out it actually took a group effort to accomplish your goal? This week, we’re treated to an original story by Alice Myers, actress and daughter of Rabbi Lisa Grushcow, who talks about this idea from the perspective of a havdalah set.
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Stories We Tell: The Perfect Seder
What is the real meaning of Passover? Is it ritualizing the seder and reading the Haggadah, or is there something more? This week, Rabbi Esther Lederman, the Union for Reform Judaism’s Director of Congregational Innovation, tells a story about a rabbi, a water carrier, and the prophet Elijah, and asks what it means to truly celebrate this sacred festival.
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Stories We Tell: The Old Torah
How important is the history of your family? Maybe you have a family ledger or an old book that carries the events, wisdom, and dreams of those who have passed on. This week, author and puppeteer Marilyn Price tells a story about such a book in “The Old Torah” and shows just how priceless our families’ stories truly are.
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Stories We Tell: The Eagle Who Thought She Was a Chicken
Who determines who you are? Is it the environment in which you’re raised, or is it what’s been inside of you your whole life?
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Stories We Tell: A Blank Letter
Is there someone in your life with whom you can share a thousand words without saying anything at all? Has there been a time, maybe in recent weeks, when all you needed was someone to just “be there” for you, or when someone needed you to just “be there” for them? This week, we hear a story from Rabbi Sari Laufer, director of congregational engagement at Stephen Wise Temple (Los Angeles, CA) about two friends separated by distance but closely connected in ways only they can understand.
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Stories We Tell: Grandma's Challah
Food is such an important part of Jewish history and culture, and for many of us, there’s nothing quite like the food our grandparents made for us as children. This week, author and puppeteer Marilyn Price tells the story of a king who wants nothing more than to taste the challah his grandmother used to make for him, and how something as simple as love can turn great food into something even better. To learn more about Marilyn, her puppetry, and her storytelling, you can visit her website at www.marilynprice.com.
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Wholly Jewish: Eliana: Gender Diversity is So Jewish
On the premiere episode of Wholly Jewish: Season 2, we hear from Eliana Rubin (she/her). Eliana (who went by Elias at the time of this episode’s recording) talks about when she first connected with her nonbinary transfemme identity and her desire to create more queer-inclusive classrooms. "I find that identifying as a Reform Jew and a queer person...are two parts of me that are so integral now to my core identity," she says.
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Wholly Jewish: Morgan: Standing in the Closet Doorway
Being queer means something different to everyone who identifies this way. Mo Selkirk (she/her), a queer Jewish mother, spouse, and activist, to name a few, discusses how her grandparents inspired her to embrace Judaism, what it means to be in a queer family, and how presenting as straight has been a blessing and a curse. “My [queer] invisibility is my personal superpower,” she says, “because people will say things to me [when] they don’t know who they’re talking to, and…I have the have the opportunity to educate them.”
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