Ten Minutes of Torah

Galilee Diary: Brand Recognition II

Rabbi Marc J. Rosenstein

The assimilationists shied away from our Jewish holidays as obstacles on the road to their submergence among the majority because they were ashamed of anything which would identify them as a distinct group, but why must we carry on their tradition?

Finding Our Own Power in Purim

Rabbi Heath Watenmaker

Purim is almost here! It’s loud, it’s raucous, it’s festive, it’s colorful, and the food is great. It’s no wonder the rabbis of the Talmud saw Purim as such a high point in the calendar that they declared, “When Adar [the Hebrew month housing the holiday of Purim] enters, joy increases (Babylonian Talmud Ta’anit 29a). On the 14th of Adar, Jews around the world celebrate Purim, which commemorates the salvation of the Jews of Shushan and the defeat of the evil schemer Haman (boo!). 

Galilee Diary: Brand Recognition

Rabbi Marc J. Rosenstein

The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.
   -Genesis 27:22

I recently attended a meeting of the Reform rabbis of the north, at the Leo Baeck School, to discuss developments at HUC, and to talk about how to locate potential

Galilee Diary: The Only Thing We Have to Fear

Rabbi Marc J. Rosenstein

…Be strong and of good courage; be not frightened, neither be dismayed; for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
     -Joshua 1:9

A few days before our recent election for county executive, an anonymous "food for thought" letter made the email rounds,

Teens Connect to Judaism Through Justice

Joy Friedman
Annabelle Hanflig
Rabbi Greg Litcofsky
Rabbi Michael Namath
Every year, nearly 2,000 high school-aged Reform Jewish students participate in the Religious Action Center's L'Taken Seminar in Washington, D.C. At the beginning of December, Rabbi Greg Litcofsky, took the confirmation class at his congregation, Temple Emanu-El of West Essex, to Washington D.C. to participate in the L’taken Seminar. The program is designed to expose students to a variety of public policy issues, explore the Jewish values surrounding these issues and teach the skills of an effective advocate. Below, Rabbi Litcofsky and one of Temple Emanu-El’s students, Annabelle Hanflig, reflect on their experience.