October 28, 2005/Tishri 25 5766, Volume 58, No. 5Jewish News of Greater Phoenix Rabbi Jessica Zimmerman of Congregation Beth Israel has been selected for Synagogue 3000, a national Jewish leadership network. The goal of this network, developed by Rabbi Lawrence Hoffman of Hebrew Union College and Dr. Ron Wolfson of University of Judaism, is to …
December 8, 2005 By Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky A window has opened to the Orthodox community. We are being invited to help reshape the social dynamics of the American Jewish community. With courage and vision, we need to act on this opportunity by understanding the important changes that have occurred over the last decades and rethinking …
Before Synagogue 3000, there was Synagogue 2000! S2K was a 10-year, longitudinal study that worked with over 100 synagogues spanning all the movements. It’s primary mission was the transformation of American synagogues. S2K implemented its mission through the creation of cohorts, or groups, of synagogues which embarked on 3-year journeys of transformation during which teams …
Michael Zeldin From Reform Judaism, Spring 1995 Reprinted with permission. Three widely-held assumptions about Jewish education may be more misleading than enlightening A few years ago, I attended a meeting to plan a Jewish teacher-training program. In the course of our discussions, a professor of Education from a local university warned us not to introduce …
Meir Sendor From Sh’ma: a journal of Jewish Responsibility October 3, 1997Reprinted with Permission Healing remains one of the genuine mysteries of our daily lives. Real healing from physical or emotional illness is a multidimensional process, and new medical fields such as psychoneuroendoimmunology indicate a growing modern awareness of the intricate interrelationship between mind and …
By Jack Stern From Reform Judaism, Winter 1997 Reprinted with permission from the author and Reform Judaism Magazine — Published by the Union of American Hebrew Congregations Many years ago I was working with one of my bar mitzvah students, who was totally negligent in his preparations. Exasperated, his mother finally turned to the boy …
Continue reading “Observations of a Rabbi Who Never Became a Bar Mitzvah”
by Yael Shuman Illustration by Nancy Winternight From Reconstructionism Today, Summer, 1994 Reprinted with Permission. The Jewish tradition is rich in ritual objects that assisted our ancestors for centuries in unlocking spiritual meaning. Such objects as the tallit (prayer shawl), kippah (head-covering) or kiddush cup, in their beauty and tangibility, can actually change our state …
Continue reading “The Power of a Prayer Shawl: Exploring Jewish Ritual Objects”
By Arthur Gross Schaefer From Reform Judaism, Winter 1997 Reprinted with permission from the author and Reform Judaism Magazine (Published by the Union of American Hebrew Congregations) “Who Am I?” and “What Do I value?” are sophisticated interrelated questions that deeply affect the decisions we make. Like a mirror placed before us, our closely-held beliefs …
Continue reading “The Jewish Ethics Challenge: Where Do You Stand?”
(*and avoid the pitfalls of quick-fix religious consumerism) by Jeffrey K. Salkin From Reform Judaism, Fall 1995Reprinted with Permission. Everywhere you go in the Reform movement, the word on people’s lips is spirituality. It is the religious buzz word of our age. The trend towards spirituality has greatly enriched Reform Judaism, energizing a movement once …
by Dennis Prager From Moment, October 1997 Reprinted With Permission Parents should speak about God to children regardless of their personal philosophical doubts. The Jews brought God into the world, but today they are probably the group that is least comfortable talking about God, especially to their children. This is tragic. Parents who don’t talk …