Displaying 1 - 10 of 10
Hanukkah: More Than Just Presents?
This weekend, we will gather together with family or friends (or, if you’re on the RAC staff, with 215 high school students at L’Taken) around the Chanukah lights, spin the dreidel, eat latkes and sufganyot and engage in the great “applesauce or sour cream” debate.
Ner Shel Tzedakah
Families donate gifts or money to charitable organizations instead of exchanging gifts on the sixth night of Chanukah.
Rise up Maccabean Style for Rights of the Disabled
The sages of the Talmud had a debate about how we are to light the Chanukah menorah: Should we begin with eight candles and remove one each night, or begin with one and add through the holiday?
Be a Lamplighter: A Reflection on Newtown and Darkness
I have a bunch of blog posts brewing in my head, but felt like I couldn't write anything until I wrote about Newtown. But, what could I say? What can I say?
The History of Hanukkah Gifts: Is This Custom Really a Jewish One?
The contemporary custom of wrapping presents gifts arose in conjunction with Christmas, but many aspects of gift-giving have distinctly Jewish roots, each of which has helped set the stage for the development of the ritual into what it is today.
The Friendship House
A congregation created three comprehensive projects for the Friendship House, a homeless shelter for abused women, children at risk, migrant workers, and the Sunrise Community, an agency for developmentally disabled adults.
S.O.S. Save Our Soldiers
Raised awareness to the plight of the three Israeli soldiers captured in the 2006 Lebanon War.
Foster Care Outreach
Pairing congregants with foster children to provide gifts, arrange special events and help subsidize costs for foster parents in need. Community Contact Information: Congregation Or Ami Calabasas, CA www.orami.org Goals: Improve the dignity and quality of life of local foster children.
A Special Worship Service for Jews with Disabilities and Their Families
by Nancy Crown
When I was called to meet with a member of my synagogue’s Congregation-Based Community Organizing Committee, I almost declined. I was asked to think about what the temple could do that it was not already doing. My main reaction was to reflect on the many opportunities for learning, worship, and community that I wasn’t partaking of, due to limited time and a longstanding “outsider” feeling when it comes to religion. Like many others, my upbringing did not include much meaningful participation in the spiritual aspects of Judaism.
My daughter, now 28 years old, has developmental disabilities. She was keenly interested in Judaism as a young child, but as a teen, she began to talk about converting to another religion. By that time, our son was enrolled in school at Congregation Rodeph Sholom, where we were members. We chose a Jewish day school for a number of reasons, including our desire for our son to feel more secure in his Jewish identity than my husband, my daughter, or I had felt. We began lighting candles on Friday nights. I took Hebrew classes. We attended services, where, at moments, I would feel an achy kind of longing, alongside a feeling of being an outsider. Try as I might, I couldn’t quite find a way in.
The Bar Mitzvah of Benjamin Avi Faber
Like most parents, from the time we gave birth to our son, we had many hopes and dreams for him. We wanted him to have a good education, have friends and grow up to live a happy and prosperous life.