Displaying 1 - 10 of 14
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?
GOTV: What Would Susan Do?
On November 5, a middle-aged woman walked up to her polling place in Rochester, New York. She entered the voting booth, and filled out her ballot indicating her preferred candidate. She dropped her completed ballot into the ballot box and went home.
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 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.
Rethinking the Holy Days
I’ve come to the conclusion we need to change the date of Simchat Torah. Our Jewish festivals must be re-envisioned as inspirational community gatherings of joyful spiritual Jewish celebration. Every single festival needs to be a time of great community involvement and meaning.
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.
Musical Settings: Adon Olam
When I was a student at the Anshe Emet Day School in Chicago, Illinois, I had a Hebrew teacher who suggested that every night before we went to sleep, it would be meaningful to recite the last verse of Adon Olam. As an impressionable and obedient fourth grader, I took to heart her suggestion and incorporated what became a comforting and soothing personal prayer with my nightly recitation of the Sh’ma: