Coronavirus and Your Congregation: What to Consider, How to Prepare, and More
We want to take a moment to update you on what we know, what we’re doing, and what we suggest to congregations at this moment in time and going forward.
Israeli Poems to Get Us Through Times of Fear and Isolation
I’ve highlighted some poets and poems that speak to me for the moment we are in, but I encourage you, too, to poke around on your own from among Israeli writers and find what resonates with you.
Make Your Online Seder Lively, Engaging, and Meaningful
What Purim Says About the Jewish Will to Resist
The Future Looks Hopeful: Five Insights on Next Steps for Start-Up Synagogues
Jewish pundits love to predict the eventual demise of the synagogue, decrying its dearth of deep ideas, shortage of spiritual inspiration, and absence of meaning.
What “Just Mercy” Means to Me as a Black Jew
I carry the trauma of my ancestors, who were kidnapped and enslaved, who survived post-abolition racist terrorism, and who survived devastating Jim Crow laws. I also carry the history of the Jewish people, who have survived countless acts of violence, forced conversion, and genocide.
The Mitzvah of Canceling: What Guided Our Congregation's COVID-19 Decisions
Recently, our synagogue leaders found itself in a similar position to Nachson. With news that coronavirus had reached our community, we stood between a known threat and unknown consequences.
Holding One Another On Our Shoulders
This passage is excerpted from a d’var Torah shared at the URJ Biennial convention's Shacharit service focused on tikkun olam, repair of the world.
The poet Naomi Shihab Nye tells this story:
In Place of God? In God’s Place?
After a natural calamity or terrorist attack an understandable question presents itself: Where is God in all this?