Local Stories
By Barbara Glaser, 11/07/2018
In February 2017, the community of Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto created seven “Rings of Peace” to surround local mosques after a gunman killed six worshippers at a Quebec mosque. After the massacre of eleven worshippers at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, the Toronto Muslim community reciprocated the “Ring of Peace” for the local Jewish community. Below, the author shares her experience of that day. One word states this particular Shabbat morning firmly in my mind: LOVE. One week after the horrific events at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, it proves, love trumps hate.... Read More
By Talia Kaplan, 10/10/2018
Remember the feeling you had when you got on an airplane alone to study abroad, or when you packed up everything you owned and moved to a new city? All the emotions that might have come up for you—fear, excitement, trepidation—could very well have been Avram’s response to the famous line from the Torah portion of this year’s National Refugee Shabbat, Parshat Lech Lecha: “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, And I will bless you; I will make your name great, And you shall be a blessing” (... Read More
By Virginia Ring, with Deborah Fripp, 4/03/2018
Yom HaShoah is typically a somber time to reflect, and for me personally, to be angry at the world. It is not generally a holiday to which I look forward. A small part of me wants the day to hurry up and be over, but I know that this day should be observed, so I do. This year was different, however. My congregation, Congregation Kol Ami in Flower Mound, TX, hosted a very unique ceremony, designed to commemorate not only the terrible things that happened but also the strength with which we met them, to celebrate our survival while mourning our dead. My experience at this Seder-like ceremony... Read More
By Delaney Cotton, 2/22/2018
Engineers around the world are constantly shaping our future. They are behind the big curtain making the technologies that change our lives. Unfortunately, in a field dominated by men, half of the United States’ population is severely underrepresented. With only 11% of engineers in this country being women, we are drastically limiting our own perspective. From a young age there is an unspoken bias against women in engineering and science. I personally still remember selecting electives in middle school and discovering I was the only girl in my coding class, as well as my editing lab.... Read More
By Alyson Malinger, 2/01/2018
On January 20, 2017, at 12:00 p.m. ET the 45th president of the United States was sworn into office. The next day, throughout the world, women and men alike joined together in the streets to march against hatred, sexism, persecution, and bigotry among other points of division. Many WRJ women took part in those protests and demanded equality for all and a stop to oppression. One year later, women and men once again entered the streets to continue this fight. We asked a few WRJ women to share their experiences at the 2017 march and to look back and reflect on this year of change... Read More
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