Our Jewish Life
By Sara Charney, 2/26/2020
What were you doing this morning at 7:00 am? You were possibly getting up, getting ready for work, or leaving for work. You may have been heading somewhere for Shacharit services, in which case you were in luck, as today we welcomed Rosh Chodesh Adar. Thirty-one WRJ women were very fortunate this morning to be arriving at the Kotel in Jerusalem by 7:00 am to participate in the monthly Rosh Chodesh service led by Women of the Wall. A few members of our group have participated in previous years in this special service. People always ask me if the atmosphere was tense (somewhat); did we get... Read More
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 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 Rabbi Marla J. Feldman, 3/26/2018
A Reading For Your Passover Seder Had 18 college students been gunned down at the University of Texas in Austin (1966) but not 32 at Virginia Tech (2007)…dayeinu. It should have been enough. Had 49 been killed and 58 wounded at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando (2016) but not 58 killed and nearly 500 wounded at a Las Vegas concert (2017)…dayeinu. It should have been enough. Had 12 been killed and 58 wounded at a movie theatre in Aurora Colorado (2012) but not 9 killed at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon (2015)…dayeinu. It should have been enough. Had 9... Read More
By RAC Staff, 3/22/2018
During Passover, Jews across the world celebrate and commemorate our ancestors’ historic journey from bondage to freedom. We retell the story of Exodus at seders, a ritual that calls us to consider our history in a tangible, physical sense, bringing the Biblical tale of the struggle for liberation into the present day. “Standing on the parted shores, we still believe what we were taught before ever we stood at Sinai’s foot; that wherever we go, it is eternally Egypt; that there is a better place, a promised land; that the winding way to that promise passes through the... Read More
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