Voices for WRJ: Parashat Sh’mot
Eishet Chayil Mi Yimtza? A Worthy Woman Who Can Find?
Voices for WRJ: Parashat Va-y’chi
Voices of WRJ: Parashat Vayigash
Intermarriage Makes a Better Jew and Jewish Professional
My name is Rachel Jurisz-Singh. Some of you know me by the name I use professionally - Jurisz - which is actually my maiden name. Yes, I am intermarried and my family is interracial too. Growing up I never thought I would choose to marry outside of my faith. I was always involved in my synagogue and youth group. I went to Jewish summer camp and attended Hebrew school through my senior year of high school. I even chose my career path in the Jewish field, working at four major Jewish organizations in the last 14 years.
Freeing the Captive
by Alli Cohen
Father of Zionism, Theodor Herzl, once stated, "We are organizing Jewry for its coming destiny.” Herzl’s statement, made before the establishment of Israel, still applies to today. While we now have the “longed for” state of Israel, the Jewish people continue striving to make Eretz Yisrael a better place for future generations.Reform Movement Dismayed by Continued Religious Discrimination in Israel
New York, N.Y., December 14, 2012 – Friday morning, Israeli police detained four women as they prayed at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. The group of 138 men and women was organized by Women of the Wall, an organization that fights for women's right to pray freely, while donning prayer shawls and other religious articles, at the Western Wall. Among those detained was Reform Rabbi Elyse Frishman, senior rabbi of Barnert Temple in Franklin Lakes, NJ, the oldest synagogue in New Jersey and editor of the Reform Movement's Reform Movement’s siddur (prayer book), CCAR's Mishkan T'filah, used in over 700 North American congregations.
Voices of WRJ: Parashat Mikeitz
Today is a very busy and light-filled day in the Hebrew calendar. How fortunate and blessed we are to have so much light adorn our homes, first with the lighting of the sixth candle of Hanukkah and then with the welcoming of Shabbat by lighting her candles, especially since it now gets dark in the late afternoon.
Tzedakah: The 6th Night of Hanukkah
Do you remember when you counted the days until Hanukkah arrived? I can still picture my mom polishing the traditional brass lion menorah and buying new candles from our Temple Sisterhood. I was allowed to select just the perfect candles, sometimes placed in order by colors and sometimes chosen to simply be bright and happy. Mom's latkes were the best ever; she made hundreds for the religious school’s Hanukkah party and was called "The Latke Lady."