By Deborah Fripp Have you ever noticed that when we teach the Holocaust, we let the perpetrators dictate the story for us? We use their pictures and their propaganda to tell our story, forgetting that their agenda was to dehumanize the Jews. We use their timeline, 1933 to 1945, as if their victims had no existence other than that the Nazis gave...
By David Shukiar When you walk into the social hall at Temple Adat Elohim in Thousand Oaks, CA, on a Tuesday evening, you’re met with a cacophony of sound coming from the 70 people inside. As you enter, you can make out some of the conversations of the 35 pairs working in chevruta, listening to Hebrew as our tutors teach the 25 prayers to their...
Photo courtesy The Northeast Teen Collective (a project of URJ Eisner and Crane Lake Camps) Continuing the success of the Union for Reform Judaism’s (URJ) Campaign for Youth Engagement, the URJ announces the Youth Professional Training Fellowship for early career youth professionals in congregations. This new fellowship, funded by a $141,000...
By Kathy Schwartz Since my congregation became part of the pilot cohort of the Reform Movement’s B’nai Mitzvah Revolution in 2012, our goal has been to make b’nai mitzvah more meaningful. As it turns out, though, this is no simple task. Along with 12 other congregations, URJ staff, and HUC-JIR professionals, our congregation has learned...
By Lisa David, Stacy Rigler, and Anne Berman-Waldorf As Summer fades away, and educators move into the hustle and bustle of the new year, we often find ourselves reflecting on “What do we do over the Summer, and how are we using what we learned?” For many years, Jewish educators have found themselves at Jewish summer camps. Whether to visit...
By Dale Laing Early Childhood Educators of Reform Judaism has hosted their 16th annual conference in soulful Memphis, Tennessee which provided rich American culture and history to spear their work together. The Kallah, Soul Purpose- Elevating Early Engagement through social justice, literacy and leadership welcomed Rabbi Gary P. Zola, The...
by Frieda Huberman Most everyone knows that Ashton Kutcher, Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Richie, and a host of other celebrities are interested in Kabbalah, the mystical interpretation that’s part of Jewish tradition. But what about the young man who wants to learn the basics of Judaism because his fiancée is Jewish? Or the longtime...
By Michelle Shapiro Abraham Every day I feel honored and humbled by the blessing of my work. Creating youth engagement opportunities for the URJ takes me from synagogues, classrooms, and offices, to camps, retreats, conferences, and preschool programs. The settings are varied but the goal is the same. Our purpose as Jewish educators is to connect...
