Judaism

Torah

Blessing the People With Love and Joy

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Does Birthright Stifle Teen Travel?

Shavuot

Synagogues Celebrate New Arrivals

Torah

Opening Hearts to God Is a Lifetime Journey

LECH LECHA, Genesis 12:1-17:27

By:

Rabbi Sue Levi Elwell

This portion begins with a command: Lech Lecha, go forth. Twenty-seven years ago, a Jew who had been denied the opportunity to celebrate becoming a Jewish adult heard these words speaking to her. Savina Teubal approached her rabbi, and together they planned a celebration that changed not only Savina’s life, but opened a path of Torah and Jewish connection for...

B'Nai Mitzvah

The Gift Guide

By:

Beth D'Addono

Hearts are huge. Initials on anything and everything? Yes, please. And when it comes to a gift that never goes out of style, Apple rules. As a busy Bar/Bat Mitzvah season kicks off, 13-year-olds have very definite ideas as to what’s at the top of their gift lists. Cari Feiler Bender’s son, Max, was Bar Mitzvahed at Congregation Beth David...

B'Nai Mitzvah

Controlling Your Date

The importance of the event timeline.

By:

Gail Snyder

Are you one of those lucky parents with an 11-year-old at home? If so, you are in the enviable position of having your child’s B’nai Mitzvah experience completely ahead of you — the tutoring sessions, the time spent imagining what the event will look like and where it will take place, and all the planning details and decisions that will...

B'Nai Mitzvah

There’s No Place Like Rome

A grandmother’s Bat Mitzvah gift: memories of Italy.

By:

Carol Saline

“A llure” said Alessandra, “now we make the sauce per la pasta.” My 13-year-old granddaughter Sarina and I are standing by an old table in the simple family kitchen of a farmhouse outside of Florence where we have come for two days of Italian cooking lessons. As we chop vegetables and amiably chit-chat in a verbal stew of Italian and...

Torah

Noah Is No Abraham, but Isn’t He a Hero?

NOACH, Genesis 6:9-11:32

By:

Rabbi Joshua Runyan

Imagine the late Sen. Lloyd Bentsen facing off against Noah in the 1988 vice presidential debate. Noah might make a remark about the great patriarch Abraham, leaving Bentsen to rebut. Imagined another way, Bentsen would probably tell the central character of the biblical flood: “You are no Abraham.” And according to the sages of the Talmud, the senator would be...