Character Memory — Lessons From My Car and Eyeglasses
Growing up, my mother would tell me to “stand up straight!”
Shofar, So Good: Shofar Blowers Prep for the High Holidays
By the time the High Holidays are over, Jeremy Cooper needs to go to the chiropractor.
Blowing shofar at Har Zion Temple in Penn Valley...
Har Zion Temple Approaches Centennial with Focus on Next Generation
Har Zion Temple opened in 1923 in West Philadelphia’s Wynnefield neighborhood. Next year, the synagogue, now in Penn Valley, will celebrate its centennial.
And over...
Free Service Options for the High Holidays This Year
It’s a well-known fact, repeated often in the Jewish Exponent, that synagogue attendance and membership are declining. But on the High Holidays, even many...
Feel the Gifts That Are Ours
“Nations should walk by your light, kings by our shining radiance."
Old York Road Temple-Beth Am Celebrates 75th Anniversary
Born right after World War II in 1947, just as Reform Judaism in the United States was growing into its modern, suburban form, Old...
From Trees to Bees: How Apples and Honey Arrive on the Plate
At an ACME or Giant or Wegmans, a bear-shaped squeeze bottle of honey can cost about $5; an apple is about a buck. The...
High Holiday Sermons Will Ask Congregants to Look Inward
As an Orthodox rabbi, Isaac Leizerowski has some thoughts about Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur sermons. The leader of Congregation Beth Midrash HaRav B’Nai...
How Do Synagogues Define Members in a Time of Changing Family Demographics?
Picture the typical synagogue family in the Philadelphia area. What do you see? Young parents and young kids? Maybe middle-aged parents and teenagers?
OK, maybe...
Leaning Into the Difficulty
Every Rosh Hashanah, we read the Biblical story called “The Binding of Isaac.”