This was by far the most spiritual moment in my life. I gazed up at the stars as I chanted the V\’Ahavta prayer with amazing new friends, standing around the same rocks that our people had wandered past thousands of years before. My eyes couldn\’t help but tear up as we moved on to the Mi Chamocha, the song of freedom. At that moment I felt as though God truly was with us.
Many college-bound high school graduates are packing up their inflatable sofas and plan to stay abreast Middle East news using wireless laptops. But some of their peers will get a real-time glimpse of current events as they prepare for a year of study in Israel.
Here\’s a variation on Wolpe\’s idea — let your children stand in awe in front of the bimah, but then take them behind the bimah. Raise the curtain and demystify the sanctuary. By doing so you help them feel comfortable.
The biological mystery of unlike offspring from the same parents is the challenge of parenting some children.
My children were unexpectedly away for a week this summer, and I didn\’t miss them a bit.
Twenty parents from the Emek Hebrew Academy in Valley Village have come on a chilly winter evening to hear Dr. Francine Kaufman, a national expert on diabetes and childhood obesity, talk about promoting children\’s health. Although the school has 455 families, Rabbi Sholom Strajcher, the school\’s dean, is not discouraged by the modest turnout.
It\’s a scene straight out of the worst-case scenario parent handbook. Our child — a normally happy student — lands the \”Teacher From the Black Lagoon.\” She\’s evil, he tells us shaking in his Air Jordans. Not to mention out to get him. How can he possibly be expected to learn when his teacher is the scholastic version of Attila the Hun?
Living with the trauma and sorrow of losing a brother or sister in the Israel Defense Forces has scarred all of the 30 12- and 13-year-olds who spent 10 days at Camp Ramah in Ojai earlier this month. The Legacy/Moreshet program, sponsored by Friends of the IDF (FIDF), gave kids who lost a sibling or parent in combat a bar or bat mitzvah present that allowed them to have an American-style summer blast — if not to forget, then at least to enjoy a respite from the sadness that follows them at home.
\”I wanted to be a coach because I like sports,\” said Gaskin of her involvement with the Prime Time Games program.
The Pacific Palisades resident initially took on the responsibly to fulfill an outreach requirement for her bat mitzvah last spring. The experience has satisfied more than a ceremonial obligation.
\”I feel good because I\’m helping other people,\” Gaskin said.
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