Reform Jews cannot go it alone.
That was the message at the Reform movement\’s 67th biennial in Minneapolis last week.
Despite numerically dominating the North American Jewish landscape, Reform Jews must reach out to other Reform Jews in Israel and Eastern Europe and fight anti-Semitism by forging closer ties to Christians, said the movement\’s president, Rabbi Eric Yoffie.
At Temple Congregation Ohabei Shalom in Nashville, Tenn., congregants newly trained in the ancient skill of shofar blowing sounded the ceremonial ram\’s horn for the first time this past Rosh Hashanah. It was the first time a lay member of the 150-year-old synagogue had blown the shofar.
\”It was quite a pivotal moment\” for the 800-family congregation, said its rabbi, Mark Schiftan.
Deeply rooted in classical Reform Judaism, the temple\’s services until recently were marked by choirs and English-only prayer. This Reform movement charter synagogue is undergoing upheaval, and it is not alone.
If you\’re concerned that the money you donate to Los Angeles Jewish charities is eaten up by administrative and fundraising costs, fear not.
Most Jewish charities in Los Angeles have a favorable rating for the amount of dollars spent on their projects compared to dollars spent on costs, according to Charity Navigator, a new philanthropic watchdog. The group assessed some 130 Jewish nonprofits, including seven from Los Angeles, among 2,500 charities across the United States. It then rated the groups based on the Form 990 tax returns that all nonprofit charities, except religious institutions, must provide annually to the IRS.
When Rabbi Mitchell Ackerson blew the shofar this past Rosh Hashanah, it reverberated throughout one of Saddam Hussein\’s former palaces. More than 100 Jewish members of the U.S. forces stationed in Iraq attended the High Holiday services at the former Iraqi dictator\’s Baghdad compound.
They seemed shocked and awed, not least by the echo.
Then under a late afternoon sun, the group performed the customary Tashlich ceremony outside the palace, casting pieces of bread representing sins into a private lake once owned by the Iraqi dictator\’s sons, Uday and Qusay.
The National Jewish Population Survey (NJPS) 2000-01, dubbed \”Strength, Challenge and Diversity,\” offers key findings on demographics, intermarriage, Jewish \”connections\” — that is, communal behavioral trends — and such \”special\” topics as the elderly, immigration and poverty.
The Jewish population is aging and shrinking, its birthrate is falling, intermarriage is rising and most Jews do not engage in communal or religious pursuits.
Yet a majority attend a Passover seder and celebrate Chanukah, Jewish education is booming, and many Jews consider being Jewish important and feel strong ties to Israel.
These are not dueling headlines, but parallel portraits contained in the long-awaited National Jewish Population Survey (NJPS) 2000-01. Federations and Jewish communal leaders use these studies every decade for policy and planning decisions.
The ghosts of virulently anti-Semitic nuns may haunt Mel Gibson\’s new film about Jesus\’ final days, some Catholic and Jewish scholars are warning.
The growing hype concerns charges that \”The Passion\” blames Jews for Jesus\’ death. Gibson denies any anti-Semitic intent, and little attention has focused on the sources for his screenplay.
Rivera, 59, the flamboyant TV reporter, recently announced to the Philadelphia Inquirer and The Washington Post that he is planning to marry TV producer Erica Levy, 29, in a Reform ceremony in New York this summer.
The United States should be the country to bring Abbas to justice because \”it\’s an American citizen who was murdered,\” argued Abraham Foxman, the ADL\’s national director. \”We urge the Department of Justice to seize this moment to strike another blow in this nation\’s war on terrorism.\”
Besides limiting the TV viewing of his girls, ages 5 and 9, Finley said, \”I tell them, \’I\’ll let you know when it\’s time to worry.\’\”
\”When there\’s been a big battle,\” the rabbi continued, \”I tell them the next day, \’It was time to worry, but I forgot to tell you, so now you don\’t have to worry.\’\”
And so each day goes for the Finleys and thousands of American families like them, who desperately hope to learn something about the fate of their loved ones and try somehow to deal with knowing very little.
Kayitz is one of approximately 1,000 Jewish men and woman serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom. They represent a fraction of the estimated 20,000 Jews among the 1.5 million in the U.S. armed forces.
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