Leaders of Reform synagogues don\’t quite get their members, according to a new study by the movement.
The study shows a marked disconnect between what the leaders think their members are looking for and what the members say they actually want.
For many historians, the Soviet Jewry campaign represented the coming of age of the American Jewish community.
Young American Jews are increasingly alienated from Israel, according to a report released last week.
As summer draws to a close, tens of thousands of unaffiliated American Jews begin the yearly hunt for affordable Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services, which fall this year on Sept. 12-14 and Sept. 21-22.
The Jewish world has a problem with the way Renee Kaplan defines herself: half-Jewish. Kaplan, a television producer in her mid-30s, is the daughter of a Jewish father and a non-Jewish mother who was raised Jewish.
\”I was raised Jewish, was always told I was Jewish,\” said the 35-year-old, who did not want his real name printed. \”I went to Jewish camps, even had a bar mitzvah.\” But when Levine joined a Conservative congregation after his marriage, the rabbi told him that because his mother was not Jewish, he needed a legal conversion.
For dozens of new congregations and minyans, or prayer communities, like Ikar, the Internet is not just a faster, more convenient communication tool. It\’s a central organizing mechanism and community-building tool, filling the roles performed in more traditional synagogues by administrative staff, newsletters, membership committees, religious school, even rabbis.
Beyond the tangible victories, those involved in this work say it has transformed their synagogues into communities where the people know and care about each other. In making the world a little better, they are making their congregations more warm, friendly and caring.
Often derided or acclaimed as \”New Age Judaism,\” Renewal focuses on environmentalism and direct spiritual connection to the Divine. It\’s part of the burgeoning world of transdenominational Judaism — the growing number of synagogues, rabbis and prayer groups that eschew affiliation with a Jewish stream.
At least 300,000 American schoolchildren ages 4 to 17 have the developmental disorder, according to the Centers for Disease Control. And the numbers are increasing every year. Loneliness is one of the worst problems facing children with developmental disabilities. Others avoid them, uncomfortable with the outbursts, unsure how to talk to them and unwilling to make the effort.Chabad\’s Friendship Circle is trying to break through that isolation by reaching out to children with developmental problems, as well as their families, and offering them a welcoming hand into the community.
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