Apart from the 175 member families she served at Anchorage\’s Congregation Beth Sholom, Rabbi Johanna Hershenson found little other Jewish life. As the only non-Orthodox rabbi in Alaska, she became a long-distance consultant to lay synagogue leaders in even more isolated areas, such as Homer and Fairbanks.
The painful case reveals the vulnerability of clergy to character assassination as well as the difficulty for lay people in challenging a religious entity that keeps its decisions secret.
In this week\’s Torah portion, which tells the story of King Balak, the sorcerer Bilam and Bilam\’s talking donkey, we learn two important lessons.
On-campus Jewish groups were upset that the administration did not get outside verification of the meaning and symbolic nature of the stole, said Jeffrey Rips, executive director of the Hillel Foundation of Orange County.
Local synagogues, Jewish centers and other cultural organizations are holding day camps throughout the summer months that expose children to Jewish culture, popular culture and even pre-Columbian culture.
To avoid being branded as a collaborator, most Palestinians would not admit to accepting aid from Israel. Samera bravely told her story to A-Sinara, the largest Arabic-language newspaper in the region. Her experience \”was diametrically opposed to everything she\’d been told,\” Larry Rich said.
Knowing little about Judaism, 11 Russian immigrant families in the Los Angeles area began meeting in 1991, holding Shabbat dinners together and learning Jewish teachings from their children, many of whom were enrolled in Jewish day schools.
Barry Koff earned a state teaching credential and completed a master\’s degree in Jewish education through Chicago\’s Spertus College. Yet his first career as an on-air radio broadcaster comes through in his classroom.
Two local synagogues are offering an opportunity for Jewish scholarship this summer, and a third is offering weekly Hebrew classes at all levels.
\”A lot of people went to Israel when the country was new and bought Yemenite art, but they didn\’t tell you it was Yemenite,\” said the museum\’s director and founder, Norma Kershaw. \”Ancient or modern, whatever people have\” would be welcomed.
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