fbpx
ADVERTISE
pick up locations
donate

Jewish Journal

Connect. Inform. Inspire.

Category

September 8, 2005

A Prayer for Victims of Hurricane Katrina

Rabbi Naomi Levy September 8, 2005

Are You watching, God?

Have You seen the innocent swept away?

Are You listening, God?

Have You heard their cries?

Be with them, God.

Be their strength and their comfort.

Let them know You are near.

Work through us, God.

Teach us to be Your messengers on earth.

Wake us up, God,

Show us how to help.

Use us, God, shine through us,

Inspire us to rebuild the ruins.

Open our hearts so we can comfort the mourning.

Open our arms so we can extend our hands to those in need.

Shake us out of our complacency, God.

Be our guide,

Transform our helplessness into action,

Our generous intentions into charity,

Turn the prayers of our souls into acts of kindness and compassion.

Amen.

City’s Plight Brings Flood of Memories

Rabbi Anne Brener September 8, 2005

In New Orleans, the Jews are the only ones buried in the ground. Others, if their mourners have any means at all, are laid with the expectation of eternal rest in stone crypts to protect them from rising waters. My mother used to say, \”Someday, we Jews\’ll all be floatin\’ down the river.\”

Just as in California, where we know that one day \”the big one\” will come, in New Orleans, we knew that someday the water would overtake us. But the denial overtakes the wisdom, and we stay and build lives. I think of Pompeii. New Orleans was so beautiful.

Disaster Exposes Government Failures

James D. Besser September 8, 2005

President Bush and Congress talk a good game when it comes to homeland security, but the tragic truth is that the country is less able to cope with disasters than before Sept. 11, 2001. The proof is on the flood-ravaged streets of New Orleans, where an unprecedented natural disaster quickly produced violent anarchy and a flaccid government response that multiplied the suffering.

For all the money thrown at preparing for massive terror attacks and other disasters, the new Department of Homeland Security looked more like a Third World bureaucracy, as armed gangs roamed the city and people died for lack of food, water, sanitation and medical supplies.

A Provocative Talk Among ‘We Jews’

Rabbi Rachel Esserman September 8, 2005

s modern Judaism facing an identity crisis? One would think so from reading \”We Jews: Who Are We and What Should We Do?\” by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz. This provocative work, which Steinsaltz calls \”a private, intimate conversation within the Jewish family,\” looks to bring out into the open \”the issues and subjects that are rarely raised in a straightforward [manner].\” Included are controversial topics such as \”Are We a Nation or a Religion?\”; \”Do We Have Our Own Set of Character Traits?\”; \”Is Money Our God?\”; and \”Are We Excessively Warm or Excessively Cold?\”

Lay Leaders Keep Synagogues Going

Sue Fishkoff September 8, 2005

During the week, Dr. David Kolinsky practices family medicine in Pacific Grove, a sleepy Northern California coastal town. But on Saturday mornings he dons his tallit and leads Shabbat services for Congregation B\’nai Torah, a Conservative congregation in neighboring Monterey.

Kolinksy serves as spiritual leader and president of B\’nai Torah, which has been lay led since it broke off from a nearby Reform temple 13 years ago.

Visiting rabbis have passed through, but with just 24 dues-paying members, there\’s no budget to hire even a student rabbi. The congregation also lacks a building — it rents a small room in a local church, where it stores its two Torah scrolls and where, every Saturday morning, the stalwarts wait to see whether a minyan will show up.

New Articles

More news and opinions than at a
Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.

Jewish Journal

Connect. Inform. Inspire.
© Copyright 2024 Tribe Media Corp • Powered by Lightdrop

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.