Category
temple aliyah
Moving and shaking: Transgender in the IDF, Shana Torah and more
“My story really is a fairy tale,” said Shachar, a transgender Israel Defense Forces lieutenant at an event at Congregation Kol Ami (the IDF does not permit the use of the first names of active-duty personnel).
Bar mitzvah invitation comes with an added dimension
As they began organizing the bar mitzvah of their oldest son, Josh and Kareen Rubel knew they wanted to “do something creative.”
Challah, wine, Torah … and Trump?
For the past few months, whenever we’ve hosted guests at our Shabbat table, I’ve repeated different versions of the same joke: “I’d like to thank everyone at our table for not saying the name Donald Trump once during the last hour. What a miracle.”
Moving and shaking: Michael Oren, Tony Blair, synagogue softball and more
Former Israeli ambassador to the United States Michael Oren’s dual loyalties — and his frustration with the growing separation between Israel and the U.S. — were evident in his remarks July 1.
Chocolate shakes up the seder ritual
Rabbi Adam Schaffer, who\’s been leading chocolate seders since he edited a chocolate seder haggadah in 1996, acknowledges that “people often do feel ill” from all the chocolate.
Nachas From Noggins
El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills has once again given Los Angeles something to kvell about. The school claimed top honors at this year\’s national Academic Decathlon, the annual contest of intellectual prowess.
Three of the nine team members generated special pride for the Jewish community: Lindsey Cohen and Linsday Gibbs are both affiliated with Shomrei Torah, while Kevin Rosenberg attends Temple Aliyah.
\”I got enormous support from my parents, from my temple [Shomrei Torah] and from my friends,\” Gibbs said. \”After we won state, the rabbi sent me a letter and the cantor called me…. They didn\’t know what I got on each test or how I did medal-wise, and yet, they were all so supportive and welcoming and congratulatory when I got back.\”