Indeed, like Dorothy from the \”Wizard of Oz,\” I am a young adult on a quest to find her inner soul and place in life. Dorothy transitions from childhood to adulthood, and travels to Oz only to fathom that everything she wanted was in her home, in her own backyard.
Rosh Hashanah celebrates the birthday of the world. The Jewish/Hebrew calendar follows the cycle of the moon. The English/Gregorian calendar follows the cycle of the sun. Both calendars are divided into 12 months.
Ezra operates as a sequel to Ramah\’s Amitzim program, which serves children and teens with special needs. Both programs run under the umbrella program Ramah calls Tikva (Hebrew for \”hope\”). Kamin said hope is an understatement for what Ezra has done for her son this summer.
For Rena, missing weeks of dance rehearsal was unthinkable, but so was missing out on the quintessential Jewish youth experience of summer camp.
This summer, Rena hopes to have that conflict resolved for her for at least two weeks when she attends T\’hila, a new program at the Brandeis-Bardin Institute in Simi Valley that integrates a Jewish camping experience with an arts experience molded for young, talented artists who are as serious about their craft as Rena.
\’Saved\’ was not an easy sell for co-writers Michael Urban and Brian Dannelly (who also directed the film). There was concern over the potential controversy of a religiously flip teen comedy, especially with all of the \”Passion\” fervor.
I asked a young woman in a T-shirt that read, \”Psycho Bitch\” why she\’d want to wear that.
\”It\’s empowering!\” she replied, in a tone that left the \”I mean, like, duh\” hanging in the air.
\”I am very proud of my Jewish heritage,\” Jason Pullman said, talking to The Journal from the Clear Channel offices (Star\’s parent company). \”I used to use stage names, but then as of four or five years ago [I decided] I am myself, and that is only person that I want to be.\”
\”I don\’t want a bat mitzvah,\” she told her parents. \”It\’s just for you and your relatives. You don\’t even need me there. So why don\’t you just throw your own party?\”
This year, the family is invited to an \”after-the-Purim-carnival buffet\” inspired by the elaborate banquets that were served in biblical days. One long table in the dining room will be set for all the guests, and our collection of Purim groggers (noisemakers) will be arranged at each place setting for everyone to use during the retelling of the Purim story.
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