Reform Rabbis’ Prayer Works: Rain in Israel after Months of Drought!
There are those who believe that if you pray, God brings the rain. Even though I don’t really believe this theology, it needs to be said. Tongue in cheek. Mostly. Israel has had a bad winter, at least as far as rain goes. Not enough. Drought-like season. So the Ultra-Orthodox gather at the Kotel (Western …
Who Is Counting? … Me!
This is my ninth trip to Israel since birth. A pause to recount: A family trip connected to my sister Lori becoming a Bat Mitzvah. The NFTY Leadership Machon Year in Israel, between high school and college, living at Machon Greenberg, Kiryat Moriah in Jerusalem, 1981-82. Rabbinical Studies Year in Israel study at Hebrew Union …
National Pluralistic Study
The Jerusalem Post covered the National Pluralistic Beit Midrash (House of Study): The Jerusalem Post covers the CCAR’sNational Beit Midrash unites Israelis, North American Reform rabbisMar. 1, 2009maya spitzer , THE JERUSALEM POST The conference hall was crowded with groups of four as far as the eye could see; the discussions impassioned, the excitement palpable. …
Hebrew is Palpitating My Heart
There’s another aspect of being in Israel that palpitates my heart. Hebrew. Danny Siegel, poet and tzedakah (charitable giving) champion, once wrote the poem, Hebrew: I’ll tell you how much I love Hebrew:Read me anything Genesis,or an ad in an Israeli paper, and watch my face.I will make half sounds of ecstasy,and my smile will …
Tel Aviv/Jaffa In Pictures
Shabbat’s Coming! Pix from the Holy Land
Check out all sorts of pictures. One set includes pictures (artsy-ish) from Machane Yehuda, Jerusalem’s open air market. I love the smells, colors and sounds.
Breaking Down Barriers in Tel Aviv
K’sheh nichnas Adar, marbim b’simcha. When the Hebrew month of Adar begins, joy is increased! How true, at least from my seat here in Jerusalem. I lay down for my pre-Shabbat schulfee (nap), only to be so filled with memories and stories that I could only sleep for a few minutes. Yesterday, Thursday, was Tel …
Israel Pix: Jerusalem; Women of the Wall; Armenian, Lutheran and Muslim Clergy; Old City
Head Spinning, Heart Soaring: Coexistence Experiences
My head is spinning, my heart is soaring, yet the Israel Convention of the Central Conference of American Rabbis is only in its second day. So much is happening. Where to start. The Convention opened with a klezmer band (complete with tuba!?) serenading us as we walked to Mercaz Shimshon, the headquarters of the World …
Sunny Day in Tel Aviv Slideshow
Sunny Day in Tel Aviv: Photos and Fun
Jerusalem Post on the CCAR Convention
The Jerusalem Post carried an article on the upcoming CCAR convention. It read: More than 300 Reform rabbis from North America will convene in Jerusalem this week for their annual rabbinical conference, seeking to bolster the tiny Reform Judaism movement in Israel. The six-day event, which opens Tuesday, aims to strengthen the liberal movement’s ties …
Pictures of a Sunny Day in Tel Aviv
Independence Hall in Tel Aviv. Where the Declaration of Independence was signed. A great little museum! Five guys in Jaffa, overlooking the Sea at Tel Aviv. We finally got some sunshine. A beautiful day! The artists colony at Jaffa. Catching some rays while some of the guys go shopping. Interestingly, we did much less shopping …
Crawling with Reform Rabbis
by Rabbi Paul Kipnes This country is crawling with Reform Rabbis. They are much harder here to identify then the ultraorthodox ones, mind you, but with the opening of the convention of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) beginning on Tuesday, this country is again crawling with Reform Rabbis. (Truth in advertising: there were …
Day 2: Masada, Meaning and Questions that Matter
Someone once told me that anywhere else in the world, a tourist travels through a country, but in Israel the Jew journeys toward meaning. Up early (4:09 am – the result of too much jet-lag induced napping), with the hotel window open, a cool breeze and the sounds of the Holy land awakening, provides me …