For Cantor Shira Lissek of Temple Israel in Charlotte, North Carolina, music has always been the most powerful force in her life. It is her way of making a difference in the world. “Cantors are connectors,” she says. “Through our voices and through music, we are able to connect people to themselves, community, history and tradition and create transformative worship experiences and meaningful lifecycle events.” Whil...
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College Students, Young Professionals, Couples and Seniors Are Tuning in Faithfully This past Yom Kippur, Jeffrey Solomon’s daughter was away at grad school. She longed to be there with her family for the service so she texted her father, who is president of Temple Etz Chaim in Thousand Oaks, California, in the days leading up to it asking if the service could be livestreamed so that she and other college students coul...
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As Diller Teen Fellows Coordinator Aaron Jacobs traveled from Los Angeles, California, to his parent’s home in Texas shortly before New Year’s, a wave of memories flooded over him—particularly when he went to his childhood bedroom and saw what was stapled to the wall by his bed. At Diller, a global organization with 32 cohorts in communities across the world that aims to create meaning and purpose in Jewish life, Aaron...
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By Teri McGuire My first memory is the number tattooed on my grandfather’s arm. The first school I attended was the preschool at my home synagogue. The first time I traveled on a plane, I was flying with a group of 70 other young Jews to United Synagogue Youth (USY)’s International Convention. The first time I left the country, I was headed to learn about the history of my people—on a five-week journey to Poland and Is...
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The Camp, Woolsey and Hill fires that raged through California in early November are the latest in a series of events that the local and national Jewish communities have faced. A little more than a week after the tragic Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, shooting at Tree of Life synagogue and less than 24 hours after the mass shooting at Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, California—a place where many families and friend...
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By Rabbi Yael Hammerman As a child, I imagined a mikvah to be like the pit into which Jacob’s sons threw their brother Joseph—bur rayk, an empty pit—dark and deep underground. Ironically, my image of a mikvah was waterless—ayn bo mayim—born out of touristy Israel trips to see the ancient mikva’ot on Masada and the Burnt House in Jerusalem. These mikva’ot may be archeological wonders and historical goldmines, but as a c...
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Plus, What You Can Do to Feel Safe and Secure Whenever something happens—whether it be the most recent shooting at Tree of Life in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, or the one several years back at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City in Missouri, or even further back at the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills, California—safety comes more clearly into focus and sparks many a debate. How do ...
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Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Yom Tov 6:18 "And when you eat and drink, you are required to give food to “the stranger, orphan and widow among the other poor and unfortunate ones” (Devarim 16:11). However, one who locks the doors to his courtyard and eats and drinks with his wife and children, and does not give food or drink to the poor and indigent this is not the joy of a mitzvah, but rather it is the joy of his s...
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When our ancestors migrated to the United States decades ago, many longed to adopt America’s traditions while still holding onto their strong Jewish roots. For many, the perfect way to assimilate was through the celebration of Thanksgiving, a secular holiday that’s largely centered on the three Fs—family, food and football. Today, Thanksgiving is the most widely celebrated holiday for American Jews. Digging a little deepe...
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From our strongest core values to our favorite holiday recipes, we’ve inherited much of what makes us who we are from our ancestors—but many may have passed down more than that. Approximately one in three Jews of Ashkenazi descent—the ethnic identity most recognized by people in North America—are said to carry at least one type of genetic disorder. In total, Ashkenazi Jews have a high carrier rate for more than 40 gene...
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