Credit to the sixth and seventh graders today who came to hear the Yiddish stories (in translation) Bontzye the Silent and Henne Fire, by IL Peretz and IB Singer. Each was twisted in its own special way and very dark, appropriate for Halloween and the impending mayhem in the neighborhood.
For those who can get […]
Ah, America, and the educational dilemmas it presents to us Jews.
Halloween is one such dilemma–All Saints Eve, as it’s meant to be–and now Americanized, sugarfied, and in our neighborhood, morphed into a kiddy parade of community, costumes, and local businesses earning goodwill by hyping up the juniors and making the particular hurdle of bedtime one […]
The Fall 2007 edition of the Wisconsin Alumni Magazine carries a brief story about a landmark study carried out by the University’s Institute on Aging.
One set of conclusions worth considering is this:
the groundbreaking longitudinal study of midlife and aging, which has surveyed more than seven thousand Americans ages twenty-five to seventy-four, has already […]
Shabbat in our atomized society.
Today began at our Yachad Family Service, one hundred kids and parents in a musical Shabbat morning celebration, singing songs along with guitar, learning prayers, hearing Torah, beautiful and a little chaotic.
An hour later, I was with 15 adults, part of a number of congregants who gather each Shabbat […]
I went to visit an elderly couple today, members of our Congregation since 1945, when they moved to Brooklyn from Texas after the Second World War. He was a physician, doing his tour of duty stateside, a native of Brooklyn. She was a native of Dallas, who was fixed up with her beloved […]
Pastor Meeter updates us on developments with the homeless who are camping out at Old First. As you will see, members of the Park Slope Civic Council, our synagogue, Beth Elohim, and the 78th Precinct, have offered help in a creating some strategies for action.
Please let me know if you want to get involved. […]
I’m really gratified by people’s reactions to the ideas posted about Robert Wuthnow’s piece.
I want to suggest a reading group on his new book, After the Baby Boomers: How Twenty and Thirty Somethings Are Shaping the Future of American Religion.
If you’re interested, please let me know by responding.
And remember: later in the year […]
Princeton sociologist Robert Wuthnow is interviewed this week in the Princeton Alumni Weekly about his new book examining the religious behavior patterns of 20-30 somethings in American life. A corollary set of studies has been done by a number of people in the Jewish community as well, including Dr. Ari Kelman and Dr. Steven […]
A Song of Ascents. שִׁיר, הַמַּעֲלוֹת:
בְּשׁוּב יְהוָה, אֶת-שִׁיבַת צִיּוֹן– הָיִינוּ, כְּחֹלְמִים.
When the Eternal brought back those that returned to Zion, we were like unto them that dream.
אָז יִמָּלֵא שְׂחוֹק, פִּינוּ– וּלְשׁוֹנֵנוּ רִנָּה:
אָז, יֹאמְרוּ בַגּוֹיִם– הִגְדִּיל יְהוָה, לַעֲשׂוֹת עִם-אֵלֶּה. […]
I had a conversation with someone recently, asking my opinion about being political from the pulpit.
I mentioned that I don’t have a strong need to do so; that I’d rather focus on education and social action and let the self-evident conclusions fall where they may.
Privately and out in the community, I will get […]