Jenny (aka d'varim) is a dedicated and serious Reform Jew. Having converted over 4 years ago, she is active in many aspects of her local temple, from Hebrew school teacher, to Board member, to occasional Torah reader. Jenny is committed to the idea of personal autonomy and informed choice, with a lot of stress put on the "informed" part of that choice. I spent this past Shabbat (or Friday night of it, at least) at Goldman Union Camp Institute in Zionsville, Indiana. GUCI is part of the URJ camp system and is the regional camp that kids from my temple attend. My rabbi has been either a camper or a staff member there for a good chunk [...]
Some thoughts on this weeks Torah portion: Sh’lach L’cha.
20 And the Lord said, “I pardon, as you have asked. 21 Nevertheless, as I live and as the Lord’s Presence fills the whole world, 22 none of the men who have seen My Presence and the signs that I have performed in Egypt and in the [...]
During an adult education at my temple to discuss the book Jews and Judaism in the 21st Century: Human Responsibility, the Presence of God, and the Future of the Covenant a congregant and my rabbi got into a discussion about whether one can respect someone else’s beliefs while holding firmly to their own. It [...]
This opinion piece by a Modern Orthodox Jew by Choice was linked from On the Fringe-Al Tzitzit and I think everyone should go and read it.
I have to admit I am increasingly frustrated as I read articles and opinions on the conversion crisis in the Orthodox community, partly because they seem to just now be [...]
This past Shabbat we read the Torah portion of קדושים, referred to commonly as the Holiness Code. Friday night our intern gave a sermon that referenced the fact that God commands Moses to speak to the entire congregation of Israel (kol adat Yisrael) and not just the children of Israel (b’nei Yisrael) that we usually [...]