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This coming Shabbat, with my rabbi on vacation and our intern doing Air Force Reserve duty, I will have the opportunity to lead Torah study and services for our informal Shabbat morning. As I’ve observed others over the past few years lead services at my temple I’ve taken a number of mental notes and what [...]

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 [...]

Last weekend we stopped by one of our local Judaica shops to browse.  While there I saw a really wonderful Shabbat and Havdalah kit to go.  I thought this was a great place to share with those of you who will be doing or who do lots of traveling AND who are trying to honor [...]

I just spent the better part of the day cleaning and prepping for Shabbat and although I’m kind of tired right now, I must admit that I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Prepping for Shabbat in our home starts with cleaning the apartment and by cleaning I mean, washing the kitchen floor, vacuuming everywhere, dusting and the [...]

It was two years ago, nearly to the day, that I became Chaviva bat Avraham v’Sarah. I say became, but it’s true that I didn’t really become anything other than the person I was meant to be and had always been, the person hidden and seeking, finally come home to Torah and her people Israel. [...]

This post is cross-posted on my personal blog. This is the second part of a two-part blog, but since it’s pretty darn long, you can read the first installment of my Pesach, which includes my first-ever experience at an Orthodox shul, by clicking HERE. And if you don’t want to read it? Well, let’s just [...]

I’m bumping this post (which was originally posted last month) up to the top as reminder for those of you, who may have forgotten about the Jewish Discovery Shabbat at OSRUI and as an FYI to those of you who missed it the first time round.
Avi
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Cross-posted on Accidentally Jewish. This is an opportunity for people [...]

Last week was the conclusion of a 3 week adult education course at my temple on Jewish prayer. In the last session one woman raised the question about how people can feel more connected to the service; the woman is not a regular attendee of Friday night or Saturday morning services, though she is there [...]

This week is Parshat V’yikra, the first section of Leviticus. It is also Shabbat Zakhor, the Shabbat of Remembrance, one of the four special Shabbatot before Pesach. As the name implies, the theme is remembrance, and specifically, we are to remember the crimes of Amalek against the Israelites as they journeyed in the [...]

Regardless of whether one is a convert or a Jew by birth who was raised in an unobservant family, it’s all too easy to make (often inaccurate) assumptions about the role that religious observance plays in the lives of other Jews. For example, it’s easy to assume that someone who self- identifies as “orthodox” is [...]