Along with the new musical, fans have a way to stay up-to-the-minute on the latest news about the nostalgic comedy through Facebook.

(PRWeb January 18, 2012)

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/1/prweb9117140.htm

Buddy Drew -The Musical will debut at 1st Stage Theater in Tysons Corner, Va., where inspiration is more than just a buzz word.

(PRWeb January 11, 2012)

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/1/prweb9095565.htm

Rhode Island has a significant place in the religious life of the United States. It is home to Touro Synagogue, the first synagogue in America, dedicated in 1763. It is home to the first Baptist church in America as well, begun in 1638. It is home to a number of significant houses of worship, and it is the most Catholic state in the country.

Rhode Island also has a significant history in the separation of church and state. Roger Williams, a Baptist minister, came to found Rhode Island after being banished from the colony of Massachusetts and experiencing firsthand the persecution that can exist in a land without religious freedom. While the influence of Roger Williams has carried Rhode Island far in preserving religious liberty, citizens living under this grand tradition have faltered as of late.

Over the last few years, there has been a significant conflict surrounding a prayer banner at one of the local high schools. Cranston, R.I., which is home to my synagogue, Temple Sinai, has two public high schools. When Cranston West opened in the 1960s, it adopted an official school prayer, which hangs on the auditorium wall. The impulse in adopting this prayer, which was composed by a student at the school, was admirable. It is, however, explicitly still a prayer. It begins “Heavenly Father,” and it concludes with “Amen” – and it is titled “School Prayer.”

In recent years, objections to the banner were raised, spearheaded by a brave and thoughtful student at the school, Jessica Ahlquist. Jessica, who is an atheist, objected to the presence of an official school prayer in the auditorium. She brought her objections to the administration, to the school committee, and ultimately to the general public through a lawsuit filed with the assistance of the ACLU. At every turn, requests to take down the banner, convert it into a historic museum-style display, or edit the wording were rejected.

Earlier this month, the court case was decided – U.S. District Judge Ronald Lagueux ruled that the banner needed to come down. In the last several weeks, unfortunately, this situation has transformed from a simple dispute over school prayer and the appropriate separation of church and state. Jessica has been subjected to insults and threats, the rhetoric on talk radio and other media outlets has been vicious, and Jessica and her supporters have been vilified. The police have been escorting Jessica to school, local businesses have refused to provide for Jessica and her family, and even a member of the State Assembly was on the air calling Jessica terrible names. It has been a very sad time in our city and state.

I have joined together with other religious leaders in the state to offer support for Jessica, and also to advocate that it is appropriate for the banner to come down. Naturally, there has been a lot of support coming from atheist groups and other non-religious people and organizations. It was important to me, as a rabbi and a person of faith, to voice my support. We must take action to defend the separation of church and state. Especially given our Jewish history of religious persecution, that separation is part of what makes me feel safe and secure in this country. We must also take action to demonstrate that Reform Judaism is tolerant, accepting, and able to embrace a wide variety of perspectives.

Last week, a group of nearly 20 leaders from different faith traditions, including three rabbis, an imam, and a number of Protestant clergy came together to speak for tolerance and civility in this debate. In my remarks, I said, “This is not about agreement or disagreement on the issue. It’s about how we treat one another. The diversity of our community is an incredible strength. We must act to elevate and protect the freedom of expression that is so central to our community.” I offered the rabbinic teachings about Hillel and Shammai, which show us that we don’t need to shy away from conflict, but we need to conduct disputes in a positive and constructive manner. When we disagree, we must still find ways to respect our opponent and to build up the community.

I pray for peace in my state and throughout our country. I celebrate the bravery of this high school student, who raised her voice and took action when she saw something wrong in her school. As a parent and as a rabbi, I hope that all of our young people will live in this way: developing a moral compass and working for the sake of justice, equality, and peace. And when our young people or any person is motivated to take action, may they be supported and respected. Let us cultivate an environment where opinions are expressed freely but respectfully, where those with different viewpoints are respected, and where we celebrate the diversity that makes our community so strong.

Rabbi Peter W. Stein is the rabbi at Temple Sinai in Cranston, R.I. Photo courtesy of Temple Sinai.

by Paula Krone and Michael Faber

Like most parents, from the time we gave birth to our son, we had many hopes and dreams for him. We wanted him to have a good education, have friends and grow up to live a happy and prosperous life. We also had dreams of our child being brought up in the Jewish religion, and we hoped our child would embrace all that Judaism has to offer. Of course, we had hoped that he would pass some part of ourselves, including our Jewish heritage, to his children. It wasn’t long after Benjamin Avi was born, however, that we knew that many of those dreams would never come to be.

Benjamin Avi was born with a rare, genetic disease called mitochondrial myopathy. It is not one of the genetic diseases typically associated with the Jewish people. This one affects both Jews and non-Jews of all races and cultures. Mitochondrial myopathy has caused Benjamin’s cells to not produce enough energy for his body to function as most people’s do. As a result, Benjamin cannot walk, cannot talk and has poor fine motor skills. He cannot chew or digest food properly, and he is considered legally blind. He has seizures, a feeding tube and has been diagnosed with moderate mental retardation, an intellectual disability that still leaves us questioning what he understands and what he does not. Although the effects of mitochondrial diseases vary greatly between victims, the one commonality seems to be a shortened life expectancy, although medical science cannot predict that very well. There is currently no cure for mitochondrial myopathy or any of the many other mitochondrial diseases.

It is with this backdrop that we embarked on a journey to keep Benjamin healthy, and to help him lead a happy, fulfilling and meaningful life. Part of this journey included bringing Benjamin up as a Jewish child. From the time Benjamin was a tiny infant, we took him with us to Friday night Shabbat services at The Temple in Atlanta, Georgia. When we were at home or driving in the car, we all listened to Hebrew music by Debbie Friedman, Craig Taubman and a host of other musicians. To this day, Benjamin’s favorite music selections are those sung in Hebrew. Benjamin loves Hebrew music so much that, when he was in sixth grade in public school, the speech therapist used Craig Taubman’s Friday Night Live CD to encourage him to communicate.

While we knew we could send Benjamin to a non-denominational Sunday school for Jewish children with disabilities in Atlanta, we very much wanted Benjamin to attend religious school in an inclusive environment with the other children his age. In 2002, there didn’t seem to be very many special needs children attending religious schools in inclusive environments, so we turned to the URJ for guidance. They talked with us, and they sent us a book entitled Al Pi Darco: According to Their Ways. After reading that book, we were encouraged to pursue a Jewish education for our child in the regular religious school. So, we decided to enroll Benjamin in the Temple Bremen Religious School when he was 4 years old.

For the first year of religious school, pre-kindergarten, one of us (Benjamin’s parents) stayed in the classroom and served as Benjamin’s aide. For kindergarten, an adult with an education background served as Benjamin’s aide. By the time Benjamin got to first grade, however, Benjamin was assigned to his first teenager who would help him in the classroom. Michelle Maloney became the first of, thus far, seven teen tzadikim. She would serve in that role for two years until she left for college. Ever since then, Benjamin has had one teenager assigned to be with him in the religious school classroom each year. Coincidentally, Michelle also served as Benjamin’s group counselor for several years at the day camp at the Marcus Jewish Community Center in Atlanta. (She is now grown, and works as a special education teacher in a Georgia public school.)

As the years went by, Benjamin seemed to enjoy going to Friday night services, attending Jewish day camp in the summer, listening to Jewish music and celebrating the Jewish holidays, especially Chanukah and Passover. Yet, we still thought about and yearned for the day that Benjamin would have a bar mitzvah.

Now that years were passing and Benjamin was not physically or mentally developing as we had hoped, we wondered how he could possibly have a bar mitzvah. Oh, yes, we were told many times that a boy simply becomes a bar mitzvah just by turning 13 years old. However, we did not want Benjamin to become a bar mitzvah merely by turning 13 years old. We wanted him to have what many other Jewish boys have when they turn 13. We wanted him to have a ceremony where he would be called to the Torah.

At some point, we had to let go of our picture of what a bar mitzvah looks like and of what we might imagine Benjamin’s bar mitzvah would look like. With the unwavering support of Rabbi Rau, the Director of Education at The Temple, Rabbis Berg, Reeves and Lapidus, and Cantor Numark, Benjamin’s Bar Mitzvah service began to take form and shape.

It was decided that the beautiful historic sanctuary would be used for the service, but its bimah was too high for a wheelchair ramp. So, The Temple created a small, low bimah using a riser connected to a ramp that a Temple member built for the event. The date chosen would be on Shabbat Noach, ten months after Benjamin turned 13, so that two hundred fifty Reform Jewish teenagers from around the Southeastern United States could witness this special event when they would be in Atlanta. The part of the Torah that would be read would be about the rainbow, a symbol that has been used around the world by all religions to mean inclusion of all people.

Two of Benjamin’s religious school classmates, Ben Furman and Elliott Williams, volunteered to read from the Torah for him. Benjamin’s mom would read the part for which Benjamin would have his aliyah. Benjamin would use an electronic communication device with eight buttons, loaned to him by Gwinnett County Public Schools, to say the blessings before and after the Torah was read. Other aliyahs would be made by Benjamin’s doctors and by some of the Temple staff who had become like family. After the service, there would be a dessert Oneg that would consist of baked goods brought by Temple members, enough to feed over five hundred people and have plenty left over.

When October 28, 2011 came, we brought Benjamin to The Temple in his new gray suit, with his new purple tie. When the service began, Rabbi Berg wrapped Benjamin in the beautiful rainbow tallit that the clergy gave him as a gift. Benjamin had come into the sanctuary already wearing the matching kippah. In his parents’ eyes, no other bar mitzvah boy could ever have been as handsome. When Cantor Numark began to sing, Benjamin began to rock back and forth. When it was time for Benjamin to lead the congregation in prayer, his current religious school aide, Abby Bocenic, helped him push the buttons on the communication device. As the buttons were pushed, the pre-recorded voice of teenager Ben Hirsch sounded through the speaker system in the sanctuary. Our son was becoming a bar mitzvah.

When it was time for the reading of the Torah, the actual Torah was passed down from family member to family member until finally into the arms of Benjamin’s dad. Then, a miniature Torah was placed into Benjamin’s lap. With Rabbi Berg carrying the Torah and Benjamin being pushed in his wheelchair as he carried the miniature Torah in his lap, we all participated in the processional around the sanctuary. As one long-time Temple congregant had put it, she had never seen the congregation so joyous.

After the reading of the Torah portions and after Benjamin completed his aliyah, the congregation sang Simintov and Mazel Tov and then sang a modified version of The Sabbath Prayer from Fiddler on the Roof. (May you have good friends who’ll stand by you. May you always have a good home. Strengthen him, oh Lord, and never let him feel alone.) At the end of the service, the entire clergy, now joined by our beloved Rabbi Emeritus Alvin Sugarman, put their hands on Benjamin and gave him the Yevarechecha blessing. As noted by Judy Cole, our amazing pianist who played the incredibly beautify music throughout the service, that was the time that just about everyone in the congregation cried.

God called upon hundreds of people over the course of thirteen years.
He had a very special task he needed each of them to do for a special child.
When called upon, each one without question said
“Hineni. Here I am.”

When all the planning, building and preparing was complete,
God’s special child was called to the Torah.
And all the people rejoiced.
And God saw that it was good.

It took hundreds of people and one very special child.
There can be no doubt that God’s voice came through loud and clear that night.
It was then that God said to all of us
“Hineni. Here I am.”

And we all know in our hearts, in our minds and in our souls,
that what we did was good.

Paula Krone and Michael Faber are members of The Temple in Atlanta, Georgia.

Today is the 1st day of the second year following the death of my son, Mitch. It is also the date upon which I had committed to beginning a Blog about my spiritual journey and contemplations. This morning, God provided one of those Invisible Lines of Connection of which Larry Kushner writes to prove that this is the right day.

I was crossing from Penn Station to my Midtown office in NYC, picking out a different route, as I do each day. Rounding a corner, a young man caught my eye, and then my body in a tearful hug. He is the loving brother of a wonderful young woman, Amy, whose wedding I performed ten years ago, after connecting very deeply to her and her fiancé during preparation. One month later, I received a sobbing phone call from her husband, Brian, telling me Amy had died very suddenly. Post-mortem examination revealed an undetected cardiac defect had taken her, very much as happened with Mitch all these years later.

Her brother, Andrew, told me today of the “lost years” that followed Amy’s death. It took him a long while to find his way back again fully into life. But he found it, as did the rest of her wonderful family. As we are doing, even now.

Yesterday was Mitch’s yahrzeit. It was a beautiful day, unseasonably warm, and when we visited the cemetery my wife, Rachel, and I could both feel Mitch and God smiling upon us and telling us that we and our family and his multitude of friends are going to be okay.

This morning’s invisible line of connection with Andrew tells me we read the signals right. He and I both believe that Amy, Mitch and the One conspired together to help us find one another – and to help us know we will continue to find our ways forward, with them forever by our sides.

Yesterday, Susan G. Komen for the Cure announced it would cease all funding to Planned Parenthood Federation of America. In response, Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and Rabbi Marla Feldman, Executive Director of Women of Reform Judaism, sent the following letter to Ambassador Nancy Brinker, Komen’s founder and CEO:

Dear Ambassador Brinker,

On behalf of the Union for Reform Judaism whose 900 congregations across North America encompass 1.5 million Reform Jews, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, with membership of more than 1800 Reform rabbis, and the Women of Reform Judaism, which represents more than 65,000 women in nearly 500 women’s groups in North America and around the world, we write to express our disappointment in Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s decision to halt its longstanding partnership with Planned Parenthood Federation of America, thereby withholding funds to fight breast cancer where they are most needed.

Komen for the Cure has helped hundreds of thousands of women in the fight against breast cancer, and has educated millions, bringing the once taboo and closeted subject of breast cancer into the public domain. Indeed, the global impact that you and Komen for the Cure have had was precisely why we were so pleased to bestow upon you the Eisendrath Bearer of Light Award at our recent Biennial convention. And this is why we are so deeply disappointed by Komen’s decision to cease funding mammograms provided by PPFA in the face of a politically-motivated investigation unrelated to PPFA’s breast cancer screenings for vulnerable women.

At the same December Biennial, the Women of Reform Judaism honored PPFA President Cecile Richards and applauded PPFA’s work to advance women’s health. It is painful for us now to see politics and partisanship interfere with and undermine efforts to support women who lack the resources they need for preventive medical services like mammograms. Each year Planned Parenthood’s network of more than 800 clinics nationwide provides nearly 830,000 breast exams. PPFA has stated that, over the past five years, 170,000 of the centers’ 4 million breast exams conducted were a direct result of Komen grants. Halting Komen grant money to PPFA is contrary to your organization’s mission and interests, directly and unfairly threatening the health and safety of women.

Upon accepting the Eisendrath Bearer of Light Award, you told the story of two women, one Palestinian and one Israeli, marching together to combat breast cancer in the first Race for the Cure in Israel. You explained with admiration that, in the course of the walk, they were able to forget the political climate that divided them and they bonded instead over the common cause of women’s health. We now urge Komen to follow their example by rejecting efforts to sow division among women’s health advocates and providers and refusing to sacrifice the lives of women on the altar of political ideology.

We understand that this funding decision comes from a new standard employed by Komen for the Cure that defunds organizations under government investigation. While we understand the desire to have an objective policy in place, this particular standard is misguided, threatening more than just grants to PPFA. We believe there are less partisan ways to accomplish your goals. For example, a standard that is linked to investigations carried out by law enforcement is more likely to be free of partisanship. The standard that Komen has established allows Komen’s funding decisions to be dictated by the political whims, partisanship and pet issues of individual members of Congress, who persuade their committees to launch an investigation.  This new standard may appear to extricate Komen from politicization, yet in reality it leaves the group open to even greater politicization.

We urge you to use your leadership in Komen for the Cure to reinstate funding to PPFA for breast cancer screening, to reconsider the standard by which the organization makes funding decisions, and to continue to fight for the health and lives of women everywhere.

We look forward to your prompt reply.
Sincerely,

Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism

Rabbi Marla Feldman, Executive Director of the Women of Reform Judaism

by A.G.

Inclusion has always permeated my entire relationship with my temple, Congregation Kol Ami.  My very first conversation with Rabbi Shira Milgrom was about inclusion.  Twenty-one years ago, I was faced with a dilemma.  How could my ten-year-old son become a bar mitzvah if as a single working parent I could barely pay the rent, no less pay dues?   I posed the question to Rabbi Shira.  Her reply was simple.  “Just because you are poor, is not a reason that should prevent you from being part of a Jewish community.”  And so it began.

Jeff attended Hebrew school and I started to go to the “Spiritual Lift”, a Saturday morning Sabbath service held in the Chapel in the Woods.  Years of social isolation began to fade, as I was welcomed into the congregation, a devoted group of fifty to one hundred Jews that eventually became an extended family.  It was there that I reconnected with a sense of spirituality.

In the summer of 1993, after years of struggling with an undiagnosed mental illness, I became suicidal and I had to be hospitalized.  Saturday mornings at Kol Ami had become an important touchstone for me. The “Spiritual Lift” became a piece of my recovery.  Every Saturday morning at 11:45, I knew my name was being announced during mi shebeirach.  I received get-well cards, had a “pen pal” and spoke with the rabbi every Sabbath afternoon.  Although we were separated by hundreds of miles for a month, I still was included in the life of Kol Ami as if I was physically present.  It was a powerful relationship.  I was released from the hospital on erev Rosh Hashanah.  The next day I celebrated the New Year at Kol Ami fully aware that it was not just a new year, but also the start of a healthy healing time of my life.

In January 1994, my son became a bar mitzvah.  The service was held in the Chapel in the Woods during the “Spiritual Lift” where four generations of my family gathered as well as my extended family, the congregation.  The ceremony was all I hoped it would be and the potluck luncheon that followed was the generous gift of the congregation.  Initially, I felt ashamed that I lacked the means to throw a big celebration.  However, many congregants expressed their gratitude that they played a part in making the day special for us.  Once again I felt that great sense of inclusion.

After two years of study with a group of adults, 2001 became the year I experienced my own bat mitzvah. It was a rite that was not offered to me when I was thirteen.  Becoming bat mitzvah was a milestone in my life and it marked another step in my full inclusion in the Jewish community.

It’s been over twenty-one years since I became a congregant at Congregation Kol Ami. Today, I continue to attend the “Spiritual Lift” and I have become a regular at the study preceding the service.  I share my views and it is frequently as a person who happens to have a mental illness.  There is no stigma here.  As always, Congregation Kol Ami embraces me fully.  Here is a place of total inclusion.

A few years ago, thanks to a change in policy, gay rabbinical students at the Jewish Theological Seminary were finally able to come out of the closet.

Now clothes are also emerging from the closet, so to speak — included as a topic worthy of scholarly study at the Conservative movement’s flagship institution.

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The 19-year-old man charged in attacks on two northern New Jersey synagogues confessed to the crimes, prosecutors said.

Anthony Graziano confessed to the Jan. 11 firebomb attack on a synagogue and residence in Rutherford and the Jan. 3 arson attack on a synagogue in Paramus, Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Martin Delaney said Tuesday, according to reports.

Also Tuesday, Graziano pleaded not guilty to additional charges that he planned to attack the Jewish Community Center of Paramus.

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Ayelet Galena, the 2-year-old daughter of Manhattan residents Seth and Hindy Poupko Galena in whose sake a nationwide bone marrow drive was conducted following her diagnosis with a compromised immune system shortly after she was born, died on Jan. 31.

She had undergone a bone marrow transplant five months ago at Cincinnati’s Children’s Hospital.

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New effort aimed at making Jewish education a year-round experience.

For much of Mindy Davids’ life, summer meant one thing: Jewish overnight camp.

Starting out as a camper and moving up to counselor, Davids spent 12 consecutive summers at three different Reform movement camps.

Now the director of religious school and educational innovation at Manhattan’s Temple Shaaray Tefila, she says: “I’m in this business primarily because of informal Jewish education experiences.”

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Manhattan synagogue’s interfaith clergy trip to Israel produces concrete results among Muslims, Christians.

During the public debate last year over the planned Park 51 Islamic community center — often referred to as a mosque — near the former site of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan, Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch delivered “quite an impassioned sermon” at the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, the Upper West Side congregation where he has served as spiritual leader since 2004.

After finishing his remarks about the need for religious moderation, some members of the temple approached him. “Are you satisfied just talking about it?” they asked.

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(JTA) -- The 19-year-old man charged in attacks on two northern New Jersey synagogues confessed to the crimes, prosecutors said.

Anthony Graziano confessed to the Jan. 11 firebomb attack on a synagogue and residence in Rutherford and the Jan. 3 arson attack on a synagogue in Paramus, Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Martin Delaney said Tuesday, according to reports.

Also Tuesday, Graziano pleaded not guilty to additional charges that he planned to attack the Jewish Community Center of Paramus.

read more

by Cindy Singer

My name is Cindy Singer. November 6, 1996- a day that my son, Dylan was born with familial dysautonomia (FD), one of 19 devastating Jewish Genetic Diseases (JGD’s). It is a day that will forever be remembered as one of the saddest days of our lives.

Along with a host of other life threatening symptoms associated with FD, Dylan is also Autistic and non-verbal. 10% of those afflicted with FD are Autistic.  Amazingly, Dylan communicates with an iPad via a special needs voice out-put program called the Proloquo.

As a family we knew that Dylan would have profound health struggles and developmental challenges but with the help of our community or what I like to call “our village” we learned to build a life “one-day-at-a-time”.

Initially our synagogue responded by keeping somewhat of a distance from us. I imagine this happened because everyone had heard of Tay Sachs but no one had heard of FD. And being only human, they did not quite know how to best navigate this new territory.

However things took a wonderfully positive spin when we decided to enter Dylan in our synagogue preschool. The preschool Director was an amazing support and Dylan attended for 2 years accompanied by his nurse.

As the years passed, managing Dylan’s ongoing health issues and frequent hospitalizations often kept us from actively participating in synagogue life.  But as Dylan approached his 13th Birthday it occurred to me that I wanted him to become a Bar Mitzvah. There had been so many missed milestones, and I did not want this to become another. The question – how were we going to make it happen”?

We first had to tackle the question of affordability. In spite of health insurance coverage there were still many out-of-pocket medical costs required to take care of Dylan.  The additional expenses sadly, but completely prohibited us from being able to maintain membership in a synagogue. But as we soon discovered, our synagogue welcomes members regardless of their ability to pay.  And after one confidential conversation with the Executive Director, we were graciously back “in the fold”

In 2010 Dylan became a Bar Mitzvah.  Dylan’s grandparents draped him in the Tallis that they had purchased for him in Israel.  Jake, (the son of very good family friends) along with the help of a wonderful tutor recorded the prayers and the last line of the Torah portion into Dylan’s iPad. Each prayer was assigned a corresponding photo. When it came time to read, Dylan would press the photo on the iPad, and lead us in prayer.  With the exception of the last line, I and my two sisters read Dylan’s Torah portion. Dylan led us in the final verse of his Torah Portion and he, in the presence of our beautiful “village” became a Bar Mitzvah

There are no words to describe that day.  It was a day that continues to stand out as one in which all things were possible- it was magnificent!

This past December, while attending my first URJ Biennial, I co-presented a workshop on Jewish Genetic Diseases with Dr. Adele Schneider (Clinical Director of the Victor Center for Jewish Genetic Diseases), Rabbi Edythe Mencher (a specialist with the URJ), and my friend Rabbi Larry Sernovitz (the Associate Rabbi in my own synagogue and, who in a shockingly sad twist of fate, is also the father of Sam- a 3 year old with FD).

Being part of the Biennial and sharing Dylan’s story was one of the most moving life-changing experiences of my life and I share our story not to sadden but to inspire you!  It’s too late for Dylan but not too late for your family and friends to get tested in order to prevent them from being afflicted with any one of the 19 Jewish Genetic Diseases. It’s so simple- really.  Get a blood test and save a life. No child should ever be born with a Jewish Genetic Disease. My vision is that one day when I tell others that my son has a Jewish Genetic Disease, they don’t ask “Oh is it Tay Sach’s?” they ask “Oh, WHICH ONE”?! More information can be found on the URJ website.

 Cindy Singer is a member of Temple Beth Am in Abington, PA.

The first temple, in Jerusalem, was built by King Solomon, after God deemed his father, King David, unworthy of the task. Nonetheless, a dozen member congregations of the Union for Reform Judaism have deemed King David worthy enough to name their temples after him (although none explains on its website the reason for their choice).

But among contemporary URJ temples, only one bears the name Solomon. You could readily surmise that the Jews of that congregation wanted to honor the great builder and wise man who is credited with writing Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs.  (Daddy only has Psalms to his credit.)  But in so surmising, you would be wrong.  Temple Beth Solomon of the Deaf (Northridge CA) was coaxed into being, according to its online history, as an evolution of the Los Angeles Hebrew Association of the Deaf, and the transition was facilitated by the regional director of the then Union of American Hebrew Congregations (now URJ), Rabbi Solomon Kleinman. In appreciation for his guidance, the founders named their synagogue in his honor.

So King Solomon may have been noted for his wisdom, but not to the point of actually getting a synagogue named after him. However, three synagogues bear the names of two other Wise men, Isaac Mayer Wise Temple in Cincinnati, Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York, and Stephen Wise Temple in Los Angeles. The Cincinnati congregation was founded as Kehilat Kodesh Bnai Jeshurun, was known during Rabbi Wise’s tenure as the Plum Street Temple, and was renamed in his honor after his death.  Stephen Wise founded The Free Synagogue, on the principle of freedom of the pulpit, after having accepted a call to Temple Emanuel and then learning that his sermons would be subject to pre-approval by the lay leadership.  The congregation continued to be known as The Free Synagogue during his lifetime, and his name was added after his death in 1949.[1]  One of Wise’s disciples, Rabbi Isaiah Zeldin, influenced the founders of a new synagogue in northwest Los Angeles to name Stephen Wise Temple after his teacher.  (Beth Emet, the Free Synagogue in Evanston IL carries on the Wise heritage of freedom of the pulpit in its name, as does Sinai Free Synagogue in Mount Vernon NY.)

The two other rabbis with URJ congregations named after them did not serve in the pulpits of the temples that have memorialized them.  However, after Rabbi Leo Baeck spoke at Temple Beth Aaron in Los Angeles, the congregation was so mesmerized that they renamed their synagogue in his honor.  I’m sure that the words of Rabbi Hillel are heard frequently in the classrooms and sanctuaries of the five URJ congregations that bear his name; but only one of the five, Beth Hillel of Kenosha WI, evidences his influence, carrying im eyn ani li, mi li  (If I am not for myself, who will be for me) on its newsletter masthead.

Had Beth Aaron not changed its name to Leo Baeck, it would have been one of a trio of Union congregations bearing the name of Aaron, Moses’s less celebrated brother.  (Congregations named for the eldest sibling, Miriam?  Forget it! ) I don’t know how Congregation Aaron in Trinidad CO chose its name, but Beth Aaron in Billings MT awarded naming rights to the biggest giver to its building fund, who named the temple after himself.  But Moshe Rabbenu has not only not been a winner in the naming sweepstakes, he hasn’t even been a player.  The only one of our congregations that has Moses in its name is Moses Montefiore Temple in Bloomington IL, which honors the British philanthropist in the congregation’s name because one of the donor’s to the first building campaign made that a condition for his contribution of $100!  That was a bargain; the family of Albert Grunsfeld in Albuquerque had to come up with $250 to get naming rights for what is now Congregation Albert.

Two other URJ congregations are also named for famed philanthropists.  Temple De Hirsch Sinai in Seattle is named for Baron Maurice De Hirsch, who contributed massive sums to support Jewish emigration and colonization, especially in Argentina and Canada (and who was not gung-ho about Palestine, because he thought the Zionist idea was too far-fetched to be realized).  But, as is the norm, the temple website does not tell us why the name was chosen.  Touro Synagogue in New Orleans is the product of a merger between two earlier New Orleans congregations, both of which had benefitted from the largesse of local resident Judah Touro.

Speaking of Judah Touro leads us to three congregations whose names incorporate the name Judah, after Jacob’s fourth and most influential son (aside from kid brother Joseph).  They are Temple Judah in Cedar Rapids; The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah in Overland Park, KS; and B’nai Yehudah Beth Sholom in Homewood IL.  None of the three specifies why the name was chosen for the temple, but we can surmise that the founders wanted a term that encompassed the Jewish people and that wasn’t Israel, or the poetic stand-in Jeshurun.  B’nai Yehudah (which merged with Beth Sholom in 1998) was founded in 1944 as Hyde Park Liberal Congregation, and was early (1960) into adding a Hebrew name, presumably instigated by a move out of Hyde Park.  As for brother Joseph, his name appears at Congregation Adath Joseph in St. Joseph MO, and I suspect that geography had more to do than Torah in that nomenclature choice.

The name of Judah’s and Joseph’s father, Jacob, shows up in the names of six Union congregations.  Presumably the third patriarch was being remembered at five of them, but the sixth, Temple Jacob in Hancock MI, tells us that the name was chosen to memorialize the child of one of the big givers.  Congregation Beth Jacob in Plymouth MA connects its name with its pride in its historic 1909 building, captioning it on the website Ma tovu ohalecha Yaakov, How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob.

The second patriarch, Isaac, appears twice in the naming inventory, indirectly at the aforementioned Isaac Mayer Wise Temple, and more directly at Temple Beth Isaac in suburban Detroit.  However, it can be inferred from the temple’s website that the name was not chosen to honor the patriarch, but rather the parent of a significant donor. 

Seven congregations are named for the first patriarch, Abraham, none offering a specific reason on its website.  However, Beth Abraham of Tarrytown is another example of a congregation that changed its name from English to Hebrew.  As an Orthodox community, it called itself Hebrew Congregation of Tarrytown and North Tarrytown, and adopted its Biblical name in the same time frame as its move into Reform practice.

Given the importance of the prophetic tradition in the Reform movement, it’s easy to surmise why eleven of our congregations named themselves for prophets, and harder to figure out why it’s only eleven.  (Actually, in the case of one of the three congregations named for Micah, we are told that the name was the choice of the donor whose contribution to the building fund earned him naming rights.)  There is one Temple Jeremiah, and seven congregations whose names honor Isaiah.  Isaiah is of course remembered anonymously in the countless congregations which have carved his words in stone:  Mine house shall be a house of prayer for all peoples.[2].  Although all eleven of the “prophetic” congregations have active social action/tikkun olam[3] programs, these are not emphasized at the expense of the other core elements of synagogue life.

As a sidelight on this overview of the some sixty Reform congregations bearing the names of people,[4] we note that nine of the names are unique, the rest have one or more duplicates.  I am reminded of a story told to me by a Roman Catholic friend, whose ten year old daughter was a student at Christ the King School in Chicago’s south suburbs.  One day, Mary Beth recounted, she was driving her daughter and a classmate on an excursion in the north suburbs, and one of the girls noted that they were passing a church and school also called Christ the King – whereupon one of the girls turned to the other and said, “It must be a franchise.”

[1] These posthumous re-namings contrast with the informal names of the two Reform congregations in my home town of Cleveland.  They were generally called not by their formal names but by the names of their incumbent rabbis:  Silver’s Temple after Abba Hillel Silver, and Brickner’s Temple after Barnett Brickner. Frequently the word temple was omitted – I belong to Silver’s or I belong to Brickner’s.

[2]Actually these are the words of Deutero-Isaiah, whose real name is unknown.

[3] Although I usually italicize transliterated Hebrew in my posts, I leave tikkun olam in roman, in recollection of the Temple Youth Group member who asked the rabbi what the Hebrew word was for tikkun olam.

[4] I elected not to consider congregations with Israel in their names as relating to the man, but rather to the collective of his descendants.

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by Rabbi Vicki Tuckman

With great excitement, tinged with a touch of trepidation, I moved to Israel in the summer of 1996 to begin my first year of rabbinical school at Hebrew Union College. There was so much to learn those first few months, from how to pay the phone bill (which, mind you, was in Hebrew!) to buying groceries at the local Supersol. In addition to ulpan and a full course load, there were the names and faces to learn of my 65 classmates, none of whom I knew before arriving in Jerusalem.

My goal, of course, was not to simply learn names. My desire was to develop close, supportive relationships with my peers and future colleagues. I knew in my kishkes that these relationships would become most precious to me and contribute to my future success as a rabbi. Yet I was also in Israel to grow as a Jew and a person, and to better understand how this intersected with my desire to be a Jewish professional.

So when I received an invite to join an all-women’s Rosh Chodesh group with my fellow HUC students, I jumped at the opportunity. Although I was attending a Reform seminary that granted full equality to men and women – and had ordained the first female rabbi in America in 1972 – being part of a Rosh Chodesh group spoke to my feminist and Jewish beliefs. I proudly thought of my mother who had firmly steered our family towards joining a Reform synagogue when I was 10 years old, so I would be called to the Torah on a Saturday morning to read from the actual scroll just like my brother would be so honored.  If a group like this had been around when my mother was my age, she would have been the first one to set the table and invite her girlfriends over.

I was soon to learn that the tradition of women gathering for Rosh Chodesh had long tendrils stretching back to biblical times. Anita Diamont and Howard Cooper write in Living a Jewish Life: Jewish Traditions, Customs and Values for Today’s Families that:

“Rosh Hodesh gathering(s) have roots both in ancient Jewish lore and modern feminism. Rosh Hodesh, literally, “the head of the month,” is the semi- holiday that celebrates every new moon. In the past, Rosh Hodesh was a special holiday for women, a day on which women were forbidden to do their usual work…Today groups of Jewish women gather on or around the time of the new moon, in the spirit of feminist consciousness-raising groups, to talk about what it means to be a Jewish woman.” (pages 283-284)

I am grateful that I had a group of women who were committed to each other’s personal, professional and spiritual journeys. Each month a different member of the group introduced a topic to study, which was always followed by hours of lively conversation. No evening was ever complete without pot-luck offerings of food and drink! Our group grew in knowledge, friendship and intimacy over the course of our year together.

I am now part of a similar Jewish women’s group – called a “Lilith Salon” – in which women from my area gather four times a year to discuss articles and themes from a Jewish feminist magazine called Lilith. As typical of these women’s gatherings, the food is fantastic and the fellowship even better. Yet I have begun to crave that monthly coming together, especially when I look up into the night sky and see a sliver of the new moon. Often I wonder how many millions of women have tracked their weeks, months, and years glancing at the same moon I am humbled by.

I think it is time for me to put out invites and push the chairs into a circle in my living room. I know there are Jewish women out there who would like to discuss a Jewish book, chew over a piece of Torah text, or look for support to deal with a surly teen-ager or an aging parent. The moon will dictate the time of our meetings as our Jewish calendar dictates the larger rhythms of our lives. I think I’ll serve quiche.

Rabbi Vicki Tuckman is an Education Specialist with the URJ’s Congregational Consulting Group and the Rabbi/Director of Jewish Life at URJ Camp Harlam. She is also a proud member of Har Sinai Congregation in Pennington, New Jersey. Please contact Rabbi Tuckman at vtuckman@urj.org regarding any educational support you need in areas of formal or experiential education, including “helpful hints” for creating a Rosh Chodesh gathering in your neck of the woods. 

Originally published in Ten Minutes of Torah.