Ready to expand your Reconstructionist book shelf? JRF’s new online bookstore features the full catalogue of JRF’s Reconstructionist Press, plus CDs, Camp JRF apparel and more. JRF affiliate congregations and members can get a 20% discount on most products. Call 1-877-JRF-PUBS to get your discount code.

The site will always be changing, so be sure to check back often. You can still order everything by phone by calling 1-877-JRF-PUBS.

Dear Ma Nishma Subscriber,

I'm happy to deliver to your e-mail doorstep the latest issue of Ma Nishma ("What's Happening?"), featuring news and events from JRF. Now everyone can subscribe to Ma Nishma. Register at the JRF website at http://jrf.org/user/register then click "Manage your JRF e-newsletter subscriptions" at the top left of the home page to subscribe.  read more »

Newsletter editors and webmasters: Please reprint stories and announcements from this issue for a JRF News page in your congregational newsletter and on your website.

Cantor Susan Wehle, zl.With the deepest sadness, we want to let you know of the tragic death of Cantor Susan Wehle, who was among those who died in the plane crash of Continental Flight 3407 on Thursday evening, February 12. Susan was a dearly beloved cantor in the Buffalo area, where she previously served JRF congregation Temple Sinai in Amherst, NY for nine years, working alongside Rabbi Jamie Arnold. She was currently serving as cantor at Temple Beth Am, where she had worked for the last seven years.

The Torah implores us vehadarta p’nai zaken, grant glory to the elder (Leviticus 19:32). Hiddur: The Center for Aging and Judaism of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College has created a way for you to honor a special elder in your life. Tell your parent, grandparent, teacher, neighbor or friend that you treasure him or her. When you donate $180 or more to Hiddur, Hiddur will present your valued elder with the Ateret Tiferet Sayvah–Crown of Glorious Aging Award (view sample), a beautiful, personalized certificate describing the qualities you see as worthy of honor.

There are many JRF initiatives or letters of support in which we are continually asked to participate. In all of these cases, JRF is invited to join other interfaith or Jewish denominational coalitions in national and international social justice areas or letters/programs about forthcoming legislation or policy in keeping with our already existing resolutions.

Sign-ons through 2011 (to be updated):

Older sign-ons

• Opposition to "High Risk Nonprofit Security Enhancement Act of 2004" - US Congress - URJ/JRF - June 2004
• Interfaith service for Justice for Children and the Poor - Children's Defense Fund, support of event - October 2004
• Defense of RLUIPA Coalition - Becket Fund for Religious Liberty - December 2004
• Brief in legal defense of church/state land use separation on behalf of Coalition for Free Exercise of Religion - Cutter vs Wilkinson - US Supreme Court
• WISC Health Care Working Group- Medicaid to the president, members of Congress and OMB - January 2005
• Supplemental Security Income benefits for elderly refugees - Senate Finance Committee - HIAS - March 2005
• Petition to Congress for Sudan Darfur relief
  - US Congress - Hillel International - March 2005
• National Coalition Building Institute 20th anniversary event - Congressman John Lewis speaker- Washington - NCBI - April 2005
• NY State Amicus brief in support of same-sex marriage,
  April 2005

Dear Ma Nishma Subscriber,

I'm happy to deliver to your e-mail doorstep the latest issue of Ma Nishma ("What's Happening?"), featuring news and events from JRF. Now everyone can subscribe to Ma Nishma. Register at the JRF website at http://jrf.org/user/register then click "Manage your JRF e-newsletter subscriptions" at the top left of the home page to subscribe.  read more »

Newsletter editors and webmasters: Please reprint stories and announcements from this issue for a JRF News page in your congregational newsletter and on your website.

This article by Rabbi Elliott Tepperman originally appeared in The Rainbow, the monthly newsletter of JRF affiliate Bnai Keshet in Montclair, NJ.

Also see: www.jrf.org/PEARL-resources  read more »

Rabbi Elliott TeppermanAt the recent convention of the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation, I was asked to participate in one of the Opening Forum discussions. The topic was “Strengthening and Transforming Congregational Life.” Hayim Herring, Executive Director, STAR and Amy Sales, Director of the Fisher-Bernstein Institute for Jewish Philanthropy and Leadership at Brandeis University, also spoke. I want to share the thoughts I presented to the convention with you who have been my teachers and fellow explorers in the work of congregational transformation.

Welcome to the JRF Statements and Resources page for events in the Middle East.

JRF has added a diverse array of resources to the rich collection of materials relating to Israel already on the website. We hope these resources will assist in understanding the issues and in promoting dialogue within your communities.  read more »

Rabbi Anita SteinerMy house keeps shaking, not from rockets from Gaza, but from artillery or whatever we are shooting into Gaza.

I have been with three friends in the last two days who are having difficulty coping, given the fear, rockets, constant planes, helicopters and our firing into Gaza with the resultant noise, and the not knowing what will be tomorrow and next month and next year. One clearly needs some counseling so he calms down so he can better deal with himself and the person he lives with. All kinds of hotlines are advertised constantly on TV and the radio.  read more »

JRF is proud to announce that it will launch the TEL Post B’nai Mitzvah Program in the fall of 2009. Tel is the Hebrew word for an archeological hill, and JRF is using the word as an acronym for Teens: Experience and Learning. JRF seeks to create a true tel experience for our teens based on the opportunity to dig through first-hand “life-centered” experiences and sift out new, meaningful educational gleanings that are personally relevant to their lives.

[Here is an excerpt from another posting by Steve Burnstein from Kibbutz Gezer in Israel. Read the whole post. Ed.]

He wanted to know why someone would want to live there. We told him about the beautiful cities of Ashkelon and Ashdod - that are on the Mediterranean Sea and have wonderful beaches. We told him that rockets were not always falling there. We told him that there are lots of people like us praying for peace. We told him that there are lots of people working very hard to stop the rockets.

Once he was satisfied there were no rockets in Gezer he was ready for some ice cream.

Rabbi Anita Steiner[Rabbi Anita Steiner is an RRC graduate and a long-time resident of Ashkelon. She is the chair of Rabbis for Human Rights. Read her story from Wednesday. Ed.]

Shalom to all.

How I wish my simple message of shalom could reach many people!

Yesterday, Shabbat was very difficult.

The last time I had davened (prayed) in a miklat/ bomb shelter/ fortified room was during the Second Lebanese War. A group of rabbis and other volunteers traveled up north to support the people there. We davened in the miklat which served as a shul for the Masorti congregation of Mauricio Balter the rabbi in Kiryat Bialik, north of Haifa. It was Tisha B'av. We davened a 'regular' service,' read Eicha /Lamentations and studied. Afterwards we scampered to a few miklatim to deliver toys to children who were living in the miklatim. A colleague and I did help a young woman who was having difficulty functioning. She could not leave the shelter for any reason, and her life had completely stopped. Yes we helped by listening and giving hugs.  read more »

Steve Burnstein, an RRC student who lives in Israel, has posted some of his feelings about how he is feeling to his new blog. Steve is the Director of the Center for Israel and Diaspora Education at IsraelExperts. Previously he served as the Consultant for Israel Ed. at the Auerbach CAJE in Philly where he coordinated local professional development for the N. American Coalition for Israel Engagement, and also served as Rabbinic Intern at Bnai Keshet in Montclair, New Jersey. Steve is an RRC student who lives in Israel, not an American RRC student doing his year there. This means that his completion at RRC may be slow, but he's committed to being with his wife, Varda, and kids, Micah and Gabi where their family thrives the best. Here is an excerpt from the post, written on January 9.

I am mentally and physically exhausted from the anxiety & stress. But most of all I’m sad.  read more »

Sad that I have to think about whether going to work is safe – and where to run when the sirens sound.
Sad over the death of hundreds of Palestinian civilians.
Sad that my six and seven year old children know stories of people hit by Hamas rocket fire.

Rabbi Anita Steiner[Rabbi Anita Steiner is an RRC graduate and a long-time resident of Ashkelon. She is the chair of Rabbis for Human Rights. This story was written around 5 P.M. today Israel time. Ed.] On the radio, every hour and also on the half hour, the names of the soldiers who have died are listed as well as the times and places of their funerals. The Israeli casualties are mounting, in addition to all the casualties in Gaza.

Yesterday after the seventh rocket here, I stopped counting. The house of some one I know was damaged by a rocket that was close to hers. Even when there aren't rockets landing, there is a lot of noise. Helicopters, planes, jets, artillery being fired, and many unknown booms. And so many of our kids, brothers, husbands, friends, either in Gaza or poised to go in.  read more »

Dear Ma Nishma Subscriber,

I'm happy to deliver to your e-mail doorstep the latest issue of Ma Nishma ("What's Happening?"), featuring news and events from JRF. Now everyone can subscribe to Ma Nishma. Register at the JRF website at http://jrf.org/user/register then click "Manage your JRF e-newsletter subscriptions" at the top left of the home page to subscribe.  read more »

Newsletter editors and webmasters: Please reprint stories and announcements from this issue for a JRF News page in your congregational newsletter and on your website.