Ma Nishma

Sermonfest!

Lisa Tuttle — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 12:04:45 -0400

In a dynamic new feature on the JRF website, Reconstructionist rabbis from across our movement were invited to share their High Holiday sermons on a diverse array of topics. Excerpts of the talks are posted on the site along with links to read the entire sermon.

Experience Sermonfest! at http://jrf.org/sermonfest.

Heshvan: International Jewish Social Action Month 2010

Rabbi Shawn Zevit — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 14:28:10 -0400

The Jewish Reconstructionist Federation is once again enthusiastically joining Jewish communities, organizations and individuals from around the world in celebrating a month of social action and Jewish unity. The Hebrew month of Heshvan – which generally falls in October through November– has been again declared Jewish Social Action Month (JSAM).

In the words of JSAM in Israel: "The huge amount of social action work the JRF is involved in, at a global, national and local level makes your involvement and support of great import to this initiative."

Whether you call it Tikkun Olam, social action, chesed - Join thousands of Jewish organizations and individuals around the world of all backgrounds and affiliations for a month of unity through social action. Volunteer with children, rally for Darfur, clean up a river, feed the homeless, raise money for Sderot, paint a mural – or do whatever you are passionate about:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFsWZgGmo4E

This year’s Jewish Social Action Month promises to be once again an amazing time of increased unity and positive action involving Jews from many countries and perspectives. Every group or individual is welcome to mark Jewish Social Action Month in the way that is most meaningful to them and their community. Heshvan can be a month to launch new social action projects or increase your existing efforts. The actions can be large scale projects or simple acts of individual kindness. They can be focused on the Jewish community, on tikkun olam, on the environment. Jewish Social Action Month presents endless possibilities for each individual, community and organization to make a difference. Each act is important in itself and helps strengthen this global Jewish effort to make the world a better place.

Jewish Social Action Month is a global network of young Jewish leaders. Political support came from the Presidents of both Israel and the United States of America, British parliamentarians, US senators and congressmen, Israeli Knesset members and others. A wide spectrum of Jewish religious groups (including the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation and Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association), major institutions, youth groups, communal organizations and many others from around the world endorsed the initiative and created exciting and widespread programs. Jewish Social Action Month was introduced into the Jewish calendar and into the lives of many. A few examples, such as the efforts to help the homeless of Britain and Brazil, environmental projects in Israel, seminars on social action in Mexico, assisting the victims of hurricanes in America and earthquakes in Pakistan, give some sense of the range of activities inspired by Jewish Social Action Month. See www.cheshvan.org and http://werepair.org/ for a fuller indication of partners and projects.

JRF is particualrly excited about our participation in many social justice activities that canbe found at http://jrf.org/to/jrf-tikkun-olam-2010-11.

For more information visit www.Cheshvan.org.

JRF RELATED ACTIVITIES

Praying with Lior: Film Wrestles with Judaism, Disability

Lisa Tuttle — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 14:46:10 -0500

Lior with Rabbi Shawn ZevitAn engrossing, wrenching and tender documentary film, Praying with Lior, is debuting around the world and receiving rave reviews and was the highest grossing independent film its first weekend in New York.

The film tells the story of Lior Liebling, a member of congregation Mishkan Shalom in Philadelphia, whom his community calls "the little rebbe." Lior has Down syndrome, and has spent his life praying with utter abandon. As Lior approaches bar mitzvah, the movie poses difficult questions such as What is disability? And who really talks to God?

Read the New York Times story about the film and
an interview with director Ilana Trachtman on the NY Jewish Film Festival blog.

Praying with Lior show times

Movies and Mitzvot on Christmas: Temple Beth Hatfiloh’s Sing-Along is now Tradition

Lisa Tuttle — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 15:15:29 -0500

Ozi, the son of Rabbi Seth Goldstein, dressed as a zombie from the dream scene in Fiddler on the Roof at the 2004 sing-along. What are your shul’s Christmas-day traditions? For the past few years, the members of Temple Beth Hatfiloh in Olympia, Washington, have gathered for a fun-filled Christmas-day Jewish movie night. Their premiere event in 2004, which featured a showing of Fiddler on the Roof, included a sing-along, costume contest, and a potluck, as well as the now-traditional food and blanket drive benefitting the Olympia Food Bank and other local organizations that support the community.

This year’s film was West Side Story - the romantic Romeo and Juliet adaptation that depicts the inner city New York turf war between the Puerto Rican "Sharks" and the American "Jets." The screening was hosted Beth Hatfiloh’s partner, the Olympia Film Society, which holds special events and shows art house films in its home base at the Capitol Theatre, a local historical landmark located three blocks away from the synagogue, in downtown Olympia.

“It is still a sing-along, but now the only food is OFS’s theater concession stand,” said Temple Beth Hatfiloh’s rabbi, Seth Goldstein, interviewed in Washington's jtnews.net. “We still put the words up using subtitles and have costume contests and prizes. It’s very interactive and a fun way of connecting to the community.”

What makes West Side Story a Jewish movie? Well for starters, the four principals of the movie, Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Laurents, Stephen Sondheim, and Jerome Robbins were all Jewish and, according to the film’s official website, the authors originally intended Maria to be Jewish!

Bet Am Shalom Takes Part in Backpack Project for Darfur

Lisa Tuttle — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 14:39:52 -0500

JWW Backpack ProjectCongregation Bet Am Shalom in Whiteplains, NY, joins the Westchester Darfur Coalition and Jewish World Watch (JWW) in providing and education for children fleeing genocide in Darfur. JWW's Backpack Project will enable children in the Oure Cassoni refugee camp in Chad to attend schools run by the International Rescue Committee. Filled with shoes, books, school supplies, soap and toothpaste (all obtained as locally as possible), the backpack allows each child to make the most of school under the most difficult of circumstances.

Backpacks are $36 each. Every dollar donated to the JWW Backpack Project will be matched dollar for dollar, up to $100,000, through the generousity of a local family foundation.

For for more information on Bet Am Shalom's Giving Program, e-mail Fran Heyman at franheyman@msn.com, and visit www.JewishWorldWatch.org

Bet Am Shalom's flyer and donation form are attached below.

Click here for a full listing of JRF's resources and response to the ongoing genocide in Darfur.

Reconstructionists Named to "Forward 50"

Lisa Tuttle — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 14:35:16 -0500

Each year the staff of The Forward chooses 50 individuals who are “making a difference in the way American Jews view the world and themselves” and embody “the spirit of Jewish action as it is emerging in America.” The list for 2007 includes four Reconstructionists who are making their mark in the areas of community, spiritual leadership, and ideas and activism:

Rabbi Steve Gutow, Executive Director of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs

Ruth Messinger; Executive Director of the American Jewish World Service

Rabbi Toba Spitzer, president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association and rabbi at JRF affiliate Dorshei Tzedek in Newton, Massachusetts

June Walker, president of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

Read their profiles from The Forward at jrf.org/Recon_forward_50.

Read the New Issue of Ma Nishma for December

Lisa Tuttle — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 21:19:58 -0500

The latest issue of Ma Nishma - News from JRF is out in its new format.

Read it online at jrf.org/manishma_dec.

Now everyone can subscribe to receive Ma Nishma as an e-Newsletter. 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.

You can also download Ma Nishma for December in MS Word.

In this issue:

JRF Calls on Congress to Support Peace Talks
Reconstructionists Named to the ‘Forward 50’
Register for Camp JRF!
Camp JRF Scholarships Available
JRF Planned Giving Website Debut
Hold a Shabbaton at Camp JRF
Israel Experience Registration Now Open
No’ar Hadash Teen Events
JRF's Sustainable Synagogue Initiative
Kol HaKavod!
Upcoming Events

Kehillat Israel's Grand Mortgage Payoff

Lisa Tuttle — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 15:01:53 -0400

Kehillat Israel in Pacific Palisades, CA, celebrated the end of its mortgage with a special weekend of celebrations in early October.

Mazel tov!

Calling all Reconstructionist Teens!

Lisa Tuttle — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 14:08:14 -0400

No'ar Hadash, the Reconstructionist Youth Movement, is excited to announce these upcoming events for teens:

Dec. 14 - 16, 2007
Eastern Youth Kallah
(Concurrent with the JRF Chespeake Regional Kallah)
Waynesboro, PA

Jan. 11 - 13
Western Teen Kallah
(Concurrent with the JRF Western Regional Gathering)
Irvine, CA

Jan. 18 - 20
New England Teen Kallah
Boston, MA

Feb. 1 - 3
Canada Teen Kallah
Ottawa, Ontario

Feb. 15 - 17
Midwest Youth Kallah
Ingleside, IL

Feb. 15 - 17
Pacific Northwest Teen Kallah
Olympia, WA

April 11 - 13
North American Teen Kallah
Location TBD

For more information, visit www.noarhadash.org, e-mail us at info@noarhadash.org, or call (215) 885-5601.

Camp JRF Registration is Now Open

Lisa Tuttle — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 13:54:43 -0400

Make sure that your child has the summer of a lifetime at Camp JRF on the Aaron and Marjorie Ziegelman Campus in the Pocono Mountains.

Here's how to register: Go to www.campjrf.org and either register online or print the application and mail to our camp office.

In just a few weeks the Summer 2008 Camp JRF brochure will be in the mail and will also be included in the next issue of Reconstructionism Today.

For more information, please contact the Camp JRF office at 877-CAMP-JRF (877-226-7573).