Jewish Reconstructionist Federation

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.

“Congregational Growth: The Dynamics of Membership, Outreach and Financial Resources”
Sunday, March 2, 2008, 9 am to 4 pm, at Ezra Habonim – The Niles Township Jewish Congregation, Skokie, IL

Come learn how to use a congregational systems approach to understand the dynamics of congregational growth. Gain important skills and ideas about how to effectively reach out to attract new members, reach in to strengthen already-existing members and volunteers, and how to creatively grow the congregation's financial resources.

All JRF affiliates are invited to send representatives to this special one-day workshop! We strongly encourage you to come in teams of three or more to maximize the benefits.

Presenters: Barry Nove, JRF Director of Development and Rabbi Shawn Zevit, JRF Director of Outreach & External Affairs/Tikkun Olam.

Tuition: $72 per person includes breakfast, lunch and materials.

REGISTER ONLINE NOW and download the event flyer and registration form at www.jrf.org/north_american_leadership_workshop_skokie.[/b]

This workshop is part of JRF's North American Leadership Series. For information contact Shoshi Braman at jbraman@jrf.org or 215-885-5601, ext. 10.

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

This year, the New York-New Jersey Region of JRF is taking its annual Evening of Celebration to the stage.

We are planning a wonderful evening at Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theatre where we'll be among the first groups to see South Pacific! The Evening of Celebration will honor "Those Who Bring Joy and Creativity to Our Congregations" in the NY/NJ Region.

Mazel Tov to our Honorees:

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.

New donor stories are going up every month. Perhaps there’s one from your congregation. Make a difference for your community and/or the Reconstructionist movement. Go to http://www.jrfplannedgiving.org and click on Donor Stories. For further information contact Barry Nove, JRF director of development, at bnove@jrf.org
and 215-885-5601, x. 19.

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.

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.

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

Mazel tov!