News

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

JRF's Sustainable Synagogue Initiative - NEW RESOURCES JUST ADDED!

Rabbi Shawn Zevit — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 15:47:22 -0500

Shawn Zevit and Derek Rosenbaum on Greening Conference Call: Derek takes the idea of a "green" call very seriously.On In 1990 JRF passed a movement-wide resolution (see attachments below) on the environment and congregational life. Since 2006 we offered conference calls on Sustainable Synagogues and Living a Jewish Life Rooted in Ecological Values.

Read the notes from the 2007 call.

With the enthusiasm around JRF's Omer Learning Initiative, as well as the solid response of JRF congregations in the Climate Change Initiative, JRF is deepening its work with member communities, other religious movements and partner organizations (JCPA, COEJL) in the area of sustainability.

Our hope is to motivate and educate our congregations in sustainable practices, with the goal of reaching 100 percent participation in the years ahead.

Topics covered by guest teachers Julie Dorfman, Rabbi Yitz Husbands Hankin, Hazzan Eric Schulmiller and Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb included: Greening Synagogue practices, everyday sustainability across the synagogue system, eco-kashrut and greening synagogue practices.

A second call on Sustainability and Jewish life was held on Wed. March 5, 2008 as part of JRF's PEARL leadership learning initiative. You can view the 30 page information packet prepared for that call and the audio of the call as well.TO VIEW AND LISTEN CLICK HERE

Read Brant Rosen's Yom Kippur devar Torah that inspired the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation in Evanston to reach for the highest level of sustainability in their capital campaign. You will also find documents from JRC about their Green policies, educational material and promotional flyer for environmental awareness attached below.

Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb created a text study on climate change that incorporates elements of musar with other diverse material from our tradition.

Also see the JTA's February 2008 coverage of JRC's receiving the first Platinum LEEDS rating for a synagogue in the United States:
http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/breaking/106889.html

JANUARY 2008- NEW RESOURCES JUST ADDED!

For an equally inspiring High Holy Day sermon see Rabbi Sheryl Lewart's talk on living an environmentally sustainable life and Kehillat Israel's Five Mitzvot for Sustainable Living.

Also available is a wonderful meditation on environmental consciousness tied to the seven days of creation by Peter Goldberg of Shir Hadash, Milwaukee, WI, and inspiring materials from Dor Hadash, PA and Darchei Noam, Toronto, Canada and JRC, Evanston, IL (both moved into their new environmentally upgraded buildings in 2008).

APRIL 8, 2009- 5769 BIRKHAT HACHAMA (BLESSING OF THE SUN)

SOLAR AND RENEWABLE ENERGY CAMPAIGN IN THE JEWISH COMMUNITY

2008-9 (5769) will be the little known Jewish year of “Birkhat Hachamah” the “blessing of the sun”. JRF is part of a national coalition that will use this rare event to focus on solar power and energy stewardship. See http://www.blessthesun.org/ as it goes live!

Additional Resources on Judaism and the sustainability are available at:

http://jrf.org/omer2008-enviro

http://jrf.org/node/1264#enviro

http://jrf.org/omer/2007

http://www.jrf.org/agriprocessors-update

How does your community's practices align with the JRF resolution and the actions and commitments of other JRF communities? To add your resources to this initiative please e-mail SZevit@jrf.org

Additional Resources from other Jewish Organizations who share our commitment to a Sustainability:

COEJL Greening Synagogue Guide by R. Fred Dobb:
http://www.coejl.org/~coejlor/greensyn/gstoc.php

Education material from CAJE:
http://jrf.org/files/CAJE%20Eco-Judaism%20Resources.pdf

URJ (Reform):
www.urj.org/green (under construction)
Synagogue Architecture main page: http://architecture.urj.org/index.cfm?
sub-page on Green building is: http://architecture.urj.org/special/energy/

USCJ/RA (Conservative):
http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/living/social_action_greening.html
http://www.fjmc.org/ShomreiHaaretz.html

OU (Orthodox):
http://www.ouradio.org/images/uploads/events/Ecology.pdf http://ouradio.org/images/uploads/events/Repairing_The_Future.pdf

JRF Establishes Relief Fund for California Wildfires

Lisa Tuttle — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 10:08:57 -0400

JRF has created a fund to respond to the needs of any of our affiliated congregations that have been impacted by the Southern California wildfires, as well as to organizations that are providing relief to victims. No administrative expenses are taken on these tax-deductible donations

To donate to JRF's Wildfires Emergency Fund, please send checks only, made out to JRF with "Wildfires" in the memo line, and mail to JRF's national headquarters at Beit Devora, 101 Greenwood Avenue, Suite 430, Jenkintown, PA 19046.

Donations may also be made online, however JRF is assessed a small fee for every credit card transaction, therefore we would prefer that you make your donation by check so that every penny goes to the cause. If you do choose to donate online, please note in the comment field that your donation is intended for the Wildfires Emergency Fund.

For further information contact Lisa Kelvin Tuttle, JRF's Communications Director, at (215) 885-5601.

President Ahmadinejad’s Visit to Columbia: A Student’s Perspective

Jill Janofsky — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 01:01:26 -0400

Columbia AbuzzWhen I heard that Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs had invited President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad—a notoriously anti-Semitic and anti-Israel figurehead—to speak on campus, my first instinct was to oppose the event vehemently.

I reasoned that, if Columbia hosted an anti-Semitic figure on campus, Ahmadinjead’s could attempt legitimize his terrifying and historically incorrect viewpoints. Why should one of the most prestigious universities in the nation provide a platform from which a dangerous leader such as Ahmadinejad could deny the Holocaust and spew his advocacy for the destruction of Israel?

However, as the day approached, my line of thinking about the president’s appearance began to change. After reading over the program, it seemed like Columbia had allocated adequate time to challenge Ahmadinejad’s views. In other words, the university would not simply provide a soapbox from which the President could freely preach.

The event would begin with remarks from Columbia University President Bollinger, who would voice criticisms of Ahmadinejad’s views on Israel, the Holocaust, and the Middle East conflict. After the Iranian President gave his own remarks, he would be required to field questions from the audience.

It seemed like a balanced program, and like any curious college student, I wanted to experience the frenzy of the event first-hand. So like thousands of other Columbia students and faculty on Monday, September 24, I squeezed my way through the numerous rallying students in opposition of Columbia’s invitation to the Iranian President to hear what Ahmadinejad had to say.

Since tickets for the actual engagement had sold out about 30 minutes after they went online, the university decided to televise it on the south lawn of campus. When I arrived, literally every square inch of the grass and surrounding standing areas was completely covered by students and faculty. It seemed that the entire university had gathered to hear the President of Iran; because of heightened security, only those with Columbia ID’s were even allowed on campus that day.

It was easily the most intense engagement I have ever experienced. After President Bollinger's opening remarks, in which he called the Iranian President a "cruel and petty leader," and one who "probably does not have the intellectual courage to answer our student and faculty's questions," Ahmadinejad began his remarks by criticizing Bollinger’s opening statement, claiming that it actually curtailed intellectual freedom because of its harsh tone. He then proceeded not to talk about the background of his country or to offer his own interpretation of history, but to say a lot of nonsense about science, spiritualism, and God.

During the much-awaited question-and-answer portion of the event, the moderator of the program asked Ahmadinejad the expected hard questions: does he deny that the Holocaust happened, does he believe that Israel should not exist, how does he see the role of women in his country, and, my personal favorite, what will he do about homosexuals in Iran? The laughable absurdity and tedious lack of historical knowledge speak for themselves in his answers: instead of directly answering the questions, he proceeded to give long winded tap-dances around the inquiries.

In addition to saying that evidence that the Holocaust, the most documented event in human history, lacks sufficient evidence to prove its historical factuality, he then proceeded to talk about displaced Palestinians instead of giving a “yes” or “no” answer to the question about his views on Israel’s existence. To the inquiry about gays, he simply replied with a chuckle that Iran does not have homosexuals.

When program concluded, we began to file out of campus. Since most of the gates were closed for security reasons, what seemed like thousands of students and faculty exited through one narrow gate, since most of the entrances to campus were closed in light of the tight security.

As we got out to the street, the thunderous voices of protesters, mostly from assorted Jewish and pro-Israel groups greeted us on Broadway: "SHAME ON COLUMBIA! SHAME ON COLUMBIA!" Later that day, the same type of groups, including representatives from JRF NY/NJ, gathered to protest the Iranian President’s appearance on the east side at the U.N. As someone who might have rallied with these very groups just a few days prior to attending the program, I could certainly understand their anger.

In the end though, I felt incredibly privileged to have the opportunity to experience the event in person. I concluded that it is important to invite these leaders that we wholly disagree with, to hear their rhetoric, and to examine the tactics that they use to convey their illegitimacy.

When Ahmadinejad arrived to campus, he patently showed his foolishness for the nation to see. As Americans, we enjoy the fundamental and beautiful right of freedom of speech in order to refine our own knowledge about the world around us. And as President Bollinger said in his opening remarks, "this is not so much for the President of Iran's benefit, but for ours." And I agree.

Ann Arbor Reconstructionists Cooperate with Local Muslims

Abby Weinberg — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 13:42:10 -0400

This year, the Muslim holiday of Ramadan began on the first night of Rosh Hashana.
The Detroit News reported how Jews and Muslims in the Detroit area are using this rare occurrence to build bridges between their communities.

Read the attached report of a Muslim-Jewish Friday night dinner hosted by members of the Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Havurah.

Hirsh Criticizes Tendency to Rate Holiday Services

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 17:21:26 -0400

RRA Executive Director Rabbi Richard HirshReconstructionist Rabbinical Association Executive Director Rabbi Richard Hirsh just published an op-ed piece in the Jewish Forward in which he criticizes tendencies among those attending high holy day services to rate the experience. The article is titled, I’d Give It a 7… It Had a Good Beat, and You Can Daven to It. Here is an excerpt:

What we frequently refer to as the High Holy Days are more accurately described by their Hebrew appellation: Yamim Noraim, the “Days of Awe.” Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are supposed to be significant because of the weighty confrontation with ultimate issues that they embody, especially issues of morality and mortality.

For many rabbis, however, another translation of Yamim Noraim is more accurate: these can be “awful days,” a mere three out of 365 by which reputations and even employment are often measured. For rabbis whose contracts are up for renewal, the prayer refrain “On Rosh Hashanah it is decreed, and on Yom Kippur it is decided… who will live and who will die” has a quite literal meaning.

Read Rabbi Hirsh's article in full.

Ma Nishma: News from JRF, September 2007

Lisa Tuttle — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 13:48:21 -0400

The September, 2007 issue is out. In this issue:

Teens Return from Israel
Camp JRF Book Shelf
Special Offers from JRF’s Reconstructionist Press
Now Read RT Online!
Make a Difference with Your IRA
Action in Darfur
Kol HaKavod!
Upcoming Events

Final Havdallah for Session Aleph

Rabbi Jeff Eisenstat — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 17:59:38 -0400

Rabbi Jeff Eisenstat in the Shabbat Havdalah Garden at Camp JRFOur medurah (campfire) embers have just been extinguished but the memories and the friendships for session aleph will continue to burn brightly into the weeks, months and years ahead.

What a thrilling session we have just completed. Imagine 225 campers and staff in a huge spiral around the havdallah candle and our souls woven together with this final Shabbat and the experiences we have all just shared.

Many of our hanihim (campers) will be returning to their homes but they have grown and matured from summer activities, friends and the kehillah (community) of Camp JRF. We have definitely created a safe community here so our campers feel they can try their skill at sports or art or music or drama or swimming or etgar (ropes course) or even a discussion and be respected and honored and even confident at the attempt.

My favorite part of camp is traveling around campus several times a day just to see our happy campers at all their programs. Many of the pictures on Bunk1 were taken as our campers and staff were just being themselves and having lots of fun at any part of the day or night. And did I mention how our campers and staff enjoy the food.

Our Camp JRF staff feels great about how smoothly our program ran this session and how much our campers enjoyed these magical three and a half weeks.

As our camp songs goes. “Have fun Day and Night all our Hanihim are feeling all right. Found a place no worries no stress, here at CAMP JRF.”

Now we look forward to next session.

Rabbi Jeff

Conference of Presidents Visits Capitol Hill and the White House

Bob Barkin — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 17:28:20 -0400

President George Bush and JRF President Bob BarkinSitting in a large conference room, I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. This was an opportunity too good to pass. It was my 16-year-old daughter, undoubtedly calling for a ride home from a sleepover.

“I can’t talk,” I said quietly into the phone. “I’m waiting for the President to come in.” As in George W. Bush.

It was mid-afternoon on Thursday, June 14 this past week and I was making small talk in a large conference room in the Executive Office Building with 47 other presidents of major Jewish organizations. We were on a daylong discussion-a-thon with the leaders of the House, culminating with a briefing with the president. The Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations had been invited to present our views and hear our leaders' thoughts on foreign policy issues, primarily relating to the Middle East.

Malcolm Hoenlein, the executive vice president of the organization and one of the principal American spokesmen for Jewish causes, organized the excursion as a means of expressing the Jewish community’s support for Israel and to hear first-hand how America’s government is dealing with the ever-evolving situation in the Mideast.

Reconstructionists are well represented in the Conference of Presidents. In addition to the JRF, another Reconstructionist, Rabbi Steve Gutow, the executive director of the Jewish Council of Public Affairs and a graduate of the RRC, is a member.

Of course, the most important Reconstructionist at the Conference of Presidents is June Walker, the newly elected chairperson who is a member of Congregation Beth Hatikvah, the Reconstructionist congregation in Chatham, NJ. She did a wonderful job of leading the meetings.

Hoenlein emphasized during the pre-excursion conference call that the ground rules dictated that the discussion stick to foreign policy issues and that comments from all parties were off-the-record, though we were permitted to relate our own thoughts about the meeting to our members.

Our first session was in the morning with the House Republican leadership and we filed into a smallish conference room in the Minority Leaders office. “The room will be bigger on the Majority side,” someone noted. The anteroom, however, was magnificent with a beautiful picture of George Washington on the wall and huge chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.

Conference of Presidents President June Walker with Congressional Minority Leader John BoehnerMinority Leader John Boehner was introduced by Minority Whip Roy Blount, who then excused himself to head to the floor. He turned the meeting over to Deputy Whip Eric Cantor who, according to Wikipedia, is the only Jewish Republican member of the House. Jewish connections were certainly a theme for the day.

As with most of the comments of the day, the policy points of the Republicans toward the Middle East were uniformly pro-Israel and anti-Iran. There was some discussion of Iraq, but most of the attention was combating the threat of an Iran with nuclear weapons.

Hoenlein’s exhortations notwithstanding, the first question from the group was a somewhat rambling diatribe about the condition of the Republican Party in New York State and what Boehner was going to do about it.

Behind me Hoenlein was turning beet red and I thought his neck was going to explode. But Boehner, though from Ohio, jumped right in with an admission that the New York party was not where it should be but that its problems were a long-time in the making. What a pro. The questioner wasn’t quite satisfied, but the discussion quickly turned to the implications of the Hamas victory in the Gaza – a little more on target.

Cantor mentioned a couple of bills that had bipartisan support aimed at Iran. I was going to ask how the government can foster more bipartisan cooperation in foreign policy, but a guy in the corner cut me off. That was as close as I came to asking a question during the day, but it was one that stuck with me throughout the proceedings.

After a few more questions and some chatting, we filed out of the room, (Cantor was particularly pleasant and talkative.) Meanwhile, Hoenlein was giving the guy with the NY GOP question a piece of his mind. The questioner protested, but weakly, and was never heard from the rest of the day.

We headed over to the Speaker’s lunchroom where we had plenty of space to sit. An impressive array of the House leadership was there to greet us. Tom Lantos, a Holocaust survivor and the chair of the House Foreign Relations Committee, spoke first. A very distinguished gentleman is how I would describe him.

Nancy Pelosi entered from the back and she is another very impressive leader. She won the award for the day for Jewish geography. She spoke about her speech in Jerusalem, where she described how her father, a congressman from Baltimore and a huge supporter of Roosevelt, publicly disagreed with the president during World War II about Roosevelt’s insufficient efforts to help Jews get out of Europe. “It was written up in the Jerusalem Post,” she said. “I will have copies emailed to you.” She didn’t have to bother. There was a copy on every chair.

The Speaker also noted that her son-in-law is Jewish. Someone mentioned in passing that Pelosi has Jewish grandchildren. Some of the Orthodox leaders looked doubtful.

Rahm Emanuel, the number four house leader and only member to have served in the Israel Defense Force, spoke as did Steny Hoyer, the Majority Leader, and Chris Van Hollen, the number five. Several of us in the audience from the Bethesda area gave Van Hollen, our representative, a thumb’s up. (I learned his daughter is in the same graduating class as my daughter and told her she should expect a good commencement speaker.)

The goodwill was so palpable that the session ran long and Hoenlein was urging people to move out because the White House was already calling to find out why we were late. We headed out the door, but the bus wasn’t in sight. It was several blocks away over cobblestones.

“That’s the difference with a male-run organization,” laughed Walker, who is also the national president of Hadassah. “We are better on logistics. My board would never stand for this.”

“Men don’t have to walk in heels,” noted someone else.

Onboard the bus, I called my wife to tell her I couldn’t talk because I was going to see the President. “That’s nice, dear,” she said.

After several layers of security, we shuffled into a room in the Executive Office Building and sat in a full circle, with several empty chairs at the far end and two seats on the near side, surrounded by flags. A couple of aides milled around.

Right on time, the President entered and everyone rose. Condoleezza Rice, the Secretary of State, was at his side. Across the room sat Josh Bolten, his chief of staff; Stephen Hadley, the national security officer; Elliot Abrams, a Mideast specialist on the national security staff; and Jeremy Katz, the White House liaison to the Jewish community. Oh yes, and there was Karl Rove.

Rabbi Steve Gutow and President BushPresident Bush began with a welcome and talked for about 45 minutes on a variety of national security subjects. He pitched his immigration bill and spoke strongly about his policy in Iraq. He was very assured and seemed much more in command than he appears on television, warmer and more engaging. None of the little smiles that sometimes people dislike.

There were questions and he answered them all, with Secretary Rice only commenting on one. Otherwise, it was entirely his show. The group was very attentive. Bush seemed totally involved. Rove spent the whole time, making notes, though as far as I could tell there was nothing that the President said that wasn’t right from his basic speeches. Bush did mention the names of G-8 leaders. But Presidents have the right to name drop.

As he was finishing a question, Bolten stood and Bush said, “Time to go.” We all stood and clapped. But the President didn’t leave. He stayed in the room for another 15 minutes, greeting people, some of whom he knew or knew people they knew. Lots of pictures and handshakes. Rice stayed on as well and chatted amiably.

Rove simply disappeared.

Then we were free to go. Everyone, including Hoenlein, was struck by the amount of time that the President spent with the group, his conversational tone and his earnestness in his presentation. He is passionate about his policies.

President George Bush with members of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish OrganizationsIn the end, there were no great revelations, but no one thought there would be. Clearly, both sides had achieved their objectives. The Jewish leaders demonstrated their passion for strong U.S. support of Israel in an increasingly dangerous Middle East. The politicians were able to confirm their commitment.

You know the commitment’s there. But it’s different when it’s face to face.

Reconstructionist Movement Welcomed by the JCPA

Lisa Tuttle — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 14:56:16 -0400

The Jewish Reconstructionist Federation, at a meeting of its national board June 2-4, enthusiastically welcomed news of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA)'s decision on June 4 to include JRF as a partner organization, making the Reconstructionist organization the first national agency to be added to the JCPA in decades. The JRF represents more than 100 Reconstructionist congregations and havurot across the United States and Canada.

The JCPA - the community-relations arm of the organized American Jewish community - now counts 14 national agencies under its umbrella, along with the Reform, Conservative and Orthodox streams of Judaism.
Carl A. Sheingold, JRF's executive vice president, said, "Engaging with the JCPA will enhance the JRF's ability, and the ability of our congregations, to contribute to tikkun olam (repair of the world) and community relations. These contributions are part of Reconstructionist Jews' commitment to living in - and obligations toward - both Jewish community and the wider world."

Rabbi Steve Gutow, a 2003 graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and the JCPA's executive director, said in response to his board's decision, "I'm very happy that two important parts of my life have merged together. It makes me feel more whole that my hevre in the Reconstructionist world are officially part of my life at the JCPA."

Rabbi Shawn Zevit, JRF's director of external affiliations and tikkun olam, who oversaw the application process, had already been working on behalf of JRF with the JCPA on efforts to end the genocide in Darfur (along with the American Jewish World Service and other groups); the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL) Climate Change Initiative; and many other projects.

For more information on JRF's work in the area of social justice, visit jrf.org/to. To learn more about the JCPA visit the External Affiliations area of the Tikkun Olam section jrf.org/external-affiliations and http://jewishpublicaffairs.org.