Temple Emanu-El, Oak Park, MI

The Gift of the Shabbat Table

RJ Blog

by Evelyne Klein When our (fabulous) Membership Director asked if I would host a Shabbat dinner at our house, as a way to have long-standing members meet new members, I thought: What a terrific idea!! There were so many new members we did not know, and members we saw at temple events only. What better way to bring old and new together, get to know other members better, than around the Shabbat dinner table? I was amazed at the synergies between the old and new members who came: the conversation flowed around the table, with everyone introducing themselves, and topics ranging from the impact of Hillel on college students to training for boards, to activities for disabled youngsters and numerous other topics, both personal and otherwise. The conversation was lively and vigorous the entire evening. When our kids were young, my father would insist we come for Shabbat dinner on [...]

Do We Have The Courage for a Real Tikkun For Our Teens?

RJ Blog

by Craig Parks I am a very rare breed in the Reform Movement. Out of over 900 congregations I am one of the very few full time Directors of Youth Programming that has been in my job over ten years. I have now spoken at my third national Biennial in a row and do so with great fervor. When those attendees come to my presentations and hear about the 60 -70 kids coming to our Teen Shabbat Jam 2 hour Friday night service once a month or our well over 100 9-12 graders participating in our programs such as the social action youth group Tikkun Project, or the summer camp that brings in gobs of kids and teens who work on staff I sometimes have to reach for napkins to wipe the drool off the faces. I can’t even tell you how many times I have heard the phrase “Can [...]

The Torah In Haiku: Bo

RJ Blog

The Obama’s dog? No, it’s not that “Bo” my friend We’re talking Torah! In this week’s portion Pesach observance described A law for all time Kids are gonna ask What’s this seder mean to you? You must answer them Exodus 12:26-27 Your children may ask you, ‘What is this service to you?’ You must answer, ‘It is the Passover service to God. He passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians, sparing our homes.’

Why I Love Being a Reform Jew

RJ Blog

by Rabbi Henry Jay Karp In my first installment in this series, I spoke about the merger discussions between our congregation and the Tri City Jewish Center. At that time I stated that since I addressed institutional reasons for why the resulting congregation should affiliate with the Reform movement in my answers to the Merger Task Force’s questionnaire, therefore in this series I would restrict the focus of these articles to personal ideological reasons for my love of and commitment to Reform Judaism. However, as I now conclude this series, I wish to remove that self-imposed restriction and revisit why I feel so strongly about our congregation’s connection to the institutions and organizations of Reform Judaism. While ideology, practice, culture, all are important, they do not exist in a vacuum. They do not spring up overnight, born of thin air. Rather they are the product of like-minded people coming together [...]

Pastor at a Yizkor Service

RJ Blog

by Mark Wendel My Rabbi motions me to come up to the bemah. I am reading a Psalm in front of the congregation. The week before we were worshiping in a church I had actually looked forward to being in a church - the first time in decades. I remember Dad reading Psalms in front of our congregation back when I was a Christian. Because of Dad I am now part of a religion again, I never even cared to talk to him about religion back when I was anti-religious. Last year we had plenty to talk about. This year he is gone. Now I am reading a Psalm at the Yizkor service where we remember our loved ones who have died the past year. I recall telling Mom the day before. She loved to hear how we remember our loved ones and how I am honoring Dad at my [...]