Author: Congregation Beth El

The Cost of Free Land: Jews, Lakota, and an American Inheritance

January 29, 2024

By Robin Jacobson.  “Pa pleaded. “We can get a hundred and sixty acres out west, just by living on it… If Uncle Sam’s willing to give us a farm… I …

Comms Update: Email Changes

January 25, 2024

By Tiarra Joslyn.  Nearly two years ago, VP of Communications Hillary Berman and I worked together to create and roll out a new way for congregants to manage their Beth …

Building Lasting Connections: Nurturing Your Child’s Bond with Israel Beyond the Conflict

December 25, 2023

By Education Director Elisha Rothschild Frumkin.  I love Israel.  I always have.  Even though no one in my family had ever visited in person – save my eccentric great uncle …

Israel for Beth El’s Littlest Learners

December 19, 2023

By Beth El Preschool Director Lauren Hirt.  Within the walls of Beth El Preschool (BEPS), we have shielded our littlest learners from the news. They are too young to understand …

Thoughts On Four Days in Israel

December 11, 2023

By Hazzan Asa Fradkin.  A trip to Israel is a magical thing. I still remember my first trip at the age of 19, when I was able to get onto …

How hard is it for you today?

November 30, 2023

By Rabbi Greg Harris.  I am emotionally exhausted. Since October 7, I have been glued to news reports, imagining the unimaginable experience of being held hostage in a Hamas terror …

Music, War, and Memory

November 30, 2023

By Robin Jacobson.  The great German poet-playwright Goethe had a deep fondness for a grand oak tree in the woodlands near Weimar.  One autumn morning in 1827, he famously picnicked …

Reflections on the March for Israel

November 20, 2023

By Sara Gordon, Beth El President. I’m honored to kick off Beth El’s Israel blog with a few reflections from the March for Israel rally last week. I am having …

When Your Child Becomes a Stranger

October 24, 2023

By Robin Jacobson.  There’s an old Jewish story about two women sitting on a park bench together.  One sighs.  Her friend reproves her, “I thought we agreed not to talk …

Beneath the Roman Arch

September 28, 2023

By Robin Jacobson.  Intimate Strangers: A History of Jews and Catholics in the City of Rome by Frederic Brandfon tells the epic story of Jews in Rome across more than …