By Lisa Handelman. Inclusion, at its core, is about understanding that each of us, created in the image of God, has unique worth. Each year, books are selected for JDAIM Reads (Jewish Disability Awareness and Inclusion Month) that use a Jewish lens to help us become more aware of the strength and value of individuals …
By Robin Jacobson. Two painted Japanese vases rest atop bookcases in my living room. According to family lore, my great-grandmother carried these vases with her when she fled Odessa with two small children around 1900. Why? The vases are large, fragile, and impractical. To take them, she must have left many other things behind. Why …
The Beth El community was profoundly saddened by the October 26 death of our president, Jerry Sorkin, at the age of 51, following an incredibly courageous nine-year battle against stage 4 lung cancer. Rabbi Greg Harris captured Jerry’s unique value to our shul: “Jerry’s leadership stemmed from his humble sense of lifting others up while …
By Robin Jacobson. Some time back, I discovered a tantalizing thread of family history. Neatly folded inside a book that once belonged to my grandfather was a publicity flyer. It announced an extraordinary event at a Boston synagogue on December 10, 1961 – an “eyewitness report” on the Eichmann trial in Jerusalem, which had transfixed …
By Robin Jacobson. In the 1920s, at a law school located in present-day Lviv, Ukraine, a Polish-Jewish student and his professor argued over a startling gap in international law. The student was outraged that the law did not bar a government from murdering its inhabitants – and that there was no way to bring Turkish …
By Minna Jacobson. It’s once again the season of apples and honey and soul-searching. For some unconventional High Holiday reading, take a look at the work of Peter Singer, a renowned ethicist and professor at Princeton University, whom The New Yorker calls the “world’s most influential living philosopher.” Singer first stirred controversy in 1972 with …
By Robin Jacobson. A round of applause for congregant Michelle Brafman! Beth El proudly announces the September publication of Michelle’s second full-length work of fiction, Bertrand Court, following the success of her earlier novel, Washing the Dead (2015). Bertrand Court is about connections – between family members and friends, between the past and the present. …
By Robin Jacobson. In August, Beth El and congregations everywhere will begin reading Devarim (Deuteronomy), the final book of the Torah. Eventually, we will reach the dramatic moment when Moses exhorts the Israelites: “Choose life – if you and your offspring would live” (Devarim 30:19). What does it mean to “choose life”? In an experiment …
By Robin Jacobson. As spring turns to summer, the United Kingdom continues to joyously commemorate two oh-so-British occasions: the Queen’s 90th birthday and the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. The yearlong festivities seem to have spilled over into the Jewish book world, producing several recent titles about British Jews. So as you nibble your strawberries …
By Robin Jacobson. In January, my daughter made aliyah and moved to Tel Aviv. This unexpected change of direction on the family road map has upped my interest in all things Israeli, including Israeli authors. Etgar Keret writes about everyday life in Israel in The Seven Good Years, a witty, irreverent, and poignant set of …
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