Tag: #family

April 24, 2018   9 Iyar, 5778

TONIGHT IS TWENTY-FIVE DAYS, WHICH IS THREE WEEKS AND FOUR DAYS, OF THE OMER

I was born Jewish, my parents Orthodox. On most Jewish holidays, I was not allowed to go to school. This made things difficult, and I often resented my parent’s strict rules. To be Jewish is to be different, and if you don’t think you’re different, others will think you are!

After learning about other faiths, I concluded that my Judaism allowed for questioning and change; it allowed direct interaction without an intermediary. I could question, accept, reject and even deny without fear. The sins of other religions were not my sins, a freedom which has allowed Jews to persist in spite of the many attempts to destroy us.

There is comfort when Jews feel responsible for each other. We suffer when our fellow humans suffer, and we work at creating a better world.

Maybe part of being and feeling Jewish is knowing we’re a minority. Most Jews like to pursue knowledge. Meeting challenges becomes part of our being. We’ve hoped and prayed that our successes may change how we are perceived.  It hasn’t always worked, but we do continue to strive and survive.

Miriam

April 20, 2018   5 Iyar, 5778

TONIGHT IS TWENTY-ONE DAYS, WHICH IS THREE WEEKS, OF THE OMER

What does being Jewish mean to me? Particularly in times of great despair when no easy answers to life’s inevitable challenges were to be found…my connection as a Jew to all who came before me helped me find a footing. “Chazak, chazak v’nitchazeik. Be strong, be strong and let us strengthen one another.” Down through the ages these are the words spoken after reading from the Torah.

I grew up in a home where being a Jew was valued; a very great gift.

Learning to read Yiddish while in elementary school and taking Hebrew as a three year regents course at Christopher Columbus High School were not the rule in Jewish Pelham Parkway when I was a youngster.

What was missing?

As a parent—one who wanted to impart not only the universal ethical values common to secular Jews—I came to Temple Beth Abraham to begin to learn from the Tanach, with the hope of giving to my children this gift: the very foundation for a worthwhile life filled with meaning.

Saara Gallin

April 21, 2018    6 Iyar, 5778

TONIGHT IS TWENTY-TWO DAYS, WHICH IS THREE WEEKS AND ONE DAY, OF THE OMER

*We are posting this response today, so you do not have to use your computer/phone on Shabbat.

Several years ago my elderly Mother was having a discussion with someone who professed to being a “Born Again Christian.”  My Mother replied to a comment made by this person and this person then answered Mom by saying, “You are so Jewish”.  My Mother replied, “Thank you so much”.  Of course, the “Born Again” person had not meant it as a compliment.
As Mom believed, I also say, “Thank You God for making me a Jew.”

Ruda

April 19, 2018   4 Iyar, 5778

TONIGHT IS TWENTY DAYS, WHICH IS TWO WEEKS AND SIX DAYS, OF THE OMER

“Community” is the first word that comes to my mind when asked “What does it mean to be Jewish?”

I love being Jewish. It means that I am never alone because I belong to a global community of people that will always welcome each other. I always feel comfortable and accepted among my Temple congregants at TBA.

I trust being Jewish. It is filled with traditions and rituals that I can depend on, but have the freedom to participate to whatever extent meets my spiritual needs. I enjoy passing on traditions and adding new ones with my own family in hopes they will be carried on for many generations.

I am proud to be Jewish. Being Jewish is a journey filled with challenges to try to live a righteous life and to make the world a better place. Being Jewish makes me mindful about my life and makes me a better person. Being Jewish fills my being and my spirit with joy and allows me to be at peace with myself and the world around me.

Mary Edleson

April 13, 2018  28 Nisan, 5778

TONIGHT IS FOURTEEN DAYS, WHICH IS TWO WEEKS, OF THE OMER

My response when people ask me what kind of Jew I am is, “I’m a mutt!” While I worked in a (mostly) Reform (but also Conservative) congregation, I sent my kids to Solomon Schechter day school, a hallmark of the Conservative movement. Growing up, I went to an Orthodox day school and attended a Reconstructionist synagogue on the Upper West Side. A large dose of Reform, a healthy heaping of Orthodox, a few cups of Conservative and a dash of Reconstructionist – you can see why “mutt” seems like the right answer.

At the end of the day, I don’t believe my denomination of Judaism matters. As an adult, my idea of being Jewish is to pull from all of these traditions in order to make a Judaism that is personal, relevant, and meaningful to my family and me. This often entails creating my own version of things.

Judaism is not just about following the rules in an old set of books. It is about helping us answer the most fundamental questions about our lives, and we are entitled to draw on every part of our rich tradition to do so.

Pamela Barkley

April 14, 2018  29 Nisan, 5778

TONIGHT IS FIFTEEN DAYS, WHICH IS TWO WEEKS AND ONE DAY, OF THE OMER

*We are posting this response today, so you do not have to use your computer/phone on Shabbat.

It offers a sense of belonging.  To be part of a group of people with very much in common.

NEIL B.

April 12, 2018  27 Nisan, 5778

TONIGHT IS THIRTEEN DAYS, WHICH IS ONE WEEK AND SIX DAYS, OF THE OMER

Being Jewish to me means being very family oriented. When at Temple being with a community of loving and caring people. Feeling at peace listening to the Rabbi and Cantor also while praying out loud or silently. Knowing that nothing can happen while I am at Temple. Making new friends and helping when I can, no matter the age. Knowing how I feel or how I believe does not matter, I am accepted for me. Being Jewish is accepting people in your life who have different beliefs or different ideas how they want to live their life. Being Jewish to me is the most wonderful feeling and knowing no one can take that away.

Laurie Bauer

April 11, 2018  26 Nisan, 5778

TONIGHT IS TWELVE DAYS, WHICH IS ONE WEEK AND FIVE DAYS, OF THE OMER

Being Jewish means lighting Shabbat candles in a hotel room, on a train, once using two red Crayolas at a Friendly’s on a road trip with the kids, as stand-ins for candles.

It means my daughter calling me every Friday night for the last 12 years, no matter where she is, even from Cuba, to wish me Shabbat Shalom.

It means building a Sukkah with my dad and having my whole family pile in for pizza.

It means my husband and I cancelling a trip abroad when we belatedly realized it would fall during Rosh Hashanah.

Being Jewish and part of this community means friends, family, and neighbors walking me around the block on the last day of shiva after my mom’s death to end the period of mourning, and right into Shabbat dinner to begin life again.

Sharon DeLevie

April 10, 2018  25 Nisan, 5778

TONIGHT IS ELEVEN DAYS, WHICH IS ONE WEEK AND FOUR DAYS, OF THE OMER

I’d like to share a story that I feel sums up my feelings on being Jewish. I walked into a meeting at a brand new school wearing my Tel Aviv University sweatshirt. Immediately, I was asked by one of my classmates if I had studied in Tel Aviv and about my connection to Israel. I made a new friend, based solely on the fact that we both could understand the Hebrew on my shirt. Being Jewish means wherever I go, I will have a community. I will always be part of something bigger than myself, and I am reminded of that every day. Perhaps most importantly, being Jewish has given me the opportunity to connect to Israel in a very unique way. Israel has given me a second home, where even taxi drivers say Shabbat Shalom on Friday nights. I cannot adequately express how that feels in words, to know there is a place where I will always be accepted and safe.

Arielle Gur

April 6, 2018  21 Nisan, 5778

TODAY IS SEVEN DAYS, WHICH IS ONE WEEK, OF THE OMER

Being Jewish for me is about blessings—not only for milestones but during each and every day. We are blessed to connect to those we love, and to people we have yet to befriend. We are blessed to find identity and purpose and to be able to rally resources to meet challenges. We are blessed to learn.   We are certainly blessed to be part of a rich tradition and to be able to expand upon that tradition to make it meaningful.

I recognize the blessings of celebration: the seasonal cycle of holidays and the weekly joy of Shabbat. And I marvel at raising our family in a community that feels like family: Temple Beth Abraham, a huge blessing in our lives.

Jennifer Povman

April 7, 2018  22 Nisan, 5778

TODAY IS EIGHT DAYS, WHICH IS ONE WEEK AND ONE DAY, OF THE OMER

*We are posting this response today, so you do not have to use your computer/phone on Shabbat.

It’s hard to put into words exactly what being Jewish means to me. It’s a feeling I can’t quite describe. I will say it means being part of a family and community. It means carrying on traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation. It means friendship and love. It means holidays – and food. It means being able to share with my children something that is so special and important to me. And it makes me proud.

Andrea W.

April 4, 2018  19 Nisan, 5778

TODAY IS FIVE DAYS OF THE OMER