Jewish Reconstructionist Federation

It Couldn't Hurt: Contemporary Jews Approach Prayers for Healing

The Mi sheberach le’holeh – a prayer for healing - is centuries old. It is conspicuously absent from or significantly modified in a variety of contemporary prayer books. During the past decade or so, it has gained considerable attention in various Jewish communities. We will examine a variety of approaches to the Mi sheberach le’holeh prayer as a window into the responses of contemporary Jews to the challenges of illness in the 21st century.  read more »

Featuring Rabbi Gail Glicksman, Ph.D.
Shabbat morning, October 2, 2010
Mishkan Torah
10 Ridge Road, Greenbelt Maryland

Kiddush luncheon to follow her talk.
There will be no charge for this event!
 

Hevre,

As I write this newsletter schools are ending and everyone is preparing for summer vacation and camp.  Our Chesapeake JRF Regional Council is beginning to prepare the calendar for next year, and we would love to have your help with our regional programming.  If you are interested in becoming a little more active in Chesapeake Region JRF, please let me know.  We would love to have some new ideas, and new people to promote our programming throughout the region.  If you have suggestions, ideas or would like to volunteer to help with future programs and events, please contact me at jland@jrf.org.

During the summer, JRF is completing the program of honor for Linda Jum and creating and launching the Linda Jum fund for Creative Youth Initiatives. This fund is to help the "next generation" of Reconstructionists realize their vision.  The Linda C. Jum Fund for Creative Youth Initiatives is about engagement and ownership of youth from youngest adulthood through college graduation.  We are thrilled to have a respected Reconstructionist leader, Linda C. Jum, lend her name to this endeavor. Join JRF on July 17th to honor Linda at Camp JRF.  For more information about this program or to make a donation to this important new fund go to http://jrf.org/linda-jum-honoring and read about this important new program.

Mark your calendars for November 11th-14th, 2010, and plan to attend the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation Biennial convention in Newport Beach California.  A website with all the convention information has just been launched.  Visit the convention website at http://jrf.org/convention to find out all the wonderful things that are planned for this convention.  The theme is California Dreaming, Visioning our Jewish Future, and registration will be available very soon!

Please mark your calendars for the Chesapeake JRF Annual Celebration.  It is scheduled for Sunday, March 29th, 2011 from 4:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.  The Annual Celebration will take place at Oseh Shalom in Laurel, Maryland.  We will share more information about this great event as it becomes available.

We are in process of planning a Reconstructionist Day of Education for Chesapeake JRF to be held in the late fall or winter.  This day will be open to all members of our region and will have a lay and professional track.  If you would like to help plan this event, please contact you.  We will send out the date later this summer.

During the summer, if you would like to connect with other Reconstructionists or visit a service or program at one of our other congregations or Havurot, take time to check out the calendar of our constituency by visiting their website.  It is a great experience to  spend time at another congregation in our region.  Each congregation has their own culture and way of doing things.  I hope you will take time and check out a different congregation in the future.

From JRF Central:
 
SAVE THE DATE! California Dreaming 2010 JRF Convention
 
Mark your calendar for November 11-14, 2010 for the 2010 JRF Convention — the largest gathering of Reconstructionists and likeminded friends in North America. Our biennial will take place at the stylish Hyatt Regency in sunny Newport Beach, California.  Visit the JRF website for more details: http://jrf.org/convention
 
Plan to join us for four informative and uplifting days as we engage with experts and emerging leaders in the Jewish world. Experience a joyful, meaningful Shabbat together with lively, inspiring services and opportunities for Torah study, networking, and a wealth of Jewish learning.

For Tikkun Olam Websites, and to help areas in crisis check out the JRF website at http://jrf.org/to

From the Jewish Reconstructionist Press:

The Jewish Reconstructionist Federation is proud to be partnering with the Jewish Publication Society in reprinting Mordecai Kaplan's classic, Judaism as a Civilization.  Mel Scult, Kaplan's biographer, was happy to provide JPS and JRF with a new introduction for this edition.  The book is available from JPS and  through the Reconstructionist Press as well.  This has been the first step of a JRF initiative to make sure that all of Mordecai Kaplan's books become available for use by both the Reconstructionist movement and the larger community.

If you would like to be a sponsor or supporter of any of these events, please let me know.  If you have suggestions of activities you would like to see in our region, please let me know.  If you would like to help plan or coordinate any of the events above, please let me know that as well. 

Have a wonderful, rejuvenating, relaxing and enjoyable summer!

Kol tuv!

Jackie Land,
Chesapeake JRF Regional Director
301-490-0422

 

JOIN OTHERS IN THE CHESAPEAKE REGION FOR THE

JRF TRAVELING SCHOLARS WEEKEND

APRIL 16 – 18, 2010

 

“Ecology and Co-Existence in Israel and the Middle East”

Throughout the weekend, JRF will offer a series of presentations at four Reconstructionist Congregations in the Washington area. Our guest Scholars are both closely affiliated with Israel’s Arava Institute for Environmental Studies. 

• David Weisberg - Executive Director, Friends of the Arava Institute
• Seth Morrison - Chair of the Board of Trustees, Friends of the Arava

Both are intimately familiar with the critical work that Arava is doing to address the serious environmental problems faced by not only Israel, but also its neighboring countries.  The progress Arava is making involves amazing cooperation by scientists from differing backgrounds, with no concern for political boundaries and in so doing sets a standard for the value of cooperation in the Middle East.

Friday, April 16, 2010

·     Erev Shabbat Service at Columbia Jewish Congregation; Oakland Mills Meeting House,  5885 Robert Oliver Pl.,  Columbia, MD 21045 (410-730-6044). Service begins at 8 PM. 

·     David Weisberg will present a drash as part of the service led by Rabbi Sonya Starr. The title of David’s presentation will be: The Challenge of Making Israel Flow with Milk, Honey, and Water Again.

Saturday morning, April 17, 2010

·     Shabbat Morning Service at Kol Ami Reconstructionist Congregation held at The Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington,  4444 Arlington Boulevard,  Arlington, VA (571-271-8387). Service begins at 10 AM.

·     Seth Morrison will deliver a D'var Torah, Nature Knows No Borders, as part of an environmentally-oriented Shabbat service led by Rabbi Leila Gal Berner with special participation by students. All in attendance are welcome to attend a lunch following the service where Seth will also be available for
Q&A.

Saturday evening, April 17, 2010

·     An evening program, sponsored by Oseh Shalom’s Life Long Learning Committee, will be held at Oseh Shalom, 7515 Olive Branch Way, Laurel, MD 20707 (301-498-5151). The program will begin at 7:30 PM with Havdallah.   

·     David Weisberg will  follow Havdallah with a second presentation for the weekend titled: The Environment as a Bridge to Middle East Cooperation. Light nosh will be served.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

      ·     The final presentation of the weekend will take place on Sunday evening  at Adat Shalom in Bethesda, 7727 Persimmon Tree Lane, Bethesda, MD 20817 (301-767-3333). This segment of the program will begin at 6:30 PM, as part of an erev Yom HaZikaron program.   

        ·     The program will be a conversation led by David Weisberg about water conservation in Israel and the Middle East, as a key element in efforts toward  “environmental justice.” Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb and others will also participate, as part of Adat Shalom’s year-long exploration of ecological issues around the holiday cycle.  

As your plans to attend this exciting weekend program materialize, please RSVP to Jackie Land

Plan to join us on Sunday, March 21, 2010 for the Chesapeake Annual Celebration in support of Reconstructionist Judaism, our congregations and JRF. This year we will be holding the Chesapeake JRF Annual Celebration at Oseh Shalom Congregation in Laurel, MD.

Visit our online form to place your tribute and reservations.  read more »

This is the 18th Anniversary of Oseh Shalom's current building and we are very excited to help them celebrate this special year!

Pushing for Better Wages, Not Necessarily Giving Them: Conservative Leaders Support ‘Living Wage’ and Magen Tzedek, but So Far Little Change at Shul

Published October 07, 2009, issue of October 16, 2009,

Full article at http://www.forward.com/articles/116270/,Excerpt on JRF congregation Adat Shalom, Bethesda, MD http://www.adatshalom.net/,  One synagogue that did systematically decide to pay a living wage is Adat Shalom, a Reconstructionist congregation in Bethesda, Md. The rabbi at Adat Shalom, Fred Scherlinder Dobb, raised the issue in 2001 — eight years before Jacobs’ teshuvah passed — when the Washington, D.C., City Council passed a living wage ordinance. Scherlinder Dobb faced opposition from the congregation president at the time, Judith Gelman, who is an economist.

“As an economist I thought it would break the bank,” Gelman said, looking back.

Scherlinder Dobb did not give up. His board calculated that paying two janitors a living wage would cost $8,000 extra a year — 1% of their annual budget, or $35 per member each year. For the janitors at the time, this meant $10.20 an hour with health insurance, or $11.80 without. The congregation ultimately reached this standard by raising more revenue and reshuffling its budget priorities.

The executive director at Adat Shalom, Sheila Feldman, said that she tried to promote what Adat Shalom had done at meetings of executive directors from synagogues across the Washington area — but she always heard that the other synagogues could not afford it.

“Believe me, my synagogue was in no better shape than theirs,” Feldman said.

One person who was eventually convinced was Gelman, the economist and executive director. She said she was surprised by the benefits that the move brought to the synagogue — most of all the quality of the employees who were attracted, and the lack of employee turnover. She also heard from one janitor who went to a doctor as soon as he got health insurance, and ended up catching a life-threatening illness early.

“To this day,” Gelman wrote in an essay about her experience, “he says that the congregation saved his life.”

See

http://jrf.org/living-wage,

http://jrf.org/omer/2006/4/living-wage-handbook,

http://jrf.org/resources/files/Tikkun%20Olam-Liebling.pdf,

http://jrf.org/files/PEARL%20-%20Tikkun%20Olam.pdf,

Contact Nathaniel Popper at popper@forward.com

North American Solar and Renewable Energy Campaign in the Jewish Community

The year 5769 (2008-2009) will be the little known Jewish year of “Birkhat HaHammah” the “blessing of the sun.” Every 28 years, the ancient rabbis demarked a time in the Jewish calendar that celebrates the ceremonial return of the sun to its original place in the cosmos during creation.

JRF, as part of a national coalition participated in this rare event to focus on solar power and energy stewardship. Our commitment to a dynamic Judiasm on a Sustainable Planet will continue!  read more »

Peri SmilowPeri Smilow, nationally recognized contemporary Jewish singer, songwriter, performer, and educator, will present her music and spirit at Columbia Jewish Congregation in Columbia, MD, on Saturday, April 25, 2009, at 8:30 pm. The concert will begin with a beautiful Havdallah service, ending the Sabbath. A concert will follow the service, and a “meet the artist” reception will follow the concert.  read more »

Peri’s music and message of “repairing the world” have been heard throughout the United States, Canada, England, Singapore, and Israel.

Submitted by Rochelle L. Stanfield  read more »

Adat Shalom members engage in a home-improvement project with Sukkot in Spring in April 2008.One of them was a scientist, another a journalist. Also in the group were a psychologist, a telecommunications analyst, a public relations manager and the owner of a video production company. A typical Jewish crowd at a Washington cocktail party? Not this time. These guys were outdoors sweating in the hot April sun, building a sidewalk in front of a modest house in an impoverished District of Columbia neighborhood.

Historic Savage Mill
Plan to join us on Sunday, March 22nd for the Chesapeake JRF Annual Celebration in support of Reconstructionist Judaism, our congregations and JRF. Tzadik Award and Ira & Judith Eisenstein Service Award to be presented; Yehudit Award for Leadership and Creativity to be presented to Special Honoree Rabbi Jeffrey Eisenstat, Founding Director of Youth and Camping. Register Online Now.  read more »