High Holidays on the Silk Roadby Bob Watts My wife Linda and I arrived in Uzbekistan in August of 2001 to take up our posts at the U.S. Embassy in Tashkent. With us were our children, Vega, 6, and Zach, just 2. We had anticipated and read so much about the country and the civilization …
Toys? Jewish? Improving the world? You decide! What do Mr. Potato Head, the Teddy Bear, Transformers, Barbie, GI Joe and BratzDolls, Magic 8 Ball, and the home video game console all have in common? Jewish inventor/creators! George Lerner, born in Brooklyn, NY, created Mr. Potato Head in 1952. Morris and Rose Michtom, Russian-Jewish immigrants to …
Rabbi Noam Raucher, MA.Ed – Executive Director, FJMC International This week’s Torah reading, Matot, opens with a sentence that sounds simple until you try to live by it: “If a man makes a vow to God or takes an oath imposing an obligation on himself, he shall not break his pledge; he must carry out all that has …
Asked and Answered The topic of this edition of Pride & Prejudice is how we can be more welcoming and inclusive during the High Holidays (and beyond). With that in mind, we asked and you answered: Question 1: What’s one thing you can do to ensure traditionally marginalized members in your Jewish community feel comfortable …
Our Baby is Growing Up!by Jerry Brodsky Letter from the Chair: “Promote acceptance, embrace our differences, and create a sense of belonging.” Pride & Prejudice was born two years ago during several conversations with members of our Inclusion Initiative when we wanted to find a way to discuss how all of us could be more …
My Remembrance of Yom Kippur as a Childby Aaron Altman I grew up in Union City, New Jersey, just a short bus ride from midtown Manhattan, but in many ways my childhood felt worlds apart from the glitter and noise of the city. My parents were Holocaust survivors, and in our home being Jewish was …
The Empty Seat by Steven Mandel MDVO Outreach and EngagementNew York Metro FJMC On Rosh Hashanah, as JH gathers his family, his wife and two sons, he looks at the empty chair that his third son Sam sat in before he left for what appears to be forever. He has a feeling of regret, longing, …
You’ve heard the words – “Give me your tired, your poor,Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,…” And for many if not most of us, our great-great-grandparents or some level of elders on our family tree, passed by those words, found on the base of the Statue of Liberty, as they entered the United States. …
Seaboard Region Retreat draws 32 attendees By Gary M. Smith and Norwin Merens Thirty-two men, including seven first-time attendees and three men in their late 20s and early 30s, gathered at the Pearlstone Retreat Center in Reisterstown, Md., from June 19-21, for a weekend of enduring friendships while supporting FJMC International’s next generation of …
Biennial retreat features 11 first-timers By Larry Nathanson and Norwin Merens The Quad Region biennial retreat brings together men from the Hudson Valley, Middle Atlantic, New York Metro and Northern New Jersey regions of FJMC for a weekend of camaraderie – traditional and non-traditional Shabbat services, leadership development, sports and recreational activities. It represents …
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