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 …
Offers new programming for 65 attendees By Martin Paley and Norwin Merens FJMC New England Region, in conjunction with the Connecticut Valley Region, held its “TheRetreat” June 4-7 at Camp JORI in Wakefield, R.I., marking the 80th anniversary since the region’s first retreat in 1946. Sixty-five men attended a weekend of informative general interest …
How do we engage the next generation? By Jonathan D. Epstein How do we get younger men to join? Sound familiar? That’s because it’s a challenge that has bedeviled most North American synagogues and men’s clubs for years. Look around. Men’s clubs, and synagogues in general, are facing a potential long-term existential crisis, as …
A spirited drink leads to new opportunity By Jonathan D. Epstein As we celebrate America’s 250th anniversary, we recall the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. But we also recall the battles that came before, at Lexington and Concord outside of Boston – the “shot heard ‘round the world.” Much more recently, …
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