Reflections on past, present and future “There is no life without a task; no person without a talent; no place without a fragment of God’s light waiting to be discovered and redeemed; no situation without its possibility of sanctification; no moment without its call. It may take a lifetime to learn how to find these …
Emma Lazarus By Jerry Brodsky You’ve heard the words – “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…” For many 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 …
Ahavat Yisrael By Jonathan D. Epstein Ahavat Yisrael is a synagogue of 65 families and 280 men, women and children in Itonko, a small farming village in Namutumba District of eastern Uganda, about 68 kilometers southwest of Mbale. The members used to walk a long distance to a synagogue in another community to pray, but …
Building brotherhood through sports By Dr. Steven Mandel Long before the United Nations recognized sports as a powerful instrument for peace, many of us experienced its impact firsthand. Growing up on the Lower East Side of New York, in the 1950s and ‘60s, I lived in a close-knit Jewish neighborhood. Most families including mine …
A Joyful Israeli Soundtrack for an August Reset By Jason Hecht August arrives with its own kind of glow. The days are long, the heat is steady and everything feels dipped in sunshine. It’s the month of road trips, cold drinks and that moment when you finally look at your car and think, “Okay… …
Bruichladdich Scotch By Al Davis A spirit-loving friend shared a recent acquisition, which I admit to first refusing. Call me names, but I am not a fan of the Bruichladdich family of Scotches. However, after some minor arm-twisting, I consented to a taste, and was thoroughly blown away. The treat was a 16-year-old potable …
Overcoming the constraints of a 250-year-old ideal By Rabbi Noam Raucher As the United States marks 250 years since its founding, it is worth asking what kind of man this country has spent two and a half centuries trying to produce. The answer is not simple. American manhood has never been one thing. It …
Looking forward… to convention By Bruce Tomar The Book of Deuteronomy is Moses’ address to the people. He reflects on all that they have gone through. In last month’s HaD’var, I also started to reflect on the mission and vision of FJMC, our committees, our publications and our retreats. Now, and in future articles, …
FJMC’s Leadership Development Institute is gearing up By Jonathan D. Epstein We are very pleased to announce that registration for the 2027 Leadership Development Institute in Baltimore next January is now live and ready for signup. We are very excited about our plans for LDI 2027, which will be held Jan. 28-31, 2027, at the …
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 …
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