Religion

Jewish Summer: From Mourning to Celebration

by Rabbi Joshua Z. Gruenberg | May 13, 2019 | Community, Community Resources, High Holidays, Religion

The Jewish summer starts in the doldrums and is lifted slowly as the summer ebbs to a conclusion with the onset of the Jewish new year. The calendar bears this out in the days that are remembered or marked through ritual in the three summer Hebrew months of Tammuz, Av...

Society for Humanistic Judaism Leader Speaks About Movement’s Decidedly Nontheistic Perspective

by Peter Arnold | May 9, 2019 | Community, Community Resources, Education, Religion, Spirituality

Can Judaism exist without espousing a belief in a higher power? Paul Golin believes it can. Golin, executive director of the Society for Humanistic Judaism, will speak May 19 at 2:30 p.m. at the Pikesville branch of the Baltimore County Public Library, 1301...

Softening the Boundaries

by Rabbi Daniel Cotzin Burg | May 3, 2019 | Community, Religion, Spirituality

It seems seams are better than borders on the path to Baltimore’s salvation. “I don’t go below Northern Parkway.” It’s a statement and/or sentiment I’ve heard numerous times from some Jewish residents of Baltimore County. Northern Parkway is what visionary author Jane...

From 1600s Europe to a Lesbian Feminist Seder, These 4 Haggadahs are a Trip Through Jewish History

by Josefin Dolsten, JTA | Apr 15, 2019 | Community, Community Resources, Religion, Spirituality

NEW YORK (JTA) — From graphic novel Haggadahs to a Donald Trump-themed one, if you’re looking for a certain kind of guide to the Passover seder, chances are it’s out there. Recent years have seen a proliferation of political, environmental, family-friendly, or just...

This Cartoon Matzah Character is Huge in Holland — and Not Just Among Jews

by Cnaan Liphshiz | Apr 8, 2019 | Children, Community, Family, Religion

AMSTERDAM (JTA) — Anywhere else in Europe, a muscular cartoon character named Max the Matzah would have amounted to little more than an inside Jewish joke. But in the Netherlands, where matzah for many non-Jews is a household item year-round, Max became an unlikely...

A Family Haggadah Imagines a ‘Complicated, Engaging and Fleshy’ Passover

by Emily Burack | Mar 27, 2019 | Community, Community Resources, Family, Religion

(JTA) — The Passover seder can be boring for kids. A new Haggadah is trying to change that. Published by Kveller, a Jewish parenting site, the Kveller Haggadah is “for curious kids — and their grown-ups.” The Haggadah’s co-creators are Elissa Strauss, a columnist on...

Jews United for Justice to Hold Water Rights Seder

by Simone Ellin, Associate Editor | Mar 22, 2019 | Community, Community Resources, Education, Family, Religion, Spirituality

“And justice shall be revealed like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.” (Amos 5:24) Every year before Passover, members of the seder committee for the Baltimore branch of Jews United for Justice contemplate a particular social justice issue to explore. For...

Transforming the Core

by Rabbi Daniel Cotzin Burg | Mar 16, 2019 | Children, Community, Community Resources, Family, Religion, Spirituality

Community-building is a never-ending concept. The other day, I was walking my dog through the Reservoir Hill neighborhood. I crossed through German Park, our community playground, and found a father pushing his baby on the infant swings. I smiled. I couldn’t help...

Taking Things a Little Too Far

by Rabbi Andy Gordon | Mar 15, 2019 | Community, Community Resources, Religion

Right now, we are preparing for one of the most celebratory Jewish holidays of the year: Purim! This festival, which will be observed this year March 20-21, truly lives up to the old phrase, “They tried to kill us, we won, now let’s eat!” Long ago in Persia, the evil...

Beth El’s Mikvah Serves Multiple Roles for Baltimore’s Jewish Community

by Simone Ellin, Associate Editor | Mar 13, 2019 | Community, Community Resources, Religion, Spirituality

After having a miscarriage three years ago, Cara Parsons found solace and healing by way of an ancient Jewish practice. “I thought the cleansing ritual of the mikvah could help me move on,” says Parsons, who was 30 at the time. “Each month we didn’t conceive...