Religion

Secular Young Jews Come Here for Drinks, Socializing — and Torah Learning

by Josefin Dolsten, JTA | Jul 21, 2017 | Community, Community Resources, Religion

NEW YORK (JTA) — The scene inside the brick-walled locale minutes from Union Square has the typical trappings of a New York hangout. On a recent Wednesday, 20-somethings in jeans and button-downs crowd around tables, raising their voices to be heard over the loud pop...

Synagogues Today Rely on ‘Minyanaires’

by Rabbi Yerachmiel Shapiro | Jun 30, 2017 | Community, Religion

“If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of.” —Bruce Lee “Rabbi Tarfon would say: The day is short, the work is much, the workers are lazy, the reward is great, and the Master is pressing.” –Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the...

Columbia’s Jewish Community Marks a Half-Century

by Simone Ellin, Associate Editor | Jun 30, 2017 | Community, Religion

When they moved their young family to Howard County in 1963, Baltimore natives Milton and Judy Kline were among about a dozen Jewish families in the area. “Howard County was an ultra-conservative and backward county with no culture — and certainly no Jewish culture,”...

Spinning Wheels

by Rabbi Daniel Cotzin Burg | Jun 28, 2017 | Community, Religion

The concept of tikkun olam goes to the heart of maneuvering through a broken world. Living in the city, one encounters a disproportionate number of younger people in wheelchairs — men, usually, debilitated by urban violence or any number of adverse medical...

LGBT Jews Say It’s Increasingly Difficult to be Pro-Israel

by Ben Sales, JTA | Jun 28, 2017 | Community, LGBT, Religion

NEW YORK (JTA) — For years, Laurie Grauer had waved a rainbow flag emblazoned with a Jewish star at the Chicago Dyke March, sometimes marching near activists waving Palestinian flags. It had never been a problem. But this year, Grauer was confronted by the LGBT...

Israeli Support for Gay Marriage Found to be at All-Time High

by JTA | Jun 9, 2017 | Community, Family, Religion, Weddings

TEL AVIV (JTA) — Ahead of Tel Aviv Pride, 79 percent of Israeli Jews told pollsters they support allowing same-sex marriage or civil unions for gay couples. According to Hiddush, the religious pluralism group that commissioned the poll released Thursday, public...

Turning Study into Virtue

by Rabbi Etan Mintz | May 26, 2017 | Community, Religion

I don’t remember every high school rabbinics class I took over 20 years ago. But I do remember one in particular like it was yesterday. It was my junior year Jewish philosophy course. We were studying classical and contemporary responses to the “Big Questions,” such...

Beth El Choir Celebrates 20th Anniversary With Special Service

by Carol Sorgen | May 26, 2017 | Community, Community Resources, Religion, Spirituality

Phyllis Kline has sung in choirs all of her life. For the past 20 years, she has continued that tradition as a member of the Beth El Congregation Choir. “We’re a family,” says Kline, adding that being part of the choir gives her a special “identity”...

Chizuk Amuno to Host Special Outdoor Musical Shabbat Service

by Staff Report | May 25, 2017 | Community, Community Resources, Religion, Spirituality

Less than 24 hours after the conclusion of Shavuot, the holiday commemorating the giving of the Torah, Hazzan Emanuel C. Perlman will offer the gift of a special night of spirituality and song in an outdoor setting. Hazzan Perlman, cantor of Chizuk Amuno Congregation...

Howard County Celebrates Israel’s 69th Birthday

by Staff Report | May 22, 2017 | Community, Community Resources, Religion

More than 100 members of Howard County’s Jewish community came together May 18 for the “Blue & White Party” celebrating Yom Ha’atzmaut, or Israeli Independence Day. The gathering at the Howard County Conservancy in Woodstock was presented by the Jewish Federation...