Religion

A True Sense of Appreciation

by Rabbi Daniel Cotzin Burg | May 25, 2018 | Community, Religion, Spirituality

Is there a way that we can champion inclusiveness over triumphalism in sectarian circles? Pulpit rabbis often play community roles. In my own beyond-the-walls-of-my-shul rabbinate, I frequently get invited to various interfaith or political gatherings at which a...

Transitions Are Always Tricky

by Rabbi Ariana Katz | May 25, 2018 | Community, Religion, Spirituality

The next few months will be a time of great transition for me. On June 10, I will be ordained by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Philadelphia, where I have been learning for the past five years. I am humbled to take on the title of rabbi, to step into the...

Your Guide to Shavuot, Now with 50 Percent Less Facts

by Andrew Silow-Carroll, JTA | May 18, 2018 | Community, Community Resources, Religion, Spirituality

(JTA) — In terms of popularity, Shavuot is the National Hockey League of Jewish holidays. Passover, the High Holidays and Chanukah are the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball, while Shavuot has a much smaller, albeit intense, following. I don’t know if Shavuot is more...

This Shavuot, Remember that Ruth was a Poor Immigrant

by Rabbi Ruth Sophia Motzkin Rubenstein | May 14, 2018 | Community, Religion, Spirituality

A destitute, widowed immigrant does whatever it takes to scrape by, so that she and her aging mother-in-law can survive. She deals with invisibility. She deals with unwanted attention. She performs manual labor. Eventually, she marries up, has a child and escapes the...

Howard County Celebrates Israel’s 70th

by Staff Report | May 7, 2018 | Children, Community, Community Resources, Family, Religion

On May 6, the Jewish Federation of Howard County hosted a community-wide celebration for the 70th anniversary of Israel’s founding. More than 300 people attended the event. The Israel at 70 Festival, held at Temple Isaiah in Fulton, featured live music, Israeli food...

Reform Leader to Speak at Har Sinai’s Anniversary Year Finale

by Aliza Friedlander | May 3, 2018 | Community, Community Resources, Education, Milestones, Religion, Spirituality

For the past 175 years, Owings Mills’ Har Sinai Congregation has held a special place in the history of the Reform community. On May 11, the temple – the nation’s oldest continuously Reform congregation — will cap off a yearlong anniversary celebration with a...

Shoring Up Their Plans

by Judy Colbert | Apr 30, 2018 | Community, Community Resources, Religion, Spirituality

An Easton temple will move into a new spiritual home, starting a new chapter of serving Eastern Shore Jewry. In an era when many religious institutions face dwindling memberships, a shul in the small Eastern Shore town of Easton (pop. 16,617) is bucking the trend. On...

Beth Tfiloh Faculty Members Win National Prize for Israel Fair

by Staff Report | Apr 27, 2018 | Children, Community, Community Resources, Education, Family, Religion, Spirituality

A pair of Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School faculty members — Elana Weissman and Elissa Hozore — recently received the Kohelet Foundation’s $36,000 prize for Interdisciplinary Integration. The prize was for their leadership of last year’s Israel Fair at Beth Tfiloh...

A Match Without Kindling

by Rabbi Sonya Starr | Apr 27, 2018 | Community, Religion, Spirituality

While cleaning my house of chametz before Passover this year, I watched news reports about the March for Our Lives in Washington, D.C. I witnessed a new generation of Americans demanding change. As I thought about our seders, I remembered that the counting of the Omer...

Equality & Equity

by Rabbi Daniel Cotzin Burg | Apr 20, 2018 | Community, Religion

A just society needs to be committed to both ideals to forge a better world. When the Torah lays out a prescription for a just society, its starting point is an affirmation of human equality — each of us is created in the “image of God” (Gen. 1:27) and is...