The temple blog has been a quiet place lately. Perhaps we need to make some noise? Good thing Purim is just around the corner! What are you wearing to the Purim Carnival on Sunday? And what are your favorite flavors of hamentashen? That last question is a hot topic on the URJ blog this week. Read more here: http://blogs.rj.org/reform/2011/03/the-great-hamantaschen-debate.html
16th Mar, 2011
It’s beginning to look a lot like Purim….
3rd Dec, 2010
How do you like your latkes?
With the lingering aroma of last night’s latkes filling my home, I enjoyed reading this post on the URJ blog and thought I’d share it with my Or Chadash friends. I’ve read both authors’ writing before so I knew this would be a good one. For the record, I’ve always leaned more toward applesauce but I’m finding I dig sour cream more and more as I (ahem) grow older. Plus, now that we are making some of our latkes from shredded zucchini (stop making that face, Rabbi Kobey – Ben likes them!) I see the argument for sour cream even more clearly.
Happy Hanukkah to all!
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19th Nov, 2010
Ask the Rabbi
What are some of your questions? What have you been wondering about? Share your questions and get some answers here in this section of the blog…
5th Nov, 2010
Are We Becoming Too Conservative?
This has been a question bandied about at Or Chadash recently so I was glad to see it as a topic on the URJ blog this week. The writer, Larry Kaufman, is a fellow past president of a Reform congregation (near my hometown Chicago) and shares some great insight. I particularly liked his comment:
The challenge to Reform Judaism has changed since the Reformers met in Pittsburgh in 1885. Their job, as they saw it, was to help Jews become Americans. Reform’s job in 2010 is to help Americans become Jews.
You can read the entire post, as well as comments, on the URJ’s blog.
25th Oct, 2010
What should you do with Halloween?
As you start gearing up for Halloween, what if you include ways to make a “secular”, American event have some Jewish twists? Give a portion of your candy to Shady Grove children’s hospital, or Ronald McDonald house, buy fair trade, or donate to mazon to help feed the hungry… What if everyone donated $1 per piece of candy collected? What will you do?
14th Oct, 2010
Ask the Rabbi…
What are some of your questions? What have you been wondering about? Share your questions and get some answers here in this section of the blog…
13th Oct, 2010
A piece of text…
Rabbi [Judah the Prince] said: What is a right path to choose? One noble in itself, he answered, and noble in effect.
Know what is beyond- what above: an eye that sees, an ear that hears, a hand that writes. (Mishnah)
8th Oct, 2010
There’s a bear in there?
If you have a school-aged child at Congregation Or Chadash, you already know about our newest program – “Dov Shabbat” or Bear-in-a-Backpack. This is the first Shabbat weekend for our new bears to visit families and my son was lucky enough to bring home the bear from his religious school class.
In case you haven’t heard about this program, the idea is to bring Shabbat celebration into the homes of each of our congregants a few times a year. Some of us already celebrate weekly, some of us observe Sabbath traditions occasionally, and others of us have no home traditions. Whether you envision a brisket dinner on a white tablecloth or a takeout meal washed down with a splash of grape juice, all of us are capable of elevating Friday night dinner to celebrate Shabbat in our own way. In fact, this might be the start of an enjoyable tradition!
The backpack comes with more than just a stuffed bear – there are candlesticks and candles, a kiddush cup, challah cover, and grape juice to celebrate the arrival of Shabbat. The pack also includes a havdalah candle and spices to celebrate the close of Shabbat on Saturday evening. Rabbi Kobey prepared a laminated booklet explaining the program and offering a challah recipe (full disclosure – it’s mine!) as well as the blessings in Hebrew and English. To add to the fun, each bear comes with a digital camera and a journal to record some of the fun at each family’s home.
I am excited to see how the presence of the class bear enhances our celebration. And if you don’t have a child in religious school, don’t worry. Rabbi Kobey has backpacks for congregants without children so everyone can join in the fun!
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24th Jun, 2010
A Blog Overview
Sanctify yourself though that which is permitted to you. (Babylonian Talmud, Yevamot 20a)
A blog (short for “web-log”) is an interactive online forum. It’s easy to create a blog, free, and doesn’t require much skill beyond word processing and email. The main reason for a synagogue to create a blog is to offer, online, the equivalent of a meeting place or community court. We all strive to create opportunities for our congregants to connect with each other in fulfilling and meaningful ways. The blog, when thoughtfully used and maintained, can offer a chance for this to happen.
A blog can also enhance what’s already going on in the synagogue. Is a great discussion happening on a regular basis in a Lunch and Learn or Torah Study class? The blog offers a chance to expand that discussion to anyone and everyone, wherever and whenever they want.
There are many “administrative” uses of a blog as well, offering many easily updatable options for sharing information in a one-way manner – updating Religious School calendars, reminding about upcoming events, sharing sermons, calling for volunteers, etc. These are useful but are merely an extension of the congregation’s website. A truly Web 2.0, interactive, blog offers a chance to build community in new and different ways.
Measuring “return on investment” for a blog or other social media is difficult, if not impossible. Don’t expect your blog to bring in specific, numeric quantities. The goal of a blog or other interactive media (like Twitter, Facebook, etc) is human interaction and conversation. These are not quantifiable entities but instead contribute to the overall community-building mission of a congregation. If a blog is merely a list of events or a “one-way street” – information going out but not coming in, it’s unlikely to be fulfilling its purpose of fostering two-way communication. Embarking on a plan for using social media in your synagogue is not about numbers. It’s entirely about creating and joining in conversations that enhance the community that already exists. See the blog as one more tool in the kit that helps us to connect ourselves to our congregants and our congregants to the synagogue and the greater Jewish world.
– This article by Rabbi Phyllis Sommer, imabima.blogspot.com