Digging through the dirt, feeling the slime of earthworms as they crawl up the arm of a 4-year-old and tasting the fresh first cut from a pepper plant, the children of Temple Emanu-El Preschool, through their Gan Shalom Chai science and garden centers, take it all in. Committed to connecting children to G-d through nature, the preschool has 230 little gardeners who make their way through the Gan at least once a week. From the earliest toddlers to the pre-kindergarten students, age-appropriate activities and curriculum provide lessons in ecology, gardening, nutrition, animal science and more.
Beth Torah reaches out to interfaith families
Congregation Beth Torah, in the vanguard of Conservative Judaism’s effort to “welcome strangers into the tent,” has laid the foundation for a Greater Dallas Keruv group. “Keruv” means to come closer and that is the exact description of efforts to welcome interfaith families and actively include them in synagogue [...]
Federation targets three focus goals
The Jewish Federation of Fort Worth and Tarrant County is continuing its strategic planning process. With the consulting help of Jewish Federations of North America, the project has gone through the data-gathering and analysis phases, as well as a final data review by the Federation board. The last phase of the [...]
By Harriet P. Gross
We all know that Emma Lazarus, who wrote the famous poem that graces the Statue of Liberty, was Jewish. Don’t we? And that lots of the “huddled masses yearning to be free” who accepted her invitation to enter the United States’ “golden door” were Jewish, too? They may not have found the [...]
Dear Rabbi Fried,
I would like to inquire about the three weeks of mourning being observed by Orthodox Jews. Why need we mourn something that happened so long ago? I always thought Jews don’t mourn the loss of a loved one forever; we accept God’s will and eventually move on. Why is this different?
—Jonathan P.
Dear Jonathan,
The [...]
By Laura Seymour
Dear Families,
Each morning, there are traditional blessings recited upon waking up. One of the prayers says: “Blessed are You, Adonai, our G-d, Ruler of the universe, who gives sight to the blind (pokei’ah ivrim).” Thankfully, very few people are actually blind, so why do we say this prayer every morning? It may be [...]
By Deb Silverthorn
Rainbows from rain is what Allen resident Saul Schisler is creating, leaving his mark on the walls of bomb shelters, restaurants, homes, schools, and public buildings of Sderot, Israel. An artist who connected with Artists 4 Israel, Schisler’s work joins those bringing a brighter hue to the community.
“I went to Sderot, Tel Aviv, [...]
When the students in the Ann and Nate Levine Academy’s class of 2010 departed for Israel on March 7, not one of them could imagine how Israel would change their lives. For almost three weeks, they experienced the beauty, diversity, spirituality and wonder of that country. This trip was more than a tour: It was [...]
Praying through Jerusalem and Sinai
By Rav Hanan Schlesinger
Everyone knows in which direction a Jew faces when he prays — we turn to Jerusalem, and in the case of Jews here in the United States, that means turning east. But where should the focus of our hearts be? That is a more difficult question. Surprisingly, many [...]
Akiba dad Darryl Lazarow z”l was a man of great character and purpose and an avid supporter of Akiba Academy and its sports programs. He enthusiastically enjoyed watching and coaching Akiba athletics, especially soccer. Tragically, Darryl passed away too soon in December 2006, at the young age of 42.
Connecting with God always has been a driving force in Jewish tradition. Today we do it mostly through formal prayer and Torah study. Starting Nov. 2, Paula Joyce will teach a course open to the public at Congregation Shearith Israel that will help you see, feel and know God in your daily life.
Paula Joyce, Ph.D., [...]
By Susan Kandell Wilkofsky
Quick: Who won the very first Best Actress Emmy in history? I’ll give you a little assistance: The year was 1951. No one comes to mind? Here’s another clue: Eight years later she won a Tony Award as Best Actress (Dramatic) for “A Majority of One.” If you answered Gertrude Berg — [...]
