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He hates bar mitzvah lessons and...

Posted by Rabbi Goldie Milgram |
Photo credit: Google images

Do you know about the omer? It's a practice of taking two qualities, pairing them together and contemplating them all day to see how your life is changed by the practice. This happens on the days between Passover and Shavuot and it's called :counting the omer." Some communities just count the days, but I prefer this contemplative practice. It let me to a wonderful encounter with a bar mitzvah student today, that I hope you will aprpeciate too:

Addressing the Spiritual Needs of Upcoming B'nei Mitzvah Students and Their Families

Posted by Rabbi Goldie Milgram |

Our six-hour seminar at a fabulous NewCAJE on "Identifying and Addressing the Spiritual Needs of B'nei Mitzvah Students and Families" was very well attended and received. And, we launched our Reclaiming Judaism Jewish Spiritual Education Maggid-Educator distance-learning training there too, incorporating  these perspectives and methods. Classes begin Sept 10-- be in touch to learn more: rebgoldie@gmail.com.

Call for Mitzvah Story Submissions

Posted by Rabbi Goldie Milgram |

Call for Submissions. GBLTQ, immigration, special needs, interracial, interfaith, & progressive gender roles are gaps in coverage for our next juried volume of creative short stories which incorporate mitzvot. Reclaiming Judaism Press seeks previously unpublished tales with characters whose lives or relationships include at least one of the above attributes. Our jury has already selected many excellent tales written for family audiences from those submitted by a wide array of highly talented authors.

Review of Pazuzu's Girl

Posted by Rabbi Goldie Milgram |

Just posted a review on the Philadelphia Jewish Voice of a worthy teen scifi/fantasy that is great for provoking discussion of the applications and limitations of several mitzvah including kibud av v'em, honoring father and mother, or more apt for these diverse gender times, kibud horim, honoring parents.

We just heard from the Jewish Futures Conference

Posted by Rabbi Goldie Milgram |

Have accepted invitation from the Jewish Futures Conference to facilitate a session on spirituality re b'nei mitzvah families and students. Here is the registration link for this Feb 27 day-long gathering of funders and seekers of new approaches, methods and models. I really enjoyed speaking with the organizer, David Bryfman, he gets it and I'm excited to hear what points Rabbi Daniel Brenner from Moving Traditions will address, as well.

Contemplating Spiritual Needs of B'nei Mitzvah Students and Families

Posted by Rabbi Goldie Milgram |

I've been invited to write for the CCAR on the spiritual needs of b'nei mitzvah students and their families. Our research here at Reclaiming Judaism shows this to be a very important topic. Bar/Bat Mitzvah is a time when the whole family is tuned into the possibilities for meaning embedded within Judaism. It has been said the spirituality creates space and religion takes up space. Both are actually good things, IMHO.   

MITZVAH STORIES PRAISED AS "EXTRAORDINARY" and "VIBRANT"

Posted by Rabbi Goldie Milgram |

Our newest resource has just been given a wonderful review by Jewish Book World.

The Innovative Face of NewCaje and Jewish Education

Posted by Rabbi Goldie Milgram |
Peninnah Schram is honored by Cherie Koller-Fox (left), Cherie Karo-Schwartz (far right), Rabbi Janie Grackin (2nd from right)

So much was exciting, valuable and new at the NewCaje conference -- so happy to be there teaching, storytelling and learning. The sessions and attendees I encountered were most often filled with experienced principals and educators who themselves are innovators of new approaches to meaningful Jewish learning and living.