My Heart is in Israel by Susan Jacobs, Director of Education
My first visit to Israel was in 1971. I was a rising senior in high school and I spent the summer along with 50 other teens on a USY teen trip. Israel in 1971 was invincible. The country was filled with a pioneer spirit. Young soldiers hitchhiked everywhere. There was no Intifada. We were able […]
Every Good Deed Matters
Day 38 of the Omer Tiferet in Yesod – balanced harmony and beauty in a solid foundation. These two concepts are picture perfect, precisely honed, needle in a haystack, ideals. I am often intimidated by an ideal – can I really push for that thing that is so far out there, so beyond my capacity? […]
Succeed by Starting With Compassion
Day 36 of the Omer Chesed in Yesod – loving kindness in a solid foundation. I like to hope that society will eventually recognize more fully that compassion is an essential element of civilization, and an expression of fairness as well – that is, establishing equal compassion to all peoples makes a society more fair. […]
Jewish Environmental Spirituality
Day 29 of the Omer Chesed in Hod – loving-kindness in grace. We open up this week of the Omer focusing on humility, grace, and smallness. A week of remembering that the role of the pixel is both vital and beautiful in its importance and tininess. How we interact with our environment may be an […]
Deciding what to eat
Day 28 of the Omer. Malchut in Netzach – ruling and being effective in eternity. Long term effectiveness – how to put something in place that stands the test of time – I often worry so much I don’t dip a toe into the water. And shouldn’t we worry? Someone once thought that eating fat […]
Building toward LGBT equality
Day 27 of the Omer Yesod in Netzach – a solid balanced foundation in the long view persistent. Building something to last needs a solid beginning. We have been building to the moments that turn into lifetimes in this country when we make marriage possible for everyone. I am so proud and honored to be […]
Our stories reach out in time
Day 25 of the Omer. Netzach in Netzach – the everlasting in the long view. On this day when I was so honored to celebrate Shabbat with the Teen Vocal Ensemble and the Teen Band of Temple Beth El, I am deeply touched by how easily our actions can ripple forward and backward in time. […]
Parenting Requires Balance
Day 24 of the Omer. Tiferet in Netzach – balanced harmony in eternity. As the harmonization between rigor and compassion, I fully embrace the challenge of attempting to be a parent for the long term, and how much that beautiful balance must be a part of it. To set a standard, enforce it, and then […]
Find Sustainable Strength
Day 23 of the Omer. Gevurah in Netzach – power and rigor in the creation of the long term. We can easily imagine how creating something that lasts will require strength. The question is how to best apply that strength? Strength in the long view needs to be consistent and flexible – when we plan […]
