Why My Family Helps Levine Children’s Hospital on Mitzvah Day by Michelle Siegel
My niece Catherine was born in November 2012 with a congenital heart defect called hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS). We experienced the tremendous strain a child’s medical condition can take on a family. We watched as my brother and sister-in-law spent weeks at a time with her in the hospital. We witnessed doctors, nurses, therapists, […]
Perpetually Seeking Freedom by Rabbi Dusty Klass (Charlotte Jewish News Editorial Apr. 2019)
Every year, a little over a month after Purim and its revelry, we gather at tables – round tables, square tables, multiple tables cobbled together because we are too many to fit at one table. We gather to dip parsley and ask questions and tell the story, again. We gather to remind ourselves, and each […]
Mitzvah Day is Important by Stella Traw
I think that Mitzvah Day is important because it gives people opportunities to help people in need. It also gives people a chance to help organizations that help people who don’t have homes, water, or food. One of those organizations is Safe Alliance. They help women and children who have to leave home to have […]
Home by Cantor Mary Rebecca Thomas
Home. Take a moment and imagine home. Not the home you live in right now or even the home you might dream of for the future, but – home – your childhood home. Where would you sit again, if you could choose one spot? What color are the walls? What does it smell like? What […]
The Power of Volunteering: Our lives changed because of you! by Eileen Schwartz
I reached out to the TBE Caring Committee (now called Hineynu) in December 2015. I was my Mom’s caregiver. I was feeling isolated, exhausted and unsure about Mom’s future health. She was 95 and I realized that I could no longer manage alone. I contacted the Caring Committee and suddenly had one or two weekly […]
About Chevrah Kadisha by Courtney Rosenthal
Rabbi Dusty Klass once told me that as Jews, we just “get death right.” As someone who wrestles with considering her own mortality and the mortalities of those around her, I was hungry to experience this peace. I had only been to one Jewish funeral my entire life, and I was young and overwhelmed. I started asking […]
When God Takes Attendance, How Do You Respond? by Rabbi Dusty Klass
Every time I had a substitute teacher in high school, I braced for impact as soon as the poor unassuming sub took attendance. “Dustin? Dustin Klass?” “Here.” At this point, most teachers did a brief double take. The best just moved on, but some, having spent many years being tested by mischievous name-switching students, would […]
Advocacy and Action by Cantor Andrew Bernard
The transition to retirement has been surprising. After years of working at 110% (on a slow week), I was looking forward to continuing some of the work I’d grown to love — only at a sane and relaxed pace. After years of not having nearly enough hours to come close to fulfilling all of the […]
TriBE Update by Andy Harkavy, Director of Congregational Engagement
It has been an exciting journey to get to where we are today with our TriBEs (Small Groups) at Temple Beth El. We are fortunate to have received a generous grant from the Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte to help us launch our inaugural cohort of TriBEs geared to Baby Boomers and Empty Nesters. TriBEs […]
