Category: Education Resources
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Holiday Reflections: Yom Kippur
Sep 23rd 2009
The Holiday: Yom Kippur is the Jewish Day of Atonement. Taking place on the 10th of Tishrei (the seventh month) in the Hebrew calendar, Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the Jewish year. During Yom Kippur, we face God – and ourselves – as we are called to account for our sins during the ... continue reading »
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Holiday Reflections: Rosh Hashanah
Sep 16th 2009
The Holiday: Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year. Known collectively as the High Holy Days or Yamim Noraim (Days of Awe), Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) are the most solemn days of the Jewish year. Rosh Hashanah (“head of the year” in Hebrew) commemorates the creation of the world. On ... continue reading »
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Holiday Reflections: Shavout
May 14th 2009
The Holiday: Shavuot celebrates the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people at Mt. Sinai, as well as the spring harvest. Occurring exactly 50 days after Passover, Shavuot (“weeks” in Hebrew) marks a joyous milestone for the Jewish people. Seven weeks after fleeing the hardships of Egyptian slavery, the Israelites received the Torah at ... continue reading »
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Holiday Reflection: Pesach
Mar 19th 2009
The Holiday: Passover celebrates the liberation of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt. After years of prospering in Egypt, the Israelites faced extreme hardships at the hands of a new Egyptian pharaoh, or king. He feared their strength and their numbers, and enslaved them to ensure his own hold on power. Despite their backbreaking ... continue reading »
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Purim
Feb 19th 2009
For information on ordering 2010 Purim cards for mishloach manot, please visit http://mazon.org/go/purimcards. Purim is my favorite holiday, and not just for the spinning graggers & delicious hamantashen. The megillah is an inspiring story of Jewish unity amidst insurmountable struggle. When the wicked Haman threatens brave Mordechai, he turns his wrath not only against him, ... continue reading »
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Holiday Reflections: Tu B’Shvat
Jan 14th 2009
The Holiday: Tu B’Shvat is the New Year for trees. One of four “New Years” mentioned in the Mishnah, Tu B’Shvat enables Jews around the world to reflect on nature’s many blessings, and to contemplate our role in shaping our physical environment. The holiday marks the beginning of the season in which trees emerge from ... continue reading »
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Hunger No More Curriculum
Dec 1st 2008
The Hunger No More Curriculum helps congregations facilitate discussions of issues related to hunger, poverty and powerlessness in the U.S. and the developing world; the causes, solutions and the roles that they might play. It is about the Jewish community struggling to clarify it’s identify and mission to respond to the tradition at home and ... continue reading »
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Holiday Reflections: Chanukah
Dec 1st 2008
The Holiday: Chanukah celebrates the Jews’ unlikely military victory over a powerful foe and a subsequent miracle involving the rededication of the Holy Temple. Thousands of years ago, the Jews lived in the Land of Israel, also known as Judea, which was controlled by the Seleucids (a Syrian-Greek people). After Antiochus ascended to the Seleucid ... continue reading »
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Hunger Related Torah Text Sources
Nov 11th 2008
Leviticus 19:9-10 When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field to its very border, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and ... continue reading »
