Jewish Education – Page 5 – Rabbi Jon 's Website and Blog

January 7, 2020

Daf Yomi Berachot p. 4

A lot on today's page is familiar, and shows just how much of the general structure of Jewish worship was already set by 500-600 C.E. The page mentions saying Ashrei (mostly Psalm 145) three times a day, praying in a synagogue and not just individually, saying the Sh'ma in a service as well as at… Continue reading

Bavli Berachot, Books, Calendar, Daf Yomi, Jewish Education, Leadership, Prayer, Study, Talmud

January 6, 2020

Daf Yomi Talmud Cycle Begins

(I actually wrote and FB-posted this yesterday.) Today is the start of a 7 1/2-year worldwide Jewish learning activity called "Daf Yomi" or the "Daily Page." In sync, Jews everywhere of all kinds of backgrounds read and think each weekday about the exact same page of the Babylonian Talmud — alone or in study groups… Continue reading

Bavli Berachot, Calendar, Daf Yomi, Food, Jewish Education, Prayer, Shabbat, Spirituality, Study, Talmud

December 17, 2019

Embracing Chanukkah

This was my column in the December 2019 bulletin for Temple Beth Abraham: I love Chanukkah. I love the row of chanukkiot, the special menorahs, set up by the window for each member of the family. Just the simplicity of light and then a bit more light every day, with a bit of color, and… Continue reading

Antisemitism, Calendar, Chanuka, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Eight, Freedom, History, Holidays, Interfaith Dialogue, Israel, Jerusalem, Jewish Education, USA

September 22, 2019

5 Reasons To Take Your Kid Out of School for the High Holy Days

It is not easy to take a day off of school or work for the High Holy Days. As school pressures have become more demanding, even at younger ages, the decision about bringing children to services for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur on a school day might be more difficult for a parent than ever… Continue reading

April 22, 2019

Seders Are Done, But Passover Isn’t!

My column for the April 2019 bulletin for Temple Beth Abraham: One way to experience Pesach (Passover) is: Two nights of Seder, followed by a week of matzah. Two nights of a unique happening – around a table, with people very familiar and/or new to you, part recitation and part roleplaying, with symbolic foods and… Continue reading

Antisemitism, Books, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Ethics, Food, Freedom, Gossip, Holidays, Jewish Education, Justice, Lashon Hara, Sefirat Ha-omer, Soul, Spirituality, Study, Tikkun Olam, Tzedakah, Tzedek

May 31, 2018

Bring Philip Roth to Shul Day

This was my Dvar Torah on May 26, 2018, for Parashat Naso. I know one person, and maybe only one, who would have loved the beginning of this Torah reading – Philip Roth, the great American Jewish author who died this week at the age of 85. He was not really a Torah person, but… Continue reading

Books, Conservative Judaism, Current Affairs, Heschel, Jewish Education, Naso, Parashat Hashavua, Teacher-Student Relationship, USA

January 25, 2018

Sing Freedom: Mi Chamocha Melodies

This coming Shabbat is Parashat Beshalach, including Shirat Ha-Yam, the song of the crossing of the sea into freedom in Exodus 15. Every day at our morning and evening services, we sing two excerpts from the song, from the exact middle and the end: Mi chamocha ba-elim AdonaiWho is like You, Adonai, among the godlike powersMi kamocha ne'dar bakodesh,… Continue reading

Beshalach, Freedom, Jewish Education, Music, Parashat Hashavua, Soul, Spirituality, Torah

October 27, 2016

Starting Over: What Is the Torah?

What is the Torah? This week we start reading it from the beginning on Shabbat. We usually think about the Torah one story at a time, or one teaching at a time. What is the Torah when we zoom back? If you've got seven and a half minutes to listen, here are some thoughts on… Continue reading

Bereshit, Calendar, Jewish Education, Parashat Hashavua, Rabbi, Revelation, Torah

February 4, 2016

Reflections: Hillary Clinton Responds To My Question

On February 3, I had the honor of participating in a nationally-televised town hall with Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. I was selected to ask Secretary Clinton a question. Here is the exchange, in video and in transcript: RABBI JONATHAN SPIRA-SAVETT: Rabbi Simcha Bunim taught that every person has to… Continue reading

Current Affairs, Election, Jewish Education, Leadership, Spirituality, Teens, Temple Beth Abraham, Tikkun Olam, USA, Youth

January 14, 2016

My Thoughtful Seventh Graders on Prayer

It's been a few months since I was here! My Kitah Zayin (seventh grade class) at the Beth Abraham Religious School has been getting ready to lead Shabbat services at the end of January. Last week, we began to talk about the service. I started by reading them something I had from four years ago, when I… Continue reading

Jewish Education, Prayer, Spirituality, Youth

February 12, 2013

Rabbi David Hartman z”l

On Sunday, Am Yisrael lost a true a gadol, a great man and teacher: Rabbi David Hartman. Rabbi Hartman, originally from Canada, made his home in Jerusalem, and created the Shalom Hartman Institute. SHI is a modern Orthodox, progressive think tank that generates unbelievable work on moral and political thought, the meaning of Zionism, and… Continue reading

Current Affairs, Ethics, Feminism, Interfaith Dialogue, Israel, Jewish Education, Study, Teacher-Student Relationship, Theology, Tikkun Olam, Torah

May 22, 2012

Source Sheets for Jewish Teen Funders Network

On Thursday, May 24 I am leading a teleconference seminar for the Jewish Teen Funders Network on "To Give and to Receive: A Look at the Delicate Relationships in Philanthropy" through the lens of Jewish texts. If you're not a part of the Jewish teen philanthropy universe but are interested in the topic, you can… Continue reading

Jewish Education, Justice, Tikkun Olam, Tzedakah, Tzedek