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Ritual Committee Blog

creative worship-beyond Our Prayer Books

02/02/2020 09:44:18 AM

Feb2

Amy Hersh

Maybe you agree – I don’t think Reform Jews like to talk about how to praise God.

Some of you might have jumped out of your chair just reading the previous sentence. The term “praising God” is foreign and frankly embarrassing to some of us. “It’s not what we do” as Reform Jews, especially for individuals who don’t believe in God, a Higher Power, a Creator or similar concepts.

Sure, we read praise liturgy such...Read more...

B'nai mitzvah: a unique celebration of SHABBAT 

11/07/2019 08:34:48 AM

Nov7

Cherie Marcus

In the last blog post, Liz Panken wrote eloquently about the origin and meaning of Shabbat. It’s a special gift for us; 24 hours to exhale from the week’s responsibilities & do nothing except celebrate family and friends. The Shabbat on which your child becomes a Bar or Bat Mitzvah brings a special joy to the holiday.

Every Jewish child becomes a Bar or Bat Mitzvah when they turn 13 because our tradition holds that 13 is the...Read more...

Shabbat

07/22/2019 01:44:47 PM

Jul22

Liz Panken

In Judaism, there is one holiday that occurs every week and this is Shabbat.  It occurs on the seventh day of the week and is modeled after a  biblical commandment: “ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of Adonai your God (Exodus 20:9-10). Shabbat is the only holiday mentioned in the Ten Commandments. Following the Jewish calendar, Shabbat begins at sunset Friday evening and...Read more...

Reform Judaism

05/20/2019 02:32:02 PM

May20

Laurel Cates

Many people simplistically tend to think of Reform Judaism as just a watered down “less religious” form of Orthodox or Conservative Judaism.  This is hardly the case.    Reform Judaism, which was fathered by Moses Mendelsohn, has its origins in Germany in the early 1800s as a response to the German and French Enlightenment of the 1700s.  Jews had always lived in segregated communities throughout Europe, ineligible...Read more...

Intro to  the Ritual Committee Blog

05/15/2019 10:48:47 AM

May15

Cherie Marcus

The Ritual Committee consists of several congregants and functions as an advisory committee to the clergy. Our main goal is to make Jewish Ritual meaningful and accessible to the diverse members of our congregation.

As part of our mission, we will be writing posts about Reform Judaism, holidays, and other rituals as they relate to Jewish tradition and to the “minhag” (customs) at TINW.

If any of the upcoming blog...Read more...

Thu, August 28 2025 4 Elul 5785