If you're in the Westchester, New York on Nov. 4th, as we prepare for the election, join us to explore these questions (and many more) when Rabbi Geoffrey Mitelman, Associate Rabbi at Temple Beth El and Rabbis Without Borders Fellow, moderates a discussion between Rabbi Brad Hirschfield, President of Clal-The National Jewish Center for Learning and
Leadership, and Reverend Steven Baines, Assistant Field Director/Religious Outreach Director at Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.

Rabbis Without Borders (RWB), Clal’s landmark initiative that helps rabbis make Jewish thought and practice more available for improving people’s lives, selected its third class for its competitive rabbinic fellowship program. More than 90 applicants competed for the 18 spots.

"An 11-year-old girl in five-point shackles is escorted into a courtroom. Her crime? She was caught in the back of a van with a 43-year-old man who had paid for 30 minutes of her time to do whatever he wanted to with her. There was the man when the girl was in court? He’d already been released, fined $50 for misdemeanor solicitation and set free...This year marks the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, but slavery still exists today, and this is what it looks like..."

Caer Hallundbaek interviews Rabbi Rebecca W. Sirbu, Director of Rabbis Without Borders, known for thinking “outside the box.” Topics in this engaging hour include: What Rabbi Sirbu means by thinking “outside the box”; Rabbis without Borders - how it came about, what the program does; working across denominations to create vibrant Jewish and civic life; making meaning; life events and celebrations; what drew her to becoming a rabbi, and how the role manifests today; the core of faith; a poem by Rabbi Rami Shapiro; the value and wisdom of religious traditions; tension between religions; religious pluralism; her writings about suffering, grieving and healing; and other great resources featuring Jewish response to many questions about life; religious tolerance; and more.

Listen...
From The Godspeed Institute, broadcast on Progressive Radio Network, 10/1/12

"I love this quote, not just because it is from the great English novelist Charles Dickens, at the opening of a Tale of Two Cities and not just because it could so easily be describing our world, our country today, but also because of the acknowledgement of the paradox of it all; hope and despair dancing together obliviously. It reminds me in a bizarre way of this scene from Fiddler on the Roof:

"My daily trek to work is the last place I would expect to encounter a hateful message. But anti-Islam blogger Pamela Geller is determined to make that happen to me and my fellow commuters. This week, at 10 subway stations around New York, commuters will encounter ads from the virulently anti-Islam group headed by Geller, the American Freedom Defense Initiative...."

"... ‘It’s teshuvah,’ says Steinlauf, ‘returning to the essence of Judaism to engage us in human life.’ It’s a paradigm shift — not Judaism as an object that we bend ourselves to, that is uncomfortable and inaccessible to those who are not familiar. But rather, ‘Judaism as technology, to be used by you to get you back to yourself as your truest self. ‘It’s about evolution — transforming the role the synagogue plays in life.

"‘Tuesdays With Morrie’ author reminds us to live life and worry less about keeping time. I have a feeling that author Mitch Albom timed the release of his new book, ‘The Timekeeper,’ to coincide with the Jewish High Holy Days. This work of fiction forces us to consider the meaning of time and why it is not good for humans to try to control it.

"What do you get when you have the grandson of a great Ashkenazi traditional cantor mentored by subway-playing Carolina Slim, a South Carolina Piedmont Blues guitarist and singer known for rich harmonies and polyrhythmic, fingerpicking guitar patterns, accompanied by a rabbi-in-residence? You get Jeremiah Lockwood and Rabbi Dan Ain conducting this season’s High Holiday services at the 92YTribeca, 92Y’s Downtown arts and culture venue at 200 Hudson St....quot;

"A parent is upset about how their child is treated by a summer camp, and wants the situation rectified. In 2012, how does a parent deal with this situation? By blogging about it, of course, and sending the link to the blog out to all of his friends on Facebook and followers on Twitter..."

more...
By Rabbi Rebecca W. Sirbu from eJewishPhilanthropy.com, 7/26/12