The Power of The Music Of The Night

on January 12, 2012

Rabbi Marci Bellows talks about the contiunous impact of Jewish music. She discusses her first meeting with Debbie Friedman at URJ’s Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute and how transformative her music has been on the Jewish community.

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Lake Forest High School senior finds ‘true self’ during Israel Experience

on January 9, 2012

The enthusiasm in Robin Leventhal’s blog postings — and her voice during a conversation — reinforce the fact that her semester of study in Israel affected her for a lifetime to come. A Lake Forest High School senior, Leventhal, 18, returned Dec. 29 from four months of academic and field trip experiences outside the norm for virtually all teenagers, such as learning to handle and shoot an M16 rifle.

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Youth Engagement Pushed at URJ Biennial

on December 23, 2011

Youth engagement was a major initiative presented at the 71st biennial conference of the Union for Reform Judaism, held Dec. 14-18, in Washington. The statistics of youth engagement are alarming – the URJ’s youth movement, National Federation of Temple Youth, has lost thousands of members and participants over the last few years, according to reports. To address the problem, the URJ has decided to act swiftly and with strength and confidence.

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Camp and the URJ Biennial

on December 23, 2011

Rabbi Marci N. Bellows discusses the 71st URJ Biennial and how she was surprised that the most anticipated event was Shabbat services. She believes this is because the Shabbat experience at Biennial is the closest most Reform Jewish adults will come to experiencing the beauty of Jewish camping.

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The Five Senses of Israel

on December 23, 2011

Ashley Marx, a staff member at URJ Camp Kalsman, is currently travelling in Israel on a KESHER Taglit-Birthright Israel trip. She’s one of the more than 750 people who will travel to Israel with us this winter. Ashley took some time to send these reflections from Israel back to the Camp Kalsman community.

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