JDAM: Cakes and Miracles
By Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer, Program Director for Special Needs / “You've got to be taught to hate and fear, You've got to be taught from year to year, It's got to be drummed in your dear little ear, You've got to be carefully taught. You've got to be taught to be afraid Of people whose eyes are oddly made…” In 1949, these powerful lyrics from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s award-winning musical “South Pacific” challenged assumptions about relationships between different racial and ethnic groups during the pre-Civil rights era, suggesting the highly controversial idea that prejudice and fear of differences is not born within us, but rather is transmitted from one generation to the next.
Jewish Disabilities Awareness Month
By Rabbi Phil Warmflash, Executive Director / February is Jewish Disability Awareness Month. In honor of that I want to share a story that illustrates what this month, and Jewish life in general, should be about.
One Book, One Jewish Community
By Debbie Leon, Director, Family Engagement / The number seven holds particular significance in Jewish tradition. It is associated with wholeness and completion. Shabbat, our day of rest, is the 7th day of the week. Each Shabbat, 7 people (individually or in groups) are called to participate in the Torah reading (these are called aliyot).