Month: December 2019

by Rabbi Jared H. Saks At the recent Biennial Convention of the Union for Reform Judaism, I attended a session titled Antiracism: Doing the Work Within Our Own Communities. The three presenters, Deitra Reiser, Yolanda Savage-Navra, and Bryant Heinzelman, addressed issues of racism within Jewish life both as Jews of color and as people of … Read more

by Lynn Urbach, President I just got back from the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) Biennial in Chicago. What an incredible, exciting five days it was! Over 5,000 Jews and friends of Jews learning, singing, praying, and celebrating Shabbat together. While not all attendees are synagogue leaders, I took the opportunity to network with other … Read more

by Sam Spinrad, Religious School Director I consider it one of my primary objectives to instill a sense of Jewish identity and curiosity in students before they become Bar or Bat Mitzvah. A good number of students develop their own ideas of what it means to be Jewish well before they turn thirteen years old. … Read more

by Rachel Lefkowitz, Synagogue Administrator When I was a child, my family always spent Christmas day with my cousins at my grandmother’s house in Connecticut. My grandmother sold that house when I was still young, and our families didn’t get together in the same way after that. This year though, my cousins invited Jay and … Read more

by Rachel Stamieszkin, Master gardener volunteer and Bet Ha’am garden committee member Have you seen our raised beds when you are visiting Bet Ha’am? Ever wonder what we grow and where it goes? Did you ever wonder what the Maine Harvest for Hunger is? Would you like to garden at Bet Ha’am? Several years ago, the Garden Committee built raised beds at Bet … Read more