Jewish Outreach Institute

JOI at the JCCA Biennial

Amanda Kaletsky — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:11:41 +0000

From May 6-9, several JOI staff members attended the JCCA Biennial, a 4-day conference for Jewish communal professionals and volunteer leaders from Jewish Community Center across North America. This year, the conference took place in the fun city of New Orleans, and included several different types of sessions, including seminar tracks, Jewish learning groups, and [...]

Are Jews a “Race”?

Amanda Kaletsky — Fri, 11 May 2012 17:16:06 +0000

I am often asked what my ethnicity is. My skin is olive and my hair is dark, leading most people to assume I’m Italian or Portuguese; but my last name (Kaletsky) is clearly Eastern European—Russian to be specific. My family comes from Russia and Poland, mostly, but I have never considered myself Russian or Polish. [...]

Happy Mother’s Day from JOI!

Amanda Kaletsky — Wed, 09 May 2012 14:08:44 +0000

www.motherscircle.org

Jewish…But Not Jewish Enough

Marley Weiner — Tue, 08 May 2012 15:37:41 +0000

Recently, the Huffington Post published an article in the ongoing narrative about the Jewish community’s uneasy relationship to people who have Jewish fathers but not Jewish mothers. In this article by Rivka Cohen, she describes her experience of being treated as less than Jewish by classmates and rabbis when her mother’s conversion was called into [...]

The Spring Suite of Jewish Holidays

Kerry Olitzky — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 19:08:18 +0000

While we are still some weeks away from Shavuot, the culmination of this season, most see the holidays of Passover, Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Memorial Day), Yom HaZikaron (Israel Memorial Day), and Yom Ha’Atzmaut (Israel Independence Day) grouped together, primarily because of their calendar proximity, and do not include Shavuot, as it is among the least [...]

How intimidating is your synagogue? Maintenance workers, prayer books, and transliteration…oh my!

Steven Horowitz — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 14:01:13 +0000

Below is an actual conversation we recently had in our office on a Monday morning: Steven: Hi, Jamie. How was your weekend? Jamie: Very nice. I went to a Bat Mitzvah at Synagogue ABC on Sunday. Steven: So, how welcoming was it? Jamie: Well, when I entered, I was a bit confused about where to [...]

Where Passover Falls in the Jewish Calendar

Kerry Olitzky — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 18:42:42 +0000

I generally do not explore the intricacies of “intercalation” (the way the calendar works) in this blog. They are just too confusing and of little interest to most people. However, I realize that, for some people, the most challenging aspect of entering the Jewish community is to get into the peculiar rhythm of its calendar. [...]

Blessings from the Bimah: Who’s Allowed Up There?

Amanda Kaletsky — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 15:27:00 +0000

When planning for a Jewish lifecycle event with family members of other faiths, the question often arises about whether non-Jewish family members should be allowed to participate in the ceremony, or more specifically, recite Hebrew blessings, especially when the ceremony takes place on a bimah. There is no one answer, and even synagogues within the [...]

All Suggestions Welcome

Jamie Allen Black — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 16:12:38 +0000

I met my best friend Renata in 1981, when we both first moved to New York. Years later, we stood up for each other in our respective marriage ceremonies, supported each other through child rearing, and propped each other up while we created meaningful careers. With both of our immediate families based in California, we [...]

Is Jewish Education the “Vaccine” for Intermarriage?

Amanda Kaletsky — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 20:44:56 +0000

Today, the New Jersey Jewish News published an Op-Ed by JOI Associate Executive Director Paul Golin in response to Peter Beinart’s article suggesting that Jewish education is the key to ending intermarriage. Golin looks at why the anti-intermarriage narrative is focused solely on Jewish education, and challenges readers to see intermarriage as a positive for [...]