Mitzvah an action performed according to our understanding of the Torah

In addition to caring for scriptural knowledge and religious practice, we also ensure that our offspring can receive formation in the scriptures in the yeshiva, so that they become aware of the need to comply with the mitzvot.

Placing the Chanukkah lights visible or not

As the first night of Hanukkah approaches, we want to hear from Jewish and Jeshuaist communities and families across the world, how they are going to celebrate these days and make their faith known to others.

Much liked websites

As answer to JetPack's its Daily Prompt we mention here some of our favourite websites which might also be of interest for you.

Favourite websites

JetPack asked for its Daily Prompt what our favourite website is.

A Community to be holy

We hear the call of God to be set apart, by showing the world we are living according to God's Wishes and not to man's fleshy wishes.

Lucky to belong to Am Segullah

Through the sacrificial act of Christ Jesus, the opportunity has been created for several people to be part of the Chosen People of God.

Collapse of the Kakhovka dam in eastern Ukraine is threatening to force most of the remaining Jews and Jeshuaists in the Kherson area to leave

Heavy floods are forcing even more people to leave the region around the Dnieper River.

Necessity to be allies

The Remembrance Day concerning the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was a fascinating opportunity to see, those rescued from death, to socially exchange views.

Not always so easy to keep to the sabbath

We always should remember that Shabbat is not just about not doing certain things, or the other way round, just doing special things, or having special food or bringing sacrifices.

Hanukkah gathering under the light in the darkness

In the literal darkness of the war bringing figuratively light with the real light of the candles to commemorate a previous battle won long ago and not forgotten.

Difficulty in getting new young members

As a small faith community, getting new young members is not easy. We all must do an effort to bring in the younger generation and to get them enthusiastically to share their knowledge and gifts with the older generations.

Shemini Atzeret 5782 Times and Torah readings never to stop

Simchat Torah is a component of the Biblical Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret (“Eighth Day of Assembly”), which follows immediately after the festival of Sukkot in the month of Tishrei (mid-September to early October on the Gregorian calendar).

Fish vs. Pond Size – Jewish Community Edition

For a community that is already small in normal times, there has been a time of more loneliness during the lockdown periods due to the impact of the Coronavirus.
In some countries, things are allowed to return to normal, while in others, such as Belgium, we are still very cautious and foresee Zoom meetings.

We can imagine that in several countries the communities are still a shadow of what they once were. Getting all the congregants turning up again will also not be so simple, because often people have to travel some kilometres to come to service, and as such shall lose again some time by travelling to and fro.

For many, it will be a matter of readjustment and of having healthy fresh water in the fishbowl again. For many, it is also not so evident to get back in form and in confidence to share some tasks. Some prefer to stay in the shadow, whilst others would not mind being lions leading the troup.

We may question how far we as a community want to feel the collective experience. For months, many of us became accustomed to the private enclosure, and prayer time on our own at home.
Now going to yeshivah demands again some effort people have to bring up after work or daily duties.

After the Covid pandemic, we need retaining walls to carry out our daily work and bring life back to the brewery. For this, big fish are welcome to pull the procession of little fish along in an adventure of reading and study, but also of reflection and argumentation.

Now it may well be that people have come to a point where they want to look further afield and go to places where the sea is deeper but where the fauna is also wider and more abundant.

Do not mind exploring other Jewish communities, even when they may be much further or even out of state.
Who would not love to look for a Jewish or a Jeshuaist community that not only is vibrant and fully egalitarian, but also a Jewish community that is still a moderate-big pond post-pandemic with an existing coral infrastructure?

Those who are able to such larger communities are the lucky ones.

I want to be a smaller fish in this pond. I’d like to grow into a big star Torah-reading fish again. And I’m willing to take on some of those thankless coral jobs for the right community. But mostly, I really just want to feel like a fish again.

But do not be discouraged by the lack of large communities. We must be fully aware that, as Children of God, we will only be part of small communities. It is up to us to bring life into our very small communities. Each of us must bring new oxygen and even though the Covid period is not yet over, we must bring back the taste for more. Sometimes we have to do the digging ourselves to make the pond bigger.

Now is the time to bring out the picks and shovels and build a stage on which we can sing and dance together.

Jewish Young Professional

I thought I’d offer a somewhat different take on Fandango’s Provocative Question, as it got me thinking about my preferences and priorities for the Jewish community I want to be a part of, and how they have changed.

I’ve written before about my love for the singing, dancing, energy and celebration of “Big Party Judaism“. I guess this would be a small fish in a big pond model. Even aside from the fun social aspect, I enjoy the spiritual energy of Judaism in a large group of people.

Party time! Photo byQuang Nguyen VinhfromPexels

That said, when it comes to having a congregational home, I found myself more at home in the big fish in a small pond model. I gravitated towards communities where I’d play a bigger more active role, say, as a regular Torah/Haftarah reader, vs. a more passive one…

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We Count. We Just Weren’t Counted.

Susan Katz Miller is the author of The Interfaith Family Journal and Being Both: Embracing Two Religions in One Interfaith Family. Her original surveys of multiple religious practitioners in US interfaith families are often cited in the academic literature. A former correspondent for Newsweek and New Scientist, she has spoken on interfaith families at The Parliament of the World’s Religions, the Unitarian Universalist General Assembly, The Wild Goose Festival, and many other venues. Find her at susankatzmiller.com or on twitter @susankatzmiller.

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In Judaism and Jeshuaism there have always been two opposite views on interfaith relationships. All groups know having a partnership with someone of another religious system or with a non-religious person makes life more difficult.
Those who are not so against intermarriage and would allow such contacts with people of other religious groups, do believe it can enrich both partners and families.

The way people feel about Israel have so much to do with interfaith. Also groups that are keen to be not mixed can take an adverse opinion of Zionists. Look for example to some Haredim.

That the non-Orthodox Jewish world in America now have extended interfaith families, and that they are taking the demographic lead, does not mean that would be to according to the mitzvot. What the opinion might be we always should remember that it is the Elohim Who touches and knows the heart and Who shall be the most righteous Judge.

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Preceding

Intermarriage and Protecting the state of the Jewish and/or Jeshuaist family

Welcoming Interfaith Families, Maintaining Tradition – Eqev 5781

Being Both

More on Pew’s Jewish Americans in 2020

For generations, interfaith families who felt excluded, misunderstood, or disrespected by Jewish clergy or institutions, have found other homes. Some gravitated to Unitarian-Universalism, which draws on many religions. Some added Buddhism, or Sufism, or Paganism, to their spiritual practice. And for more than a quarter of a century now, interfaith families have been building their own dual-practice communities in which to honor both Judaism and Christianity.

But very few of these people with complex religious practices (and I have studied hundreds of them) stopped practicing Judaism altogether, or stopped calling themselves Jews.

The irony is that Jews who did stop practicing Judaism altogether are considered Jewish in the new Pew study of Jewish Americans in 2020, as long as they don’t claim a second religion. But if you claim two religions, you forfeit your right to have Pew consider you part of the…

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Intermarriage and Protecting the state of the Jewish and/or Jeshuaist family

Since childhood, we are taught ideal philosophies like we all are equal, one God, gender equality, secularism, brotherhood, etc. Moral books are full of such teachings. But when we grow up and get to know someone else whom we would like to take as a partner to go together through life it all becomes different, suddenly religion, culture, skin colour, genetic makeup, or country of origin matter a lot.
In this article, we look at the result of an American survey and the way different Jewish branches handle the way of life and marriage of their people.