by Webmaster | Feb 7, 2018 | Identity, Jewish Ritual
This year, Black History Month resonates particularly strongly for me as a Jew. For this February, Jews around the world are reading the Torah portions that focus on the Israelites, Moses and the journey out of Egypt and towards freedom. Black history and the...
by Webmaster | Feb 1, 2018 | Identity
This week, Rabbi Gershom Sizomu, the spiritual leader of the Abayudaya Jewish community and a member of Uganda’s parliament, visited Israel at the invitation of the Masorti (Conservative) movement. While there, he participated in festivities marking the movement’s...
by Webmaster | Jan 25, 2018 | Identity
As the Jewish world — and much of the rest — mourns the passing of Julius Lester, I remember the man I met when his spiritual journey was not quite complete. Lester, 78, of Belchertown, Mass., passed away peacefully on Jan. 18, his daughter Lian Amaris posted on his...
by Webmaster | Jan 15, 2018 | Identity
Martin Luther King, Jr. felt uneasy as he and his wife, Coretta, landed in Jerusalem in the winter of 1959. They had come from Lebanon and were eager to see the Old City’s Christian holy sites. But it troubled King that Jerusalem was divided, the western part...
by Webmaster | Jan 10, 2018 | Holidays, Identity, Jewish Ritual
Ahava means love. My love of Judaism and my cultural identity as a Black Jew are at the core of who I am. Shabbat is the highlight of my week. It is a sacred time for me to consciously reflect and heal. It is a time when I take a meditation walk and think about my...
by Webmaster | Jan 4, 2018 | Identity
As we begin this new year, and the coldest months are still in front of us, I want to share with you a piece of my journey this year, and a personal moment of transformation. A moment which I could hear my ancestors, both my African and Eastern-European roots, singing...
