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The Rabbinic Tradition and Talking About Israel
November 20, 2009 | Mimi Micner
This past Tuesday, I participated in a conference call with J Street U. For anyone not familiar with this organization from the media or from your own campus, it used to be known as the Union of Progressive Zionists and is now the campus branch of J Street. The topic which prompted this conference call was an article in the Forward about the challenges that the more progressive Jewish and Israel-related organizations faced when or if using the term "pro-Israel."
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The Global Citizen: A Little Bit of Change
November 20, 2009 | Natalie Goodis
It was a typical drizzling Oxford night. My roommate Andrea and I decided after a week of hard work, we were due for a night out on the town. After only a month in Great Britain, we still reveled in the newness of every experience, especially since "going out" doesn't mean hitting up a campus frat party. Tonight, we would join our college mates at a student night at a local dance club.
In true chic British fashion, we paid the entry fee at The Bridge and took our coats to the coat check. I paid the one-pound coat check fee with a ten-pound bill and asked the attendant to put the change in my pocket, seeing as how I had awkwardly worn pants without pockets.
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Differential Learning, not a Bar/Bat-Mitzvah Model, as a Blue-Print for Religious Instruction
November 19, 2009 | Miriam Berger
"Why do we need to learn these?" my co-teacher, Robin, asked, the five fifth grade students present in class that day, pointing to the stack of Hebrew letters and vowels which we had just reviewed for the last thirty minutes.
"So we can be ready for our Bat-Mitzvah," Alison immediately replied. "And then after that, for our high-Mitzvah."
"What's a high-Mitzvah?" inquired Sara from the seat beside Alison.
"I'll tell you later," Alison whispered to her friend with a smile.
Trying to hearken back to my thought process when I was ten years-old, I assumed that Alison was thinking of Confirmation, a religious milestone in many communities that signifies 'higher' levels of study and community involvement. Yet I marveled at the singular goal to which the meaning of each biweekly Religious School lessens had been reduced. Amid the differing views of what specific lessons and educational approaches a Religious School should provide, one message has trickled down to the kids as to what this is all about: Preparation for the Bar/Bat Mitzvah.
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