Next week, Jews around the world will gather together to celebrate the Festival of Passover. We will eat matzah and charoset, drink four cups of wine, and tell the story of our ancestors, who fled slavery and oppression in search of freedom and a new home. But it’s not just the Israelites’ story. We are reminded that, Continue Reading »
Highlights of the Past Year Since November 2021, TBE congregants have responded to the urgent needs of Afghan evacuees and other refugees settling in central New Jersey. We have donated time, personal resources, and items to support resettlement efforts, covering basic needs like food, clothing, transportation, technology essentials, and other needs that arise. THANK YOU! Continue Reading »
In the wake of the hostage rescue at Congregation Beth Israel in Texas, so many emotions have been stirring within — relief, fear, gratitude, vulnerability, anger — it’s hard to know what to do with all these feelings and stay grounded. How fitting that tomorrow is our Tikkun Olam Shabbat. Tikkun Olam means “repairing the world,” helping to make Continue Reading »
Thanksgiving is a special time of the year where families and friends of all denominations join together to celebrate all the good things bestowed upon them. Last year, things were extremely different for most of us as we gathered in much smaller groups, curtailed the majority of travel plans, and, quite honestly, took the time Continue Reading »
Business is booming for one of Temple Beth-El’s community partners, but its uptick in clients is bittersweet. In the past year, at least 100 additional families have come to rely on the Food Bank Network of Somerset County warehouse in Bridgewater each month for food, raising to 317 the number of families that depend upon Continue Reading »
Dear friends, As Shabbat arrives this evening, we say goodbye to another tumultuous week. Many of you have shared the strong emotions you are feeling as we process a precarious shift from lockdown to tentative re-openings that feel precipitous to many of us. We continue, as well, to sort out our feelings and emotions about Continue Reading »
Over the past two months, our teens have participated in a number of terrific travel experiences. Our TBE over night experiences are designed around Shabbat, to offer our teens the opportunity to further develop their Jewish identities through meaningful, hands-on learning and authentic Jewish experiences beyond the walls of the synagogue. Another central cornerstone of Continue Reading »
“Turn it and turn it, for everything is in it,” said Yohanan Ben Bag Bag, a Jewish sage living and writing in the first century. To him, the Torah encompassed the entire universe, and to understand its wisdom, one must read it over and over, uncovering a new layer of meaning with each turn of Continue Reading »
NFTY is steeped in a rich history of social activism. We are commanded by our faith and urged by tradition to continuously seek to improve our world. The values of tikkun olam and tzedek are some of the fundamental pillars of our organization. The great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stressed the extraordinary power that Continue Reading »
This week we participated in a program to help us learn about privilege. In the program, we were asked questions regarding certain privileges we may have and depending on how we answered the questions, we took a step forward or backwards. I found this program very impactful, as it made us more aware of privileges Continue Reading »
