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ISRAEL AT WAR - DAY 372

Jewish Renewal

Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (left) and Ram Dass, born Richard Alpert, in February 2008. (Wikimedia commons/ CC BY-SA 2.0/ Joan Halifax)
June 2, 2023, 5:12 am
Overdue or overdone? Two US scholars hope to secure the legacy of ‘Jewish Renewal’
In a chapter from a newly released collection on US Judaism, Jerome Chanes and Shaul Magid argue that the countercultural movement had an outsized impact – but not all agree
By Andrew Silow-Carroll
An AI-generated illustration of an ancient king reading the Torah to an assembly of Jewish men, women and children, in keeping with the commandment of hakhel. (Image generated by DALL-E via JTA)
October 11, 2022, 12:24 pm
An ancient, Torah-reading assembly during Sukkot gets a 21st-century revival
The Jewish ritual of hakhel, where men, women and children gathered in Jerusalem to hear the king read Torah passages, is now inspiring Jews worldwide
By Jackie Hajdenberg
Rabbi Mira Rivera is passionate about building community among Jews of color. (Josefin Dolsten/JTA)
July 13, 2019, 3:12 pm
A Filipino-American rabbi aims to make other Jews of color feel at home in shul
A former Martha Graham dancer, Rabbi Mira Rivera’s unexpected journey to Judaism and the rabbinate gains mystical validation through her maternal ancestor’s potential converso past
By Josefin Dolsten
SooJi Min-Maranda, second from right, at her bat mitzvah celebration. (Courtesy)
April 26, 2019, 1:55 am
Korean-American leader of Renewal movement says it’s a white world at the top
SooJi Min-Maranda embraced Judaism in her 20s, but says people of color are still not fully welcomed by the community
By Josefin Dolsten
Illustrative: A class in March 2016 at Romemu, the Jewish Renewal congregation in New York. (Scott Osman via JTA)
December 8, 2018, 8:16 am
Namaste and shalom: New York yeshiva to combine Jewish texts and yoga
When classes start next summer, students at the Romemu Yeshiva won’t need to be Jewish but must be able to understand Hebrew texts
By Ben Sales
Lex Rofeberg, 27, a rabbinical student, feels that the Shavuot tradition of eating dairy and studying Torah all night will be more appealing at a diner than it would be at a synagogue. (Courtesy of Rofeberg/via JTA)
May 20, 2018, 5:30 am
Why these people are celebrating a Jewish holiday at IHOP
Jews historically stay up until sunrise on the first night of Shavuot studying holy books and eating dairy foods. One young rabbi is opening up the tradition to a new demographic
By Ben Sales
Rabbi Tiferet Berenbaum, head of Temple Har Zion in Mt. Holly, New Jersey (Courtesy)
August 18, 2017, 4:29 pm
Who better than a black female rabbi to talk race, bigotry and healing today?
At her New Jersey pulpit, trans-denominational Rabbi Tiferet Berenbaum takes on the idea of ‘comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable’
By Cathryn J. Prince
Marc Gafni (Shawn Jones)
January 6, 2016, 5:34 pm
Controversial ex-rabbi Gafni and an alleged victim square off
A media storm surrounding a disgraced former Jewish spiritual leader and current New Age thinker is either character assassination or long overdue
By Cathryn J. Prince
Polyamorous spiritualist Marc Gafni. (GafniMarc/Flikr CC BY-SA 2.0)
December 31, 2015, 8:38 am
US Jewish group spurns ex-rabbi over his sexual behavior
Renewal movement repudiates spiritualist and ‘outrageous lover’ Marc Gafni, accused of forcing himself on a 14-year-old
By JTA
Basya Schechter, the cantor at the Fire Island Synagogue, performing in Central Park in 2013. (JTA/Getty Images)
August 13, 2015, 9:44 pm
It’s a jazzed up meditative Jewish life on NY’s Fire Island
Dynamic cantor Basya Schechter, lead singer of the Pharaoh’s Daughter, revitalizes congregation for summer-season community
By Batya Ungar-Sargon
The sanctuary of Boston’s Vilna Shul, including the sloped women’s gallery in the background, as photographed on July 17, 2015. (Matt Lebovic/Times of Israel)
July 29, 2015, 1:57 pm
Layers of colorful history revealed at Boston’s ‘comeback shul’
Beloved by Leonard Nimoy, Beacon Hill’s tucked away Vilna Shul — the city’s oldest — is the scene of Jewish renewal for the second time in a century
By Matt Lebovic
Tusia Dabrowska, who spends half the year in her native Warsaw and half the year in New York, at Dabrowno synagogue in 'The Return.' (photo credit: Scott Anger)
January 25, 2015, 4:30 am
‘The Return’ takes new look at Polish Jewish revival
Five years in the making, Adam Zucker’s documentary is set for film festivals across the US
By Tom Tugend
One of Havurat Shalom's younger members helps out with construction of the sukkah, September 2013. (Emily Aviva Kapor/JTA)
August 9, 2014, 9:14 pm
Countercultural spirit lives at iconic 1960s havurah
45 years on, the founders are some of the most influential personalities in liberal Judaism — and the minyan marches on
By Anthony Weiss
Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (screen capture: YouTube)
July 7, 2014, 1:48 am
Schachter-Shalomi brought old world gravitas to New Age Judaism
Founder of renewal movement, who died last week, blended Hassidism, progressivism, and traditional Jewish spirituality
By Ben Harris
Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (screen capture: YouTube)
July 3, 2014, 11:38 pm
Father of Jewish Renewal movement passes away
The trailblazing Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, 89, broke away from the Chabad community in 1968
By JTA
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