Synagogue Life

At Shul, Prayer’s Not Three Times a Day, It’s Morning to Night

By:

Ben Sales, Jewish Telegraphic Agen

JERUSALEM On the ground floor of a building on a leafy residential street in southern Jerusalem, two men squeeze past each other in a crowded foyer. One is wearing a small, flat, glistening black hat and a long coat, the typical dress of some Chasidim even in the summer heat. The other seems dressed to the season, his head bare...

Synagogue Life

Where Are We Now, Where Are We Going?

By:

Rabbi Joshua Runyan

VAYELECH, Deuteronomy. 31:1-30 Navigation, whether by foot, in a car, aboard a boat, or while flying in a plane, involves at its heart three very simple determinations. You need to know where you are, where you’re going, and how you’re going to get there. So we find ourselves, just days into a new year, fresh from the celebration and introspection...

Synagogue Life

Church Finds Sanctuary at a Shul

St. Peter's Church, a historic Old City Episcopalian congregation that celebrated its 250th anniversary last year, is currently holding services at Society Hill Synagogue. Church leaders had long known that the building's roof would need replacement but when structural engineers discovered that the support beams were also compromised, they made the decision to exit the building temporarily. After hearing of...

Local

Bucking a Trend, Rodeph Shalom Starts to Expand

By:

Deborah Hirsch

Meet Dena Herrin: a Hebrew school drop-out who married a practicing Catholic — and then went on to become president of one of the largest Reform congregations in Greater Philadelphia. Herrin laughs at the memory of convincing her dad to let her off the hook from religious school because she hated it “with an absolute passion.”

Local

Dues for a Change

By:

Bryan Schwartzman

For the leaders of Temple Brith Achim, a 275-family Reform congregation in King of Prussia, scrapping membership dues two years ago in favor of a pay-what-you-wish approach was a bit like stepping off a cliff. But after overhauling how members fund the entire synagogue operation -- in part, by trading the word "dues" for the more altruistic-sounding term "gift" --...