Dear Friends, With so many of us busy making preparations for the High Holidays, I’ll be brief today. For those of you who were with us last week as JCRC honored and celebrated some amazing community leaders, thank you. And for those of you who missed it – We are often asked what JCRC is and what we do, or “what is the function of … Continue reading Shanah Tovah from JCRC!
In 1654, the first Jews arrived in what would become the United States. Fleeing the persecution of the Inquisition and its long arm in South America, they came from Recife to New Amsterdam. Peter Stuyvesant, then governor of the colony, ‘welcomed’ them with bigotry and fear-mongering. He informed the colony’s directors that these new arrivals were “repugnant”. Our ancestors were – he told the community … Continue reading Shouting our Kindness
With Labor Day behind us and the High Holidays approaching, this is a season of new beginnings. Summer respites are behind us, the city feels vibrant with new arrivals (and a few “Storrowings”), our primaries this week have started to define a change in leadership here in our Commonwealth. For us at JCRC, we’re looking forward to a new season, and also celebrating the year … Continue reading Celebrations and New Beginnings
With a few more weeks left to enjoy summer, and me heading out today for two weeks of vacation, now seems like a good moment to share some of what I’ve been reading this summer. I love a good travelogue and there are two this year that I have particularly appreciated: South to America by Imani Perry A Black woman from Alabama returns home to … Continue reading What’s in my Beach Bag
As soon as the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, we knew that, as a Jewish community here in Boston, we needed to act in support of the Ukrainian people. Some aspects of that response were obvious and immediate – such as the huge philanthropic mobilization by CJP in support of the community in Dnipro that we have so much history with. And, for our member … Continue reading Supporting Ukrainian Refugees
With the fast of Tisha B’Av (9th day of Av) – a day for mourning the destruction of the two temples in Jerusalem – this Sunday, I find myself contemplating troubling trends within our Jewish community. Specifically, the growing toxicity of our communal discourse and our inclination to blame each other for the actions of those outside the Jewish community who mean to do us … Continue reading “The Good Jews”
By CEO Jeremy Burton I arrived home yesterday after spending eleven days traveling with JCRC’s first study tour to Israel in over two years. Our delegation, a dozen local Christian ministers, was chaired by the Reverend Dr. Greg Groover, pastor of the Charles Street A.M.E. Church, and Rabbi Joel Sisenwine of Temple Beth Elohim. The group included Congregationalists, Lutherans, Unitarians, Methodists, Baptists, U.C.C., and non-denominational … Continue reading The Weavers of Peace
It’s Thursday evening and I’ve just arrived in Jerusalem, along with a few of my JCRC colleagues and a dozen Christian ministers from around Greater Boston. We’ve been in the north – visiting Haifa, the Galilee, and the Golan Heights – since Monday on a JCRC study tour chaired by Reverend Greg Groover and Rabbi Joel Sisenwine. While we have, for most of my time … Continue reading Greetings from Israel
Tonight, as we start Shabbat, we also arrive at the 17th of Tammuz on the Jewish calendar. This fast day (observed on Sunday) commemorates when, after a prolonged siege, Roman legions breached the walls of Jerusalem in 70 CE. This date begins the “three weeks,” a period of collective Jewish mourning leading to the 9th day of Av. Tisha B’Av commemorates five calamities – among … Continue reading By the Rivers of Babylon
“To be literally informed about America’s Jewish problem, it is not necessary to know Hebrew or Yiddish. All that is required, initially, is a familiarity with the English alphabet. The following primer of English letters with Jewish meaning will serve for illustration.” I read those words last Thursday and I held my breath. I was visiting the Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center, where JCRC’s archives, … Continue reading How our past informs our future