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Standing Up for Our Heritage

Yesterday morning, members and friends of the Jewish community gathered at Dreyfus Lodge Cemetery, a Jewish cemetery in Hartford's Frog Hollow neighborhood, with a sacred purpose. In a ceremony led by Rabbi Philip Lazowski, Rabbi Emeritus of Beth Hillel Synagogue in Bloomfield, we gathered t…

Tending the Flame for Tomorrow

Image Credit: Noam Chen/JFNA

The Torah is filled with vivid imagery, inspiring stories and so many layers of meaning ­ providing ample opportunities for each of us to find what is most relevant and significant. It is a gift that provides direction, purpose, and the moral and ethical guidep…

A Week to Celebrate, a Week to Mourn, a Week to Act

From Saturday evening to Monday evening we celebrated the festival of Shavuot, which commemorates the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai. From an agricultural perspective, Shavuot was the time when our ancestors harvested the first fruits of the season and brought them t…

Be Counted

How do you transform a ragged mass of slaves escaping unimaginable tyranny into a functioning, viable society whose laws, principles and values would help form today's modern world? It all started in the desert, when Moses was commanded to organize this mass of people into groups and then co…

What Is Your Story?

We are all on our individual journeys to find meaning in our lives. For most of us, taking responsibility for improving the lives of others is our greatest source of satisfaction. It is an awesome responsibility, and one the Jewish community takes seriously with our collective commitment to …