Eighteen months ago, the life I had known ended. Though my fantastic wife of more than 50 years suffered from Parkinson’s for a long while, her sudden passing was still completely unexpected. Fortunately, I had, and have, wonderful family and friend support. However, relatively quickly it hit me that virtually everyone with whom I had more than an incidental relationship was a couple. And while we could still have a connection, the dynamic had somehow changed. When some activity was being planned by one or another of my circles, I was no longer first on its mind. I felt I had to keep giving reminders that I wanted to be included. I recognized this was happening, but didn’t have an idea of what to do about it.

Dozens of leaders from Jewish Federations of North America on a delegation to accompany 180 Ethiopia olim to Israel Wednesday, following a special three-day mission in Ethiopia.

During the mission, the leaders met with community members awaiting aliyah in Gondar and Addis Ababa and visited sites of historical significance for Ethiopian Jewry. The leaders were joined by other officials from the Jewish Agency for Israel, Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF), the WZO and the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.

(JTA)  May 19, 2022 — When his local Jewish magazine asked Rabbi Nick Renner earlier this year to explain how he decided to become a rabbi, he immediately attributed the decision to his hometown rabbi, Steven Sager.

New York, NY (May 4, 2022) — A group of students from the University of Florida (UF) arrived in Israel this Monday, marking the first of many Birthright Campus Trips this year. The contingent is one of 28 student groups arriving this week. A total of 14,000 students from nearly 900 universities and colleges in North America are expected to land in Israel in the coming weeks.

March 10, 2022 (JTA) – When it comes to antisemitism on social media, the algorithms governing the major platforms shoulder some of the blame for their reach. But the Anti-Defamation League hopes to fight the spread — by creating an algorithm of its own.
The Jewish civil rights group announced Tuesday that it has built a system called the Online Hate Index, describing it as the first tool ever developed to measure antisemitism on social media platforms. The program can sift through millions of posts quickly to detect antisemitic comments and aid in their removal.

Tara Spil, a local Jewish artist featured in the September 2021, Charlotte Jewish News, brought her talents to the Greater Charlotte area in a big way (literally — the piece is four feet tall) in April with her “Passover Egg” at the SHOUT Festival. When she saw the call to artists from SHOUT organizers for Easter eggs to adorn Romare Bearden Park during the festival, she knew Jewish culture and Passover needed to be represented.

Clergy and community leaders from across North Carolina will join together on Tuesday, April 12 at 2 pm online to launch the North Carolina Jewish Clergy Association (NCJCA).  This new organization of rabbis and cantors of various streams serving congregations, organizations, and the broader Jewish community of North Carolina will promote the interests of Judaism and the Jewish people in North Carolina and throughout the world, serve as a collective voice of the North Carolina Jewish clergy community with due regard for the autonomy of the individual clergy person, and support members in professional and personal growth. Congresswoman Kathy Manning and other North Carolina leaders will share words of congratulations.