Where do we go from Yom Kippur? Rabbi Cosgrove reminds us that resetting our moral compass is not a “one-and-done” task, but a lifelong challenge that we meet by a day-after-day commitment toward becoming our aspirational selves.

Our tradition teaches us to search for the truth that can be found on both sides of a disagreement. Yet when it comes to the dignity of other people, there can be no equivocation. In celebration of Pride, Rabbi Philp challenges us to create communities that welcome our LGBTQ friends and neighbors.

Taking inspiration from his friend and colleague Rabbi Aaron Panken, z”l, Rabbi Cosgrove enjoins us to make the values of our loved ones meaningful in our own lives.

Are there any lessons that we should take with us when, please God, the pandemic is but a memory? Rabbi Cosgrove challenges us to appreciate our blessings, to pay attention to the problems that the pandemic has exposed, and to move forward with intention to live meaningful lives.

Returning from a rabbinic mission to Israel following the recent violence between Israelis and Palestinians, Rabbi Cosgrove delivers a mixed report of gloomy realities tempered by reasons for hope.

How We Talk About Gender

In honor of Pride Month, the How We Talk About team discusses gender – how we can affirm the presence of a truly diverse and inclusive Jewish community by sharing pronouns, offering alternatives to gendered and binary Jewish rituals (such as bar/bat mitzvah), and thinking about alternative ways to form groups or teams instead of boys vs. girls. What is the important conversation that we need to have about gender in the Jewish community? Jen Stern Granowitz and Erin Beser are joined by Dubbs Weinblatt, the Associate Director of Education and Training for Metro New York at Keshet and the Founder and Executive Producer of Thank You For Coming Out, a podcast and live improv show celebrating the LGBTQ+ community. Weinblatt is currently undergoing a physical transition to better affirm their gender identity and embarking upon a journey to their adult B-mitzvah, a gender-neutral approach to the traditional Jewish coming-of-age ceremony. Listen for advice and guidance about how to have these important conversations about gender.

Discussion and Reflection Questions

What are ways you have made your classroom inclusive regarding gender? What is the next step to make your learning environment more inclusive?

Is there a time when you used gendered language when, in hindsight, you could have used different language?

Question from Dubbs Weinblatt: Think of a time when you were able to bring your full self into a space – fully celebrated and fully affirmed. What did that feel like? How did you know that you were fully affirmed? How did that moment of authenticity affect your relationship with the community you were in? And how can you take that feeling and bring it back to your classroom/learning space/community to help create the same space for others to belong?

What if we threw a rally for Israel and nobody showed up? Rabbi Cosgrove speaks to the battle for the soul of American Jewry and the continued importance of investing in Israel’s future and well-being.

For more information about services and programs at Park Avenue Synagogue, visit our website at https://pasyn.org.

One in five. That’s the number of people with disabilities in the United States today. Today on How We Talk About, Jennifer Stern Granowitz and Erin Beser speak with Dori Frumin Kirshner, Executive Director of Matan, a Jewish non-profit working toward inclusive classrooms and communal and spiritual aspects of Jewish life. What more can we be doing to support learners with special needs and their families? Listen for concrete suggestions and language for talking about learning differences in the classroom and in the world around us.

 

Discussion and Reflection Questions

Am I doing everything I can to partner with students and ensure they are getting what they need?

What am I doing to make inclusion a reality, particularly when I am in Jewish communal settings? Am I really thinking about this and stretching myself to become part of the solution?

How do we come back from this past year’s tough times? Do we despair or do we respond with optimism that we can transcend our difficulties to craft a positive future? As Jews have done since the prophet Jeremiah, we can show resilience and choose the positive.

Why is talking about race within the Jewish community important? Jennifer Stern Granowitz and Erin Beser speak with Benny Witkovsky, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Sociology at UW-Madison, for some background on how to talk about race in white Jewish learning spaces. Talking about this will inherently make people feel uncomfortable – so let’s get uncomfortable.

Discussion and Reflection Questions

1. What is your experience and understanding of race?

2. Do you think it is important to speak about race in the Jewish community? Why or why not?

3. Where do you see a potential opportunity to incorporate a discussion about race with your students?

4. How can we use our Jewish identities to deepen our understanding of race and racial injustice in America today?

5. A question from Benny Witkovksy: What do we do with our history? How do we use it to bring us to action today?

Resources: Anti-Racism Resources Part 1 for Families (pasyn.org)