Parenting Workshop: "Raising Responsible & Resilient Children"

Parents enjoyed fun, laughter, insight and inspiration while gaining practical tips aimed at helping them navigate through some of the toughest challenges of parenting.

Parenting Perspectives Co-Founders Karen Jacobson, MA, LCPC, LMFT and Lauren Bondy, MSW led this workshop aimed at showing how to:

• Enhance your children's self-esteem
• Foster cooperation among siblings
• Eliminate power struggles
• Encourage responsibility
• Discipline without yelling
• Minimize hassles, tantrums and tears
• Encourage resistance to peer pressure
• Foster emotional intelligence
• Create a self-reliant family
• Feel calmer and enjoy being a parent

"Science and Torah: Conflicting, Compatible or Complementary Truths?"

Science and religion often appear to conflict. Did the universe come into existence as science suggests or as the Bible describes in the Creation story? How old is the universe? Was man created by God or did he evolve from prior life forms? Are scientific and religious views always in conflict or can they be brought into harmony? Lecturer and scientist Dr. Steven Steinberg led a thought-provoking examination of these and other questions.

Adult Retreat

Rabbi Cohen and fellow congregants enjoyed a weekend of growth, creativity and fun. This year’s retreat looked at the nature of Reform Judaism today: what it means to be a Reform Jew, why synagogue matters, the joys and challenges of life cycle and holiday observances, encountering God and struggling with faith.

Congregants shared their unique perspective with others as they studied, prayed, experienced Shabbat and enjoyed the company of fellow congregants at scenic OSRUI.

Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered (FORCE) presented a free screening of the documentary, In the Family, which chronicles the stories of families undergoing genetic testing, the decisions they make as a result and the impact those decisions have had on their lives. Participants learned about the risk of hereditary cancers and how to become proactive in their own health care.

The risk of hereditary cancer is enhanced because both men and women can carry a mutation of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene and both have a 50 percent chance of passing that mutation on to the next generation. In addition, about 1 out of 40 individuals of Ashkenazi Jewish descent carries a BRCA mutation.

The film was followed by a discussion by a panel of experts discussing the myriad of issues associated with cancer genetics, treatment decisions, genetic testing, counseling and the impact on the entire family

"Implications for Peace in the Mideast"

Finding a path toward peace in the Middle East requires understanding its politics, which means understanding the dynamics of terrorism and counterterrorism. Ethan Bueno de Mesquita explored such questions as: Are the roots causes of terrorism economic, political, religious or something else entirely? Who becomes a terrorist? Does counterterrorism prevent violence or fan the flames of bloodshed? Should we refuse to negotiate with terrorists? This program was presented by Temple Jeremiah and the Dawn Schuman Institute.

JUF Breakfast & Speaker

"Obama and the Middle East: The First 100 Days"

Michael Hirsh covers international affairs and globalization for Newsweek* out of Washington, DC. He was the magazine's foreign editor from January 2001 to January 2002 and helped to guide Newsweek's award-winning coverage of the September 11 attacks and the war on terror, as well as the Mideast. Before that he was a senior editor/chief diplomatic correspondent in the Washington bureau, writing about foreign affairs and international economics. He was also editor for the Newsweek International special issue "ISSUES 2005," the fifth in a series of annual reviews of the global economy in the new century.

Hirsh has appeared numerous times as a commentator on TV and radio, including multiple appearances on CNN's Paula Zahn, Fox's "The O'Reilly Factor," CNBC's "Capital Report" as well as NPR's "Talk of the Nation," Diane Rehm and other syndicated shows. He has covered Israel and Mideast issues since the early days of Oslo, and he has played a key part in two National Magazine Awards for Newsweek's coverage of the war on terror, including the 2004 award for general excellence.

At the podium, Hirsh draws from his internationally-acclaimed book, At War With Ourselves, which renowned commentator Fareed Zakaria has called "the best account of the tensions within foreign policy today." Hirsh argues that America must embrace the international system it created. He recounts his experiences in the Middle East and Asia to reveal our national image and how people abroad view us much differently that we see ourselves.

As a Washington insider, Mr. Hirsch provided an in-depth look at the position the new president will take on Isrqel and discussed how Israel's future can be secured amid the rise of Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran.

* Read a Newsweek Web Exclusive article by Michael Hirsch on January 8, 2009, "Obama's Peace Offensive - The New President's Got Big Plans for the Mideast, Starting with Dennis Ross," regarding President Obama's approach to resolving the Mideast conflict,

"Discovering Jewish Art"

Linda Rubin, a well known art lecturer and educator, presented a slide lecture on Jewish art. She has created and presented numerous programs including “Art Works” at the Spertus Museum. Linda is a popular lecturer at the North Shore Senior Center, OASIS, Lake County College and several synagogues. She leads Temple Jeremiah’s Confirmation class on art tours in Chicago and also conducts tours of houses of worship, of which Temple Jeremiah’s Golder Chapel is among her favorite spots.

Discussion of Play: "Incident at Vichy"

Congregant Ruth Adler looked at “Incident at Vichy,” a compelling one-act play by dramatist Arthur Miller focusing on the subjects of human nature, guilt, fear and complicity set during World War II.

The play revolves around a group of primarily Jewish detainees awaiting inspection by German officers in Vichy, France in 1942. “Incident at Vichy” portrays the characters’ persistent state of denial and struggles to accept why they are there while posing the haunting question of how the Nazis were able to perpetrate the Holocaust with so little resistance from their victims.

"A Guide to the Jewish Spiritual Tradition of Mussar"

Rabbi Alan Morinis looked at Mussar, a 1000 year old Jewish tradition, spiritual discipline, body of literature, way of looking at the world and a practical ethic philosophy, all rolled into one. It starts from the mission statement for our lives in the Torah that says, "You shall be holy." (Leviticus 19:1) The rabbis asked how we can transform our inner beings to come closer to being holy. They established halachah (Jewish law) and mitzvot (commandments) and from the 10th century onward recognized that on the personal journey toward holiness, a path of inner cultivation - Mussar - was needed.

Over the centuries, the rabbis put together a map of the inner life based on the insight that the profound essence of a human being is the soul and our deepest essence remains inherently pure and holy. The conclusion the Mussar masters have drawn is simple yet profoundly useful:

Identify those emotions, desires and moral qualities where you tend to veer toward the extreme (whether that means having too much or too little of any particular quality), then undertake spiritual practice to bring those traits into the healthy mid-range, and the result will be that the innate light of your radiant soul will be liberated to shine into your life.

Mussar practice was innovated by the Mussar masters as techniques to bring about transformation. Some Mussar practices are purely contemplative, others more interactive. They help us refine ourselves spiritually as we go about our everyday lives. By following the path of these practices, the miser becomes generous, the hardened heart softens, the judgmental person comes to honor others, rage subsides into kindness, the weak gain firmness. In effect, we are both challenged and empowered to make the dramatic changes that will lead us to attain the spiritual potential with which each of us is born.

A MUSSAR WORKSHOP is… about understanding and improving traits—like humility, generosity, gratitude, trust, honor, truth, lovingkindness, silence, patience, equanimity, enthusiasm, and faith—that most people need to cultivate in order to improve spiritually.

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Rabbi Alan Morinis is ... an anthropologist, filmmaker, writer, and student of spiritual traditions. He is an active interpreter of the teachings and practices of the Mussar tradition and regularly gives lectures and workshops. Born and raised in a culturally Jewish but non-observant home, he studied anthropology at Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship, earning his PhD at that university. Alan has written books and produced feature films, television dramas and documentaries and has taught at several universities. For the past eleven years the nearly-lost Jewish spiritual discipline of Mussar has been his passion, a journey recorded in the book Climbing Jacob’s Ladder (Broadway 2002). His guide to Mussar practice, entitled Everyday Holiness: The Jewish Spiritual Path of Mussar, was published in May 2007.

Alan sees himself as a bridge to authentic traditional Jewish wisdom that might otherwise not be available to modern people. He helps contemporary people connect with these teachings by rearticulating them in terms that are accessible and relevant to the world we live in today and illustrating them with stories from his own life and the lives of his students.

He focuses as well on the Mussar methods—meditations, contemplations, journaling, chants, exercises, etc.—that have been quietly passed down from one generation to the next within the Jewish world. They are, however, equally applicable to anyone, no matter his or her religious background, living in the world today. Rabbi Israel Salanter, who founded the Mussar movement in Lithuania in the 19th century, taught that Mussar is applicable to all souls, “without exception.” Improving the soul-traits and, ultimately, liberating the obstructed inner light of the soul, the light of holiness itself, is a target that all of us can aspire to and achieve, for the sake of our individual souls and to make this world the better place it has the potential to be.

Jewish Council on Urban Affairs: Workshop on Social Justice & Advocacy

Hebrew Refresher Class

With the High Holy Days right around the corner, Temple Jeremiah offered this opportunity for participants to review and sharpen their Hebrew reading skills. This one-morning review program, sponsored by the National Jewish Outreach Program and Temple Jeremiah and taught by Cantor Amy Zussman, helps students read Hebrew like they never thought possible in just a few short hours! The course included prayer review sheets and a handy Aleph-Bet chart specifically designed for those who knew some Hebrew and wanted to polish up their reading skills.

Rabbi's Reading Table: "Sarah's Key"

Book Discussion: "The Red Tent"

Film & Discussion: "Forgiving Dr. Mengele"

Temple Jeremiah offered an exciting and thought-provoking evening with the airing of "Forgiving Dr. Mengele," a controversial independent documentary centering around a shocking act of forgiveness by Auschwitz survivor, Eva Mozes Kor.

Eva and her twin sister, Miriam, were among the victims of Dr. Josef Mengele's cruel genetic experiments - an experience that would haunt them the rest of their lives. Eva's public decision to forgive Dr. Mengele in order to heal herself ignited an impassioned debate about forgiveness. The film follows Eva's transformation from embittered survivor to tireless advocate for reconciliation, an agenda that turns into a political crusade as fellow Holocaust survivors label her as a traitor.

Thrusting itself into the debate on how Jews in general and Holocaust survivors in particular should view the perpetrators of Nazi atrocities, "Forgiving Dr. Mengele" asks the question, "Can you forgive but not forget?" Dana Stevens of the New York Times commented, "Whether or not you agree with Ms. Kor's decision ... it's impossible not to be moved by her fierce capacity for life ... (The film) is surprisingly uplifting ... " In the season of the High Holy Days with the focus on atonement and repentance, this program challenged ideas about forgiveness, compassion and community.

Award-winning filmmaker Bob Hercules led a discussion following the movie. He is owner of the Chicago-based television production company Media Process Group. His work has aired on PBS, the Discovery Channel, the Independent Film Channel and the Learning Channel. His most recent documentary, "Senator Obama Goes to Africa," is a chronicle of the President's momentous trip to Africa in 2006. Attendees had the opportunity to hear the "behind the scenes" stories and background to this award-winning movie straight from the filmmaker.

This event was offered in response to a recent congregational survey that reflected a desire for movies. Better than a book club, Jeremiah's new film program promises long-term enlightenment for a short-term commitment.

Judaism on One Foot

"Whose Life Is It Anyway?"