Jeffrey K. Salkin

Insights, ideas and activities for discussing with students what Jewish People have to say about Israel. A step-by-step guide to creative use of A Dream of Zion: American Jews Reflect on Why Israel Matters to Them in the classroom. Each session includes: A clearly stated goal An opening hook to grab students' attention Intriguing discussion questions to guide students in a personal exploration of the meaning of Israel to them Activities to help students broaden their thinking on Israel

The kids' companion to the award-winning Putting God on the Guest List, 3rd Ed.: How to Reclaim the Spiritual Meaning of Your Child’s Bar or Bat Mitzvah Used as an inspiring part of bar/bat mitzvah preparation for parents in hundreds of congregations around the world. Jewish youngsters and their parents need to turn inward at bar and bat mitzvah time and ask themselves these hard questions: "Why are we doing this? What does it all mean?" At last, a guide especially for kids, to help them spiritually prepare for their bar/bat mitzvah. Explains the core spiritual values of Judaism to young people in a language they can understand. Questions at the end of each chapter engage kids and let them offer their own thoughts. A special section helps parents and kids find places to perform acts of tzedakah to honor the event—newly revised and updated.

A spiritual keepsake that will become a family heirloom. The companion book to the author's Putting God on the Guest List: How to Reclaim the Spiritual Meaning of Your Child's Bar or Bat Mitzvah--100,000 copies in print The perfect gift to help a bar or bat mitzvah preserve the spiritual memories of this sacred event. This hands-on album--updated and expanded for this second edition--is designed to help everyone involved better participate in creating the spiritual meaning of this joyful rite of passage. Created by Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin, author of the award-winning classic Putting God on the Guest List: How to Reclaim the Spiritual Meaning of Your Child's Bar or Bat Mitzvah, and his wife, author Nina Salkin, this guided album is a wonderfully interactive way to remember important moments and details. Included are special sections to record your family's history; the hopes, wishes, and memories of influential people in the bar/bat mitzvah's life; mitzvot performed; contributions to tzedakot and more. With ample space for writing, reflecting and pasting mementos, this spiritual keepsake gives young people a place to treasure their special experiences and encourages them to prepare for spiritual life as Jewish adults.

PMA Best Religion Book of the Year The inspiring guide to spiritual celebration used in hundreds of congregations--Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist--revised and expanded "Parents and their children acutely feel the social pressures that surround bar and bat mitzvah. But they want to feel the spiritual promise of the event, the pull of the divine, and the knowledge that they are participating in an event that has meaning both in the ancient past and in the very immediate present. They want to know that the steep incline before them is their family's own version of Sinai, the summit where, in every generation, Jews meet God, individually and as a people. They want to know that bar and bat mitzvah can be a path to that summit. And they want to know how to get there. . . . This book can be their guide." --from "Why This Book Was Born" Helps people find core spiritual values in American Jewry's most misunderstood ceremony--bar and bat mitzvah. In a joining of explanation, instruction and inspiration, Rabbi Salkin helps both parent and child truly be there when the moment of Sinai is recreated in their lives. Rabbi Salkin asks and answers questions that make parents and children more comfortable with the event and able to experience it more joyfully. How did bar and bat mitzvah originate? What is the lasting significance of the event? What are the ethics of celebration? What specific things can you do to reclaim the spiritual meaning of the event? How to further develop spirituality? What spiritual values can parents and young people build together? To help guide friends and family who are not Jewish through this important Jewish life cycle event, Rabbi Salkin provides a brief, welcoming overview: "What Non-Jews Should Know About the Bar and Bat Mitzvah Service."

PMA Best Religion Book of the Year The inspiring guide to spiritual celebration used in hundreds of congregations--Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist--revised and expanded "Parents and their children acutely feel the social pressures that surround bar and bat mitzvah. But they want to feel the spiritual promise of the event, the pull of the divine, and the knowledge that they are participating in an event that has meaning both in the ancient past and in the very immediate present. They want to know that the steep incline before them is their family's own version of Sinai, the summit where, in every generation, Jews meet God, individually and as a people. They want to know that bar and bat mitzvah can be a path to that summit. And they want to know how to get there. . . . This book can be their guide." --from "Why This Book Was Born" Helps people find core spiritual values in American Jewry's most misunderstood ceremony--bar and bat mitzvah. In a joining of explanation, instruction and inspiration, Rabbi Salkin helps both parent and child truly be there when the moment of Sinai is recreated in their lives. Rabbi Salkin asks and answers questions that make parents and children more comfortable with the event and able to experience it more joyfully. How did bar and bat mitzvah originate? What is the lasting significance of the event? What are the ethics of celebration? What specific things can you do to reclaim the spiritual meaning of the event? How to further develop spirituality? What spiritual values can parents and young people build together? To help guide friends and family who are not Jewish through this important Jewish life cycle event, Rabbi Salkin provides a brief, welcoming overview: "What Non-Jews Should Know About the Bar and Bat Mitzvah Service."

PMA Best Religion Book of the Year The inspiring guide to spiritual celebration used in hundreds of congregations Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist revised and expanded "Parents and their children acutely feel the social pressures that surround bar and bat mitzvah. But they want to feel the spiritual promise of the event, the pull of the divine, and the knowledge that they are participating in an event that has meaning both in the ancient past and in the very immediate present. They want to know that the steep incline before them is their family's own version of Sinai, the summit where, in every generation, Jews meet God, individually and as a people. They want to know that bar and bat mitzvah can be a path to that summit. And they want to know how to get there. . . . This book can be their guide." from "Why This Book Was Born"Helps people find core spiritual values in American Jewry's most misunderstood ceremony bar and bat mitzvah. In a joining of explanation, instruction and inspiration, Rabbi Salkin helps both parent and child truly be there when the moment of Sinai is recreated in their lives. Rabbi Salkin asks and answers questions that make parents and children more comfortable with the event and able to experience it more joyfully. How did bar and bat mitzvah originate? What is the lasting significance of the event? What are the ethics of celebration? What specific things can you do to reclaim the spiritual meaning of the event? How to further develop spirituality? What spiritual values can parents and young people build together? To help guide friends and family who are not Jewish through this important Jewish life cycle event, Rabbi Salkin provides a brief, welcoming overview: "What Non-Jews Should Know About the Bar and Bat Mitzvah Service.""

How to manage the process with grace, joy and good sense. A practical guide that gives parents and teens the "how-to" information they need to navigate the bar/bat mitzvah process and grow as a family through this experience. For the first time in one book, everyone directly involved offers practical insights into how the process can be made easier and more enjoyable for all. Rabbis, cantors and Jewish educators from the Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist movements, parents, and even teens speak from their own experience.- What's it all about?- Preparation for Parent and Child- Tutoring, stress, expectations, enjoyment, planning for children with special needs- Negotiating the ceremony and celebration- Designing a creative service, heightening the spiritual exercise, special issues related to divorced and interfaith families, planning a party that neither breaks the bank nor detracts from the inherent spirituality of the event.

What is spirituality anyway? Isn't spirituality about emotion? And isn't work about the rational mind?" Too often, we divorce our 'work life' from our 'real life, ' from our innermost beliefs and convictions. But 'work' can be as much a part of our life--and as much a vehicle for spiritual growth and personal understanding--as going to synagogue or church on Saturday or Sunday or taking a walk in the woods or reading quietly to our kids at bedtime. In fact work may be among the most potent vehicles for fulfilling our spiritual life because, for many of us, it presents the best opportunities to meld community and social and economic productivity with personal belief and individual talent."--from the Introduction by Norman LearBeing God's Partner will help people of every faith reconcile the cares of their work and the strivings of their souls--and restore the hidden link between them. By exploding our assumptions that work and spirituality are irreconcilable, Salkin explores how spirituality can enhance our 9-to-5 lives. "It is time to be as rich internally as we are externally," he writes, offering soul-stirring ways to "smuggle religion" into our workplace. Thought-provoking, practical and exhilarating, Being God's Partner goes beyond just talking about the subject to give you specific actions to take and connections to make--right now--to help infuse our lives with greater meaning, purpose and satisfaction--and invigorate all that we do.