Judaism is an ancient tradition with its roots in an agricultural society. That means that for the first thousands of years summertime found the Jews out tending the flocks and the crops. Not surprisingly then, summer lacks the plethora of holidays that we get the rest of the year. What to do in the summer?…
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What’s all that about the Jews being “chosen”?
(A bee doing her job.) The concept of ‘chosen-ness’ really messes with some people’s minds. Let’s clear it up so we can be productive. I read a drash/teaching by a friend for the parshah Kedoshim (teaching on a section of the Jewish bible). He said: The Parshah of Kedoshim begins with the statement, ’You…
Read More »When one child is Jewish and the other is Not
Kveller, an online magazine published the first person story of a woman whose eldest daughter from her first marriage is not Jewish and her second daughter from a Jewish marriage, is Jewish. How this woman got to this place in life is interesting and is the result of being alive in a time when many…
Read More »BJB is proud to support full LGBT inclusion in the Jewish Community!
We will be marching with MANY friends at the Pride Parade in San Francisco on Sunday, June 29! Hope to see you there!
Read More »Share your Experience of Growing up in an Interfaith Family
Feeling confident as a Jew can be complicated for individuals with one Jewish parent and one non-Jewish parent. For people who have a Jewish mother, Jewish law (halachah) is on your side. No matter how you were raised, if you decide you want to identify as Jewish, the Jewish world accepts you. But it may…
Read More »“A room full of penises”
Today I want to talk about an intimate, yet very common, human body part – the penis — which really means, let’s talk about circumcision. A true story from the mother of a high school age boy When my son was in middle school he decided he wanted to go to a Jewish summer camp…
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