News

After organizations condemn antisemitic chalkings, UW-Madison administrators report they are working to educate Students for Justice in Palestine 

  University of Wisconsin-Madison administrators are working to educate members of Students for Justice in Palestine on the harm caused by their antisemitic messages, after the messages were chalked around campus overnight before the first day of the fall 2022 semester, according to officials.  Administrators revealed their efforts with Students for Justice in Palestine in […]

Yom Kippur: How do I atone?  Local Jewish educators talk about how to think about atonement and related concepts 

Atonement: Reparation for an offense or injury.   – Merriam-Webster   Forgiveness: To cease to feel resentment.   – Merriam-Webster   Teshuva: Repentance or, literally, “return.”   – Brandeis University  You’ve done someone wrong and you know it. Yom Kippur is approaching. What now? Here’s a quick guide to get you thinking.   As we reflect on the year behind us, […]

Tiger camp for the win – I’ve learned that parenthood is on-the-job training   

  The pandemic has presented significant challenges to everyone – seniors, children, adults and for us, young families. Being transplants into a city with no family members or relatives, surrounded by a community of friends, we embraced our first child amid everything being shut down, Eli Levy, born October 2020.   While there were exceptional benefits […]

Jewish influence on Broadway, great American music – Bill Hinden offers tour of historic connection

Flowers for the new year – For Rosh Hashanah flowers, people tend to go very bright or with a classic white 

  Flowers bring joy to any room and it can be lovely to celebrate Rosh Hashanah with some freshly cut floral arrangements to brighten up the event.  With the new year just around the corner, it is hard to know what kind of arrangements are best for a table centerpiece or to send for the […]

JCC and Federation plan ‘Culture of Philanthropy’ event – Oct. 27 symposium is expected to local organizations, lay leaders  

Five things to know on America and the Holocaust  – A new PBS documentary is scheduled to start Sept. 18 

  Are you planning to watch the Ken Burns’ PBS documentary, “The US and the Holocaust,” Sept. 18-20? Here are five things to know, which could be helpful as you watch.   The Nazis studied Jim Crow. Although legal racism against racial and ethnic minorities in the United States did not make the rise of Nazism […]

Merens: ‘Being written into the book isn’t a final act – it is the first act.’

  As another High Holiday season is upon us, I can’t help but recall what I thought about as we ended last year’s High Holiday season. “I am so hungry!” We all hunger for “things” in our lives. We have physical hunger – such as after a 24-hour fast. We have hunger for loving relationships; […]

How to help Ukrainians – Experts discuss Welcome Circles, how to help those in need 

More than two million people have fled their homes in Ukraine and passed into Poland, as a result of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, said Tanya Arbit, Milwaukee Jewish Federation’s Women’s Philanthropy President, in a webinar last month.    “To put this into context this number is larger than the population of two Milwaukees and […]

Kenosha synagogue assists Afghan refugees, working with Congregations United to Serve Humanity

  Volunteer Harriet Lavin recently was driving a female Afghan refugee to a doctor’s appointment when she asked the mother of six whether she would want to learn how to drive in the future.   “Women, no drive, no school. No work, no shopping,” the Afghan woman said to Lavin. “Taliban.”   Her simple answer cast a […]