KoREH News

What’s a chug? A chug (pronounced “huug”) is an elective that KoREH students choose to take for a semester. Although the offerings of the chug vary – cooking, art, team challenges, makerspace, just to name a few – they all provide a meaningful connection to Judaism and Jewish values in some way. For example, right now, a group of students are learning how to crochet. Their newly learned skill is used to create a kippa for themselves...Read more...

What does a typical day at KoREH look like? We begin as a community, with the fabulously musically talented Karen Kern leading us through a Havdalah ceremony. Then we go into our grade level classes where our teachers and madrichim staff provide engaging learning opportunities for our students. After a snack, the students then enjoy time in their chugim (electives) with topics ranging from art, Jewish makerspace, obstacles and challenges, and...Read more...

L'hitraot: Til We See Each Other Again   It’s an odd feeling to look back and be struck by just how much has changed in what seemed like such a small span of time. Seven years ago, I inherited a Kol Rinah Religious School that was ready for change. We had amazing families who were hungry for new Jewish experiences, and so together, we set about finding our way forward.   That small, committed group of thirty-seven students has...Read more...

The People Who Warm Your Heart   I have often been asked what it means to work as a rabbi. Most often, I think that outside of leading holidays, lifecycles, and religious ritual ceremonies, the work of being a rabbi is creating the connective tissue between people that builds and strengthens a community. Or, as the brilliant statesman, Robert F. Kennedy, once explained, “We must attempt to bring people back to the warmth of community,...Read more...

The Future’s So Bright…   A famous story is told about Rabbi Akiva, possibly the greatest sage and scholar of the Mishna. It is told that he had no formal education until age forty. One day, while walking, he came across a large rock with a hole worn through it. When he asked how the hole had been made, it was explained that the waters that dripped continually onto the rock had worn it down over the ages and eventually formed a crack...Read more...