Many of us feel these days that we have lost track of counting the days. These weeks of quarantine seem like years; we wish we could have been able to already count the days down. At the same time, Jewish tradition tells us to keep track of counting the omer—a tradition derived from the To…
Seventy-five years ago on May 8th, 1945, World War II came to an end in Europe. As the news of Germany’s surrender reached the rest of the world, joyous crowds gathered to celebrate in the streets.
The German Instrument of Surrender signed on May 7, 1945 stipulated that all hostilities mu…
Since the agency physically closed in the middle of March, Jewish Family Service (JFS) of Greater New Haven staff quickly adapted to continue to meet clients’ needs in new, creative ways. Here are several ways JFS is rising to challenges during this time:
The Fiddler and the Pandemic
We wake up and go to sleep these days with questions: “When will our lives return to normal?” “When will I return to my job?” “When will our kids return to school?” “When will a vaccine be developed?” The answer, of course, is: We don’t know; C…
The Day the Rabbi Emerged From Quarantine
What does it look like to “return to normal life” after a long quarantine? We can learn from Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, whose life we celebrate on Lag B’Omer this year on Tuesday, May 12.
The Roman occupiers of the land of Israel wanted to exec…
