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JFGSB Blog

Explore news and featured stories about Jewish Federation programs, volunteers, donors, special events and updates from our partners in Israel. Learn how you can become more in engaged with the Jewish Federation of Greater Santa Barbara.

Aug 14, 2020

A Sabbath Message: Choosing Happiness in Challenging Times

“Everyone wants happiness, no one wants pain. But you can’t make a rainbow without a little rain.” – Dolly Parton

With the arrival of Shabbat this week, I find myself reflecting upon compelling research I have been reading about lately: the importance of HAPPINESS during difficul…

Aug 7, 2020

A Sabbath Message: All You Need Is Love

This week, as we look forward to Sabbath’s blessed arrival once again, I realize that my messages to you are often serious, even heavy. So, shifting gears somewhat, I will address something perhaps less solemn – but just as important: LOVE. A simple word with many meanings and ramific…

Jul 24, 2020

A Sabbath Message: The Extraordinary Power of Music During Trying Times

“There is an inner connection between music and the spirit. When language aspires to the transcendent, and the soul longs to break free of the gravitational pull of the earth, it modulates into song. Tolstoy called it ‘the shorthand of emotion.’ Words are the language of the mind –…

Jul 17, 2020

A Sabbath Message: Havdalah – Separating from Our Extra Shabbat Soul

“Shabbat invites all those who need new energy…and are crying for the joy, the bliss, the unbelievable heavenliness of being alive in a world created by the Divine.  Shabbat is to get to the top of the mountain in one second, and there discover even higher mountains that we may have …

Jul 10, 2020

A Sabbath Message: Our Jewish Calendar – Holiness in Time

“Judaism teaches us to be attached to holiness in time.” – Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972)

As Shabbat draws near this week, I think of the beautiful description of the gift of this day coined by Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, perhaps our greatest Jewish scholar of the 20th…