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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.

Oct 30, 2020

A Sabbath Message: Coping w/ Election Season – The Importance of Self-Care

“Guard yourself and guard your soul very carefully.” – Book of Deuteronomy, 4:19

With the arrival of the final Sabbath of the election season, I reflect on the toll this time has taken on all of us – individually and communally – a divided country during a challenging global heal…

Oct 23, 2020

A Sabbath Message: Coping with Election Season – Staying Informed

“I’m a believer in listening and learning from others.” – Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933-2020)

As Sabbath descends upon us this week, I find myself thinking of the natural world, perhaps as a bit of an escape from the tension of what is going on in the country – and also since…

Oct 19, 2020

A Sabbath Message: Coping with Election Season – Getting Involved

“Ha-yom katzar v’ha’milacha m’ruba…lo alecha ha’milacha ligmor, v’lo ata ben horin libatel mi’mena.” 

Rabbi Tarfon used to say: "The day is short, the work is abundant…It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you free to neglect it.”

– Pirkei Avot (E…

Oct 9, 2020

A Sabbath Message: Simchat Torah – Reconnecting with Joy

“V’samachta b’chagecha...And you shall rejoice in your Festival…and you will be only happy.” – Book of Deuteronomy (16:14-15)

“Joy is any feeling fully felt, any experience we give our whole being to…I feel a deep sense of joy every moment of my life, in which I am utterly…

Oct 2, 2020

A Sabbath Message: The Lessons of Sukkot – Fragility and Resilience

“U’vros aleynu sukkat shelomecha –
May You spread over us the Divine Sukkah of peace.”
– Traditional evening liturgy
 
“In the Sukkah, a house that is open to the world, a house that freely acknowledges that it cannot be the basis of our security, we let go of this need. The i…