FROM THE UNION FOR REFORM JUDAISM / REFORM MOVEMENT

Creation, Chaos and Children
by Dasee Berkowitz

Classic Latkes
by Tina Wasserman
Reflecting on 50 Years in Jewish Journalism
Aron Hirt-Manheimer
On the eve of my retirement from the Union for Reform Judaism, I’d like to share a few reminiscences and reflections.
Chapter One: Davka
I was a senior at UCLA in 1970 when our Hillel director, Rabbi Richard Levy, of blessed memory, asked students to come up with projects that needed funding. I proposed starting a West Coast Jewish Quarterly called Davka, meaning “just because,” reflecting the counter-cultural attitude I had embraced as a member of the Jewish radical community on campus. My proposal was accepted, and Rabbi Levy, who had been editor of The Harvard Crimson, showed me how to lay out the first edition — “The Ills of American Jewry” — on his dining room table. Click here to read more...
Social Action Center

Mitzvah of the Month – August
This month, many students are returning to in person classes, some for the first time in two years. Whether you are in the stores to pick up a few of these items or buy extras while you are getting your own children or grandchildren ready for fall, please consider this mitzvah to help other kids.
Most needed items this month are:
- Backpacks
- Paper and Notebooks
- Colored Pencils, Crayons, Pens, Pencils, and Sharpeners
- Glue Sticks and White Glue
- Rulers, Safety Scissors
We will partner this month with “Buddy’s Backpacks,” a group from Santee which distributes backpacks and school supplies annually in a special drive-through event. Any child from anywhere in San Diego is eligible to receive school supplies, no qualifications necessary. Last year, they distributed over 800 backpacks!
Please bring your donations to the barrel in the front office lobby of the Temple, and the Social Action Committee will make sure they are delivered. For any questions, please contact Elana Levens-Craig at levenscraig@hotmail.com.
Links to Social Action Sites
- Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (RAC) http://www.rac.org
- Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL) http://www.coejl.org
- Association of Reform Zionists of America ARZA/WORLD UNION http://www.arza.org
- Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger http://www.mazon.org
- The Hunger Site (donate free food) http://www.thehungersite.com
- Israel Religious Action Center http://www.irac.org
- North American Conference on Ethiopian Jewry (NACOEJ) http://www.nacoej.org
- St. Vincent de Paul Village http://www.svdpv.org
- Stand Down for Homeless Veterans https://vvsd.net/
- Being Alive San Diego (HIV/AIDS Resources) http://www.beingalive.org
- Jewish Family Service of San Diego https://www.jfssd.org
- Americans United for Separation of Church and State http://www.au.org
- Solar Cookers International http://www.solarcookers.org
- Nothing But Nets http://www.nothingbutnets.net/