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Transform Your Synagogue’s High Holy Day Appeal (Then Finally Focus on the Important Stuff)
Transform the High Holy Day Appeal now and your synagogue just might nurture a greater culture of giving. Then, defying the...
Rabbi Paul Kipnes
May 911 min read
From Lockdown to Legislation: Our Teens Demand Change
What does it take for a teenager to stand in a senator’s office, look a legislative aide in the eye, and say, “This is personal.” For the...
Rabbi Paul Kipnes
Mar 93 min read
What a Double Funeral and Double Bat Mitzvah Taught Me about Connection
This past Shabbat, I stood in two sacred spaces that illuminated the beauty, fragility and resilience of life. One moment, I found myself...
Rabbi Paul Kipnes
Jan 124 min read
Thanksgiving: Don’t Let Political Disruptions Ruin Your Dinner
“Rabbi, help! Thanksgiving’s approaching and we have relatives whose positions differ from my own—on what is happening between Israel and...
Rabbi Paul Kipnes
May 5, 20244 min read
Addressing the Lingering Loss of Covid-era Zoom Bar/Bat Mitzvah Students
By Rabbi Paul Kipnes, Rabbi Julia Weisz, Andrew Fromer (Teen Engagement Coordinator), Rachel Altfeld (Senior Educator) and Rabbinic...
Rabbi Paul Kipnes
Apr 30, 20236 min read
Leadership in a Time of Crisis: Resources for Rabbis
Reflections When the Rabbi Feels Trauma in CCAR’s Journal of Reform Judaism (Fall 2019)By Rabbi Paul Kipnes So That’s What Rabbis Do: A...
Rabbi Paul Kipnes
May 1, 20221 min read
When the Rabbi Feels Trauma
When the Rabbi Feels Trauma by Paul Kipnes, CCAR Journal of RJ, Fall 2019 By Paul Kipnes A mass shooting in a Pittsburgh synagogue. A...
Rabbi Paul Kipnes
May 1, 20221 min read
Synagogue Dues are Dead: What’s the Price Point at Which Quitting the Temple is Impossible?
Rabbi Paul Kipnes and David Weisz “What’s the price point at which quitting the temple becomes unnecessary or nearly impossible?” So...
Rabbi Paul Kipnes
May 9, 20218 min read
Dear Synagogue Leaders: Go Back Better (to In-Person)
Dear Synagogue Leaders, We keepers of the flame Of Jewish communal living, Know- If we haven’t already done so – That the time to go back...
Rabbi Paul Kipnes
May 9, 20212 min read
Kindergarten Wisdom for an Adult World
A man takes his dog to a veteranarian, saying, “Doc, my dog has a problem.” The vet replies, “So what’s the problem.” “First you gotta...
Rabbi Paul Kipnes
May 9, 20216 min read
Drive Thru Judaism: An Antidote to Quarantined Community
By Rabbi Paul Kipnes, Rabbi Julia Weisz , and Rabbinic Intern Adrianne Pasternak Craving personal connection to actual people? Missing...
Rabbi Paul Kipnes
May 10, 20206 min read
Testing Our Synagogue’s Vision During Quarantine: Disruptive Judaism 2
When confronted with the first of many “shelter at home” quarantine orders, many houses of worship struggled with a perplexing dilemma:...
Rabbi Paul Kipnes
May 10, 20205 min read
Disruptive Judaism: Will Your Synagogue Be Beit Blockbuster or Kehillat Netflix?
Whenever we get stuck in the midst of a synagogue brainstorming session or change project, I trot out my cherished $50 Blockbuster gift...
Rabbi Paul Kipnes
May 5, 201910 min read
Seth Front on L’dor Vador: HUC-JIR Interns Positively Influence My Daughter
In a speech at Hebrew Union-College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Or Ami congregant Seth Front kvells about the positive impact that...
Rabbi Paul Kipnes
May 5, 20194 min read
Fires, Shootings, Unfenced Roofs, and Uncovered Pits: Lessons from Torah in the Face of Increasing Danger
When I was in college, during the study week before finals, you would find me either in the computer room writing papers, or in the game...
Rabbi Paul Kipnes
May 5, 201911 min read
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