Streaming Shabbat Service #8

September 25, 2009 · Filed Under Streaming Shabbat · 6 Comments 

We’ll be live at 6 PM tonight, September 25 – don’t miss it!


Twitteleh: Twitter for your Jewish Mother

September 23, 2009 · Filed Under Baum's Blog · 1 Comment 

Okay, this is not exactly a particularly profound (or long) blog post – but please cut me some slack.  I’ve been writing sermons and midrashim (Jewish legends) and working on Torah readings.  And talking to the media.  And interacting with the thousands of people who have been on our site this week.  So, those are my excuses.

But, I feel I owe you a blog.  So, I’m borrowing from someone else- it’s a really funny video.  Yes, it is full of Jewish mother and other stereotypes – but, it’s still quite funny.

And, Mom, you can follow me on Twitter here.

Broadcasts of the High Holiday Services

September 17, 2009 · Filed Under Baum's Blog · Comment 

Wow, I can’t believe that by this time tomorrow, we will be done with our Rosh Hashanah Evening service and getting ready for our Rosh Hashanah Morning service.  It is such a pleasure to not only be celebrating the Jewish New Year with members of Congregation Beth Adam in Cincinnati, but also with hundreds of people around the world who will be joining us for our live-streaming service.

As many of you know, this will be the second year that we will videostream our services live.  Webcasts will also be archived for later viewing.  Our services last year were quite popular, and we’re expecting many more people to participate this year.

So, feel free to watch services – when it’s convenient for you.  If you watch the archive, you can even rewind or fast-forward (just please don’t admit it to me if you skip through my sermon!).

This year we’ll also be offering a PDF file of our liturgy (for a small fee) if you would like to download it and print it out so that you can follow along.  This liturgy has been written by members of Congregation Beth Adam, and we are thrilled to be sharing it with you.

For links to each service, please click here. Service times are 8:15 PM EDT Friday, September 18 and 10:30 AM EDT Saturday, September 19 for Rosh Hashanah.  Yom Kippur services will be on September 27 at 8:15 PM EDT and September 28 at 10:30 AM EDT.

We’ll also have an online Memorial Service; if you haven’t submitted a photo yet, you can read about it.  And please participate in our community service project: an online food drive!

I want to wish you all a very sweet New Year!

Time for me to give finish my sermons…

Launching the Online Yom Kippur Food Drive

September 15, 2009 · Filed Under Baum's Blog · Comment 

Yom Kippur Food Drive

More than 1 billion people around the world are hungry.  We can help them through acts of tzedakah (justice/charity).

OurJewishCommunity.org really is a community.  Just as many local congregations hold food drives during Yom Kippur as an organized community service project, our online synagogue is hosting a food drive this year.

At this season of reflection, it is a wonderful time of year to help others.  Some will choose to fast on Yom Kippur and others will not.  Regardless, we all know that there are people who are hungry every day.

Our online food drive is a community service project that has no geographic limitations.  We are asking all of you to consider donating locally and posting pictures of the food you are donating (feel free to get in the picture too!).  We have created a flickr page for you to upload your photos.  You can also share your stories of why you are donating or where you are donating through the flickr page.

To upload your photos and stories, visit www.flickr.com/groups/fooddrive.  If you would prefer to email your photos, please email them to me and I will upload them.

I love being part of OurJewishCommunity.org – and I am thrilled we are kicking off our first community-wide social action project!

I’ve already uploaded my photos.  Have you?

Yom Kippur Morning Live Streaming Service 2009

September 15, 2009 · Filed Under High Holiday Streaming 2009 · Comment 

On Monday, September 28 at 10:30 AM Eastern Time, our Yom Kippur Service will be video streamed live here. An archive will also be available.

You may want to download a pdf of our service to follow along.  Please scroll down for the video.

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High Holiday Services – Complete Set
(Rosh Hashanah Evening, Rosh Hashanah Morning, Yom Kippur Evening and Yom Kippur Morning)
$20.00 per set Add to Cart

Yom Kippur Morning Service $7.00 per copy Add to Cart



Live Broadcasting by Ustream

If you enjoy(ed) the service, please help support our online community.


Rosh Hashanah Morning Live Streaming Service 2009

September 15, 2009 · Filed Under High Holiday Streaming 2009 · 4 Comments 

On Saturday, September 19th at 10:30 AM Eastern Time, our Rosh Hashanah Service was video streamed live here.There is now an archived version of the broadcast available.

You may want to download a pdf to follow along.  Please scroll down for the video.

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High Holiday Services – Complete Set
(Rosh Hashanah Evening, Rosh Hashanah Morning, Yom Kippur Evening and Yom Kippur Morning)
$20.00 per set Add to Cart

Rosh Hashanah Morning Service $7.00 per copy Add to Cart


If you enjoy(ed) the service, please help support OurJewishCommunity.org.



Yom Kippur Evening Live Streaming Service 2009 (Kol Nidrei)

September 15, 2009 · Filed Under High Holiday Streaming 2009 · Comment 

On Sunday, September 27th at 8:15 PM Eastern Time, our Yom Kippur Service will be video streamed live here. An archive will also be available.

You may want to download a pdf to follow along.  Scroll down for the video.

Shopping Cart by E-junkie

View Cart

High Holiday Services – Complete Set
(Rosh Hashanah Evening, Rosh Hashanah Morning, Yom Kippur Evening and Yom Kippur Morning)
$20.00 per set Add to Cart

Yom Kippur Evening Service $7.00 per copy Add to Cart


Live Broadcasting by Ustream

If you enjoy the service, please contribute.

Rosh Hashanah Evening Live Streaming Service 2009

September 15, 2009 · Filed Under High Holiday Streaming 2009 · 7 Comments 

On Friday, September 18th at 8:15 Eastern Time, our Rosh Hashanah Evening Service was video streamed live. The archive is now available.  We apologize, but the first 20 minutes of the archive was not recorded.  The service picks up in the middle of Rabbi Barr’s midrash (modern Jewish legend).

You  may want to download a pdf to follow along.  Scroll down for the video.

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High Holiday Services – Complete Set
(Rosh Hashanah Evening, Rosh Hashanah Morning, Yom Kippur Evening and Yom Kippur Morning)
$20.00 per set Add to Cart

Rosh Hashanah Evening Service $7.00 per copy Add to Cart




Streaming Shabbat Service #7 from our Virtual Synagogue

September 10, 2009 · Filed Under Streaming Shabbat · 4 Comments 

Here’s our 7th video streamed Shabbat Service.

It’s an abbreviated service – and is not traditional.  Rabbis Barr and Baum will discuss why we don’t read the Binding of Isaac on Rosh Hashanah.  To read more about this, click here.

Update on Masa’s Ad Campaign

September 9, 2009 · Filed Under Baum's Blog · 1 Comment 

I have some updates about my previous blog post – about Masa’s ad campaign aiming toward “lost” Israelis who have moved into the Diaspora – and whom Masa fears will intermarry.

Masa decided to drop the ad campaign (after much negative feedback in the blogosphere and elsewhere).  They say that “The main goal of a recently launched ad campaign in Israel was to try to engage an often apathetic Israeli population in MASA and involve them in the key goal of bringing larger numbers of young Jews from around the world on long-term Israel programs.”

I am glad that Masa dropped the ads.  However, their chalking this up to “misinterpretation” seems rather lame to me.  Just because they have listened to the public response and dropped the ad, have their values changed?

I also want to share with you part of a very disturbing comment I received on that blog post.  I did not post the comment because I considered it to be attacking.  Here’s part of it:

“Masa is absolutely correct in it’s message that intermarriage is bad for the Jewish community….  Intermarriage is destroying the Jewish community…. You are not a real Rabbi and not even a real Jew!”

This commenter has overstepped the bounds of healthy discourse.  There can be no appropriate conversation about the future of the Jewish community if a self-appointed arbiter simply attacks others.

What is most disturbing is his accusation that I am not a real rabbi or a real Jew.  It is absolutely astounding to me that there are people who think they can decide whether someone else is Jewish.  I am an ordained rabbi – ordained by one of the big three rabbinic seminaries.  If this person writing the comment has the audacity to tell me I am not really Jewish, then I can only imagine what he is saying to others.  And he claims to be worried about the future of the Jewish people!

So, here’s my response to whomever wrote the comment.  It’s not intermarriage that could destroy the Jewish community – it’s this kind of intolerance that will.

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