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This message has 961 words, and will take about four to five minutes to read.
Based on this experience, we might need to open up a community reading comprehension course, given that so many people read all that and thought these things actually were happening. Public Speaking Contest I always find this a remarkable event as I reflect back on who I was at age nine to 12, when speaking in front of a full room would be about the last thing in the world I’d be up for. Our thanks to the teachers and coaches who worked with the students to help them prepare, to the volunteer judges, moderators and time-keepers, and most of all to the students who put themselves out there. This amazing community-building event is made possible each year through the generosity of Larry Barzelei and Rhona Gordon. Board Approves Youth Study Report A survey was widely distributed throughout the community and, ultimately we received 185 responses from youth ranging from 13 to 22 years old. While not an exhaustive sample, it does give us some meaningful information as we aim to expand services for youth. Among the key findings of note are:
The Planning Council and the Youth at Risk Committee will be using the findings of the study as they continue their work to strengthen our community’s range of resources for youth. To access the executive summary click here. Parashat Ki Tissa Soon after, the parasha describes Bezalel the craftsman as being divinely inspired and charged with making various holy objects to be used in the Tent of Meeting. Then the narrative moves on to the story of the golden calf and Moses’ destruction of the first set of tablets containing the Ten Commandments. A common thread running through all this is the physical manifestations that were created and used to mediate the relationship with the divine. This week saw an historic moment with the abdication of the Pope, the head of the Catholic Church. The timing of his resignation juxtaposed with this parasha illustrates a significant difference between Judaism and Catholicism, with respect to how our relationship with God is mediated. All faiths struggle with how to bring the divine presence into the lives of the people. All faiths have their holy leaders on earth. However, there are important differences. I raise this not out of sense of triumphalism, that our path is best, but rather that we can learn more about who we are by exploring and examining the ways in which we understand things differently from others.
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