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Category Archives: Beth Am
The Curator of Attention
On a Friday night at Temple Beth Am the seats face each other. The room runs in the round, under glass that holds the last of the Los Angeles light. An inner circle of singers forms. The niggun starts low. … Continue reading
Posted in Beth Am
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News: Supreme Court order puts California schools in legal limbo over transgender student privacy
Report: The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision this week to reinstate parents’ right to be notified of their child’s gender identity has left California schools in temporary legal limbo and advocates concerned for the safety of transgender students. In a 6-3 … Continue reading
Posted in Beth Am
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Decoding Beth Am (90035)
ChatGPT says: Through Alliance Theory, Beth Am Temple in 90035 is best understood as a status-harmonizing, identity-maintenance institution whose primary role is to let highly assimilated, upwardly mobile Jews remain Jewish without incurring meaningful social, professional, or moral cost. Beth … Continue reading
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Conservative Judaism 2017: ‘God Is Without Boundaries’
The Hebrew word for holiness, kadosh, means “separate” or “boundary.” The essence of Judaism is boundaries between Jew and gentile, between the Sabbath and the other days of the week, between man and women, human and animal, adults and children, … Continue reading
Posted in Beth Am, Conservative Judaism
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Are Women More Spiritual?
David Suissa writes: That idea is a woman’s spiritual edge over man. I got a taste of that edge last Friday night at Temple Beth Am, where a packed house welcomed their new cantor, Magda Fishman, a soulful trumpet player … Continue reading
Posted in Beth Am, David Suissa
Tagged billie holliday, conservative synagogue, magda fishman, orthodox shuls, receiving from god, shlomo carlebach
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The Chief Rabbinate v. The Jewish People – A Lecture with Bambi Sheleg
Can’t get fairer than that. 7:40 p.m. Temple Beth Am. The head of the synagogue’s Israel committee waxes enthusiastic about their recent trip to the Holy Land. The highlight? Joking around with some cool rabbis who introduced themselves with their … Continue reading
Posted in Beth Am, Israel, R. Adam Kligfeld
Tagged bambi sheleg, chief rabbinate, ethiopian immigrants, extremist rabbis, religious pluralism, trip to the holy land
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My First Experience Of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
1:20 p.m. I change my shirt to the long-sleeved grey one. Then on with the blue jeans. I slop on some sun screen. I rub it all over my face and then around the back of my neck. Am I … Continue reading
Posted in Beth Am, Israel, Personal, Psychology, R. Adam Kligfeld
Tagged Alexander Technique, cognitive behavioral therapy, horah, linda trip, luke ford, rabbi adam
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Whatever Happened To Deportment Among Conservative Rabbis?
Last week I wondered why the head of American Jewish University’s rabbinics program publishes photos of himself in jeans and a tye-dye t-shirt. Can you imagine Saul Lieberman doing that? I also wonder the Ziegler School of Rabbinics is run … Continue reading
Posted in AJU, Beth Am, Conservative Judaism, R. Adam Kligfeld
Tagged chewing gum, hunger in the world, rabbi adam, saul lieberman, tye dye, ziegler school
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The Beth Am Library Minyan
Joe emails: I always wondered why no orthodox shul can come up with a substitute for this type of experience. The Beth Am Library Minyan was at a level of spiritual “truthiness” akin to a Hasidic service – the people … Continue reading
Posted in Beth Am, Orthodoxy
Tagged audience participation, intellectual feast, leadership participation, orthodox shul, torah law, torah service
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Rabbi Adam Kligfeld Of Temple Beth Am
The new rabbi at Beth Am, a Conservative synagogue on La Cienega and Olympic Blvds, seems like a good fit. There was one hiccup for some congregants. The new rabbi, who’s about 36 but looks 18, wants to be called … Continue reading
Posted in Beth Am, R. Adam Kligfeld
Tagged conservative synagogue, la cienega, lofty title, rabbi adam, temple beth
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