Mah Jongg Tournament Raises Funds for Alzheimer’s

A recent Mah Jongg tournament raised much needed funds for the Alzheimer’s Association of Middle Tennessee. Forty players participated in the tournament at the Gordon Jewish Community Center. Alongside the 39 women players was Howard Pink, the lone gentleman, who celebrated his 80th birthday at the tournament. During the lunch, catered by Goldie Shepard, tournament organizer Michelle Tishler presented Pink with a celebratory cookie cake. This year’s event also showcased Pink’s progress in the game over the last 17 years. Tishler says, “Howard participated in my very first tournament in 2006, where he placed last. I honored him with a prize of a ‘Crying Towel.’ In this tournament, he placed first in his division.” During the fun filled afternoon, participants boned in the “tossing of the tiles,” meeting new players and enjoying the game of Mah Jongg.

Get Outside: Finding Awe

Jewish Federation Commemorates Yom Hashoah

This year’s Yom Hashoah event featured music, speeches, and candle lighting to remember the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust. The event included memorial certificates from Remember Us, a Holocaust B’nai Mitzvah project that invites children preparing for Bar or Bat Mitzvah to remember a child who was lost in the Holocaust. There was also artwork from the Butterfly Project. Through the painting of ceramic butterflies, described as a symbol of hope and resilience, people will remember the 1.5 million children who also died.

Becca Groner to Receive 2023 Sandy Averbuch Young Leadership Award

MAZEL TOV TO THE AKIVA CLASS OF 2023!

Akiva School celebrated its 2023 Graduation Ceremony on May 24th, honoring eight graduates and their families. As they prepared to leave Akiva, the graduating class could not help but feel a bittersweet sense of farewell as they stood ready to embark on the next phase of their educational journey. Looking back on their time at Akiva, graduate Lyla Banish reflected that, “One of the best things about being at Akiva is how I’ve made awesome friendships with my classmates, teachers, and even students from other grades. At Akiva, it’s really like everyone is part of a big family, your grade or age doesn’t matter.” Her fellow graduates unanimously share this sentiment, adding that “we will miss the strong friends we have made here, but know those friendships will continue to grow and be strong.”

We will miss you, Renee!

Gordon Jewish Community Center Annual Meeting Scheduled for June 4

JMS Caps Off Incredible Year with Community Art Show

Young Leaders Council Provides Tools for Success in the Nonprofit World

Jumpstart Your Child's Jewish Life with a free gift from Chabad

As expectant women approach their due dates, a variety of emotions tend to surface. Some women are filled with excitement, anxiously anticipating the day that they will meet their baby face to face. Others get the jitters, nervous about the upcoming hours of labor. All women pray to G-d for a healthy baby. Many Jewish women would be thrilled to know that there is one special prayer that has been customary for centuries in our tradition to safeguard both the mother and the baby. This prayer is the Shir Hamalot (Song of Ascents, Psalms: 121). The verses of this psalm declare our dependence upon the Creator for our safety and wellbeing and His commitment to guard us at all times.

Chabad of Nashville celebrates Lag B’Omer

Friends of the Chabad of Nashville community celebrated Lag B’Omer with a beautiful outdoor celebration for children and adults from all walks of Nashville community. It was an event of true Jewish pride, celebrated in the spirit of Lag B’Omer camaraderie and friendship.

Dara Horn Discussed Antisemitism, Jewish Heritage, and Holocaust Education

MY REBBE, YOUR REBBE, OUR REBBE

Imagine if we could carry out the following experiment.

Writers of The Lost Ark June 2023

“Being faced with the reality of the horrific actions of the human species to each other and the earth, alongside our admirable advances in civilization over the centuries, I chose to express my personal notion of G*d in a poem, in hopes of expanding an optimistic perspective that does not preclude doubts or disasters.” Richard R. Forberg

Gun Control & Nashville’s Jewish Community

According to Everytown Research and Policy institute’s website, every year 1,385 people in Tennessee are killed by guns, with the state ranking number 29th in the country for gun law strength. They also report that the gun homicide rate in the U. S. is 26 times higher than in other developed countries. As of February, 59 percent of adults or someone they know has experienced gun violence. That statistic in Nashville is undoubtedly higher, in the wake of the Covenant School shooting in March when an emotionally disturbed former student killed six people with an automatic firearm, one of five purchased legally prior to the murders.

President’s Report: Mission to Israel Part 1

Jewish teens are gathering on Zoom to meet Palestinians

(JTA) — When Rep. Rashida Tlaib joined a Zoom with 40 teenagers, she soon found herself talking about the kinds of topics — academic and otherwise — that tend to take up their days.

Teen people of color are finding & building their own spaces in Jewish life

This article was produced as part of JTA’s Teen Journalism Fellowship, a program that works with Jewish teens around the world to report on issues that affect their lives.

Jewish Community Celebrates Israel at 75 with Community Sing!

The Jewish Federation of Greater Nashville hosted its first ever “Community Sing!” last month in celebration of Israel’s 75th birthday. Participants from all walks of life and all ages gathered to learn a special song composed by Israeli artist Matisyahu. The result is a planned music video recording of the event, to be streamed soon.

Legislative Update: Jewish Federations in TN to Receive Security Funding

Tennessee’s state legislature passed two bills this year that will help make the state’s Jewish communities safer. The success is the result of a joint effort by the four Jewish Federations representing Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga and the relationships the groups fostered with the state’s legislators. “We would not have seen these results without the combined efforts of all the Jewish Federations in the state,” says Leslie Kirby, president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Nashville.