Our temple cantor strummed a few chords, and before she could open her mouth, my 4-year-old son Simon did. “Bim bam,” he sang out.

The cantor smiled, touched rather than upset that my son for a moment had become song leader as we started walking into the sanctuary for the recent Tot Shabbat service. She then took over. “Shabbat shalom,” she sang, and Simon along with the cantor’s 6-year-old daughter, shouted, “Hey!” and clapped in unison.

My son treats our temple like a second home. He hugs the rabbis and the cantor. He exchanges high fives with other parents and children. He seems as comfortable in the children’s service as he is in the adult services. Seeing my son embrace his faith so early in life is beautiful and at times, astonishing. Both my husband and I grew up largely disconnected from our faith. We didn’t set out to make Judaism such an integral part of our son’s early childhood. It just happened.

By the time Pavlik and I married, both of us had become closer to Judaism than we were as children. I celebrated my adult bat mitzvah at age 41 in 2006 – months before my wedding and two years before Simon was born. Pavlik, after college, joined a chavurah, a group of Jews who regularly got together to mark Shabbat and other Jewish holidays. He studied conversational Hebrew for a year. Before Simon was born, my husband and I sang in our temple chorus. Months after Simon’s birth, we brought him to chorus rehearsals so often that our infant was dubbed the “chorus baby.” He alternately cooed or slept at rehearsals.

Several times a year, particularly during the summer when evening services are earlier, we brought Simon as a baby to services. He was often the only baby or the only toddler. If he cried, we took him out. Around six months old, Simon had one of his biggest early Jewish experiences. It’s a memory he won’t remember but I always will. I took him out to change his diaper and walked back in as the rabbi was asking children to to open the doors of the ark – a beautifully carved wooden structure that houses our temple’s three Torah scrolls. Simon was the only actual child at that service.

I tried to slip into a seat, but the rabbi called out, “Linda, bring Simon up.” My face reddened, but I complied. Simon snuggled in my arms. I opened one of the doors because he was too little to help, but he absorbed it. The rabbi and cantor sang the Aleinu and my son’s eyes widened and he smiled. A little more than a year later, at age 2, Simon insisted on walking up himself to open the ark doors, drawing chuckles from congregants.

At home, on evenings we do not attend services, we light the candles and say the blessing over the bread and Simon sings along. Sometimes, he wants to lead.

My childhood memories of temples are not warm and fuzzy. I never would have hugged a rabbi. I found clergy boring and didactic and saw no purpose for religion or ritual. My family did not go to services. My father was resistant to ritual at home. My mother had more love for Judaism but heeded my father’s wishes on many Jewish-related things. We were not a family that went to temple for anything but religious instruction on Sunday mornings.

The Sunday school-only model of the family I grew up in remains common, my temple rabbi says. Few families, sadly, bring their children to temple for regular events from birth on, our rabbi says. We did not set out with a grand plan for our son’s introduction to Judaism. By the time Simon was born, my husband and I enjoyed going to services regularly. It has helped, too, that our temple had an active schedule of events for families of young children. We knew we wanted Simon exposed to his faith. We hoped he would sense our joy and develop his own love for Judaism. So far, our hope has come true.

Linda K. Wertheimer is a veteran journalist who writes about religion, education, and family for various publications and blogs at Jewish Muse, A Writer’s Blog on Faith and Family. She is The Boston Globe’s former education editor and currently teaches journalism at Boston University.

Originally posted at Jewish Muse.

I can’t help but think that if Ruth lived under the current Chief Rabbinate of Israel, with its increasingly rigid and restrictive interpretation of the laws of conversion, she would not be accepted as a daughter of Israel, and the trajectory of Jewish history would be altogether different.

Of course it is a great responsibility to define who is and who isn’t Jewish, especially in our modern age of pluralism. The laws are complex, and the stakes are high. But what is most troubling about the views coming out of Jerusalem in recent years is that they are motivated by an effort to keep the gates closed, to prevent sincere seekers from joining our people rather than to welcome them.

Rabbi Rick Jacobs, incoming president of the URJ, responded to Rosenblatt’s op-ed with a letter to the editor reiterating the Reform Movement’s commitment to reaching out not only to the affiliated but also to the unaffiliated, the intermarried, Jews-by-choice, and other important groups within the Jewish community. He writes, in part:

I was pleased to read Gary Rosenblatt’s spot-on column, “Ruth’s Conversion Would Be Rejected Today,” (May 25). He is absolutely correct in his assessment that in the spirit of Jewish unity and the Festival of Shavuot, “our impulse should be to embrace rather than reject those who are sincere in their intentions to echo Ruth’s words: ‘Your God shall be my God.’”

Indeed, the institutions of Reform Judaism — the Union for Reform Judaism, the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, together with affiliates and partner organizations — have long welcomed into our synagogues, our homes and our lives all those who have sought to cast their lot with the Jewish people.

Read the rest of Rabbi Jacobs’ letter to the editor here.

Hi everyone! Can I please ask everyone to stand up for just a second? Alright, I want for everyone to pretend that you all are the youth of the Reform Jewish movement in North America after their b’nai mitzvah. Now, can I please get 80% of you to sit down. The group still standing, only 20%, are the Reform Jewish youth still engaged actively in Jewish life after their b’nai mitzvah. Whether it’s through camp, NFTY, confirmation or teaching Sunday School, this group, only 20%, are still engaged. This right here is the current trend in Reform Jewish youth across North America. Eighty percent are not engaged whatsoever in Jewish life – and this is why the Campaign for Youth Engagement was launched, to reverse this trend in our youth and to make engaging in Jewish life the norm in our temples and Jewish communities.

After more than a year and a half of planning, which including several Vision Team meetings and gathering information from over 1,000 conversations with rabbis, cantors, educators and youth (including focus groups at Greene Family Camp), the Campaign for Youth Engagement was unanimously passed by the URJ Board at the 2011 URJ Biennial in Washington D.C.Here’s some background information on the history of the Union for Reform Judaism’s Campaign for Youth Engagement:

• Already more than $1 million has been pledged directly toward the campaign’s programs and staff.
• Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the incoming President of the URJ, has declared that youth engagement will be the number one priority during his term.

The overall goal of the Campaign is to dramatically improve the ability of Reform institutions to involve young people in meaningful Jewish life and strengthen post-b’nai mitzvah engagement and retention in synagogues, day schools, camps and youth programs throughout North America.

How will we accomplish this? The Campaign will utilize the breadth and depth of relationships that exist within the Reform Movement – its congregations and its numerous governing bodies – and bring to bear the full commitment of talent and resources of the Movement.

You may be asking yourself, what does this have to do with me? Why is this huge Campaign, that will be effecting nearly 950 Reform Jewish congregations and 1.5 Million Reform Jews across North America, significant to me?

The lesson of L’dor V’dor, generation to generation, is a lesson that holds a high place within Judaism, and especially within this congregation. We must ensure that the generations after us have the experiences and passion to continue our strong and vibrant journey as Reform Jews. While Temple B’nai Israel could be considered an exception to the 20% statistic, we are not reaching our full potential as a congregation. And it is the responsibility of each and every one of us to ensure that our Temple community continues its strong tradition of supporting our youth. Join the youth commission. Donate to one of the numerous youth funds we have at the temple. Have a conversation with a teen about their experiences at Greene Family Camp or a NFTY event. If you’re a parent, make a strong commitment to encourage your child to join Jr. OKATY or OKATY. They will have the time of their lives, I promise.

I’d like to end with a quote from Rabbi Rick Jacobs, incoming President of the URJ. This is from the closing ceremony at the 2011 URJ Biennial: “Together we will seize this moment and shape a better tomorrow for our congregations, our Movement, our people and our world. Help me open our doors, our minds and our imaginations. Grasp the Torah with me as we carry it out of seclusion. We are the Reform Movement, so let’s get MOVING!”

People are asking me how I feel after the landmark decision to have the Ministry of Culture and Sport pay salaries to non-Orthodox rabbis who serve communities in Israel.  I’ll always remember this momentous date, because it is my youngest son’s 23rd birthday today. I’ll also remember it as the day that my daughter posted proudly on Facebook that her mom, Rabbi Marilyn Miri Gold, won her court case.  This is a measure of victory, because when she was in the army, over ten years ago, she never told the other soldiers that her mother is a rabbi.  It was too hard to explain to Israeli kids that there are women rabbis in Israel, too difficult to define Reform Judaism.  Today, “Hareformim” is no longer a disdainful word to the growing numbers of Israeli Jews who have been exposed favorably to Reform communities in Israel and abroad. Rather, it describes a group of socially active Jews who believe that there is more than one way to practice Judaism, that Judaism is to be celebrated, that Judaism is meaningful in their modern lives, and that Reform communities are inviting and welcoming and enriching.

It’s been a long six and a half years since our case first went to the Israel Supreme Court.  I remember the front page of The Detroit Jewish News, showing the scales of justice, with me on one side and numerous ultra-Orthodox rabbis gesturing angrily at me on the other side. I imagine that they are really angry today, but I’ve learned to concentrate on the positive news and the tremendous love and support from friends, family, colleagues, and the thousands of people who have been rooting for the cause all these years. All of them, all of you, deserve a thank you and a round of applause.

I can’t say that I feel unmitigated joy.  Israel is still not the bastion of religious freedom nor the stalwart promoter of religious pluralism.  We still have many hurdles ahead, but I believe that we’ll all have renewed energy and determination to push forward, so that our Reform rabbis will also serve as neighborhood rabbis, and that we’ll be able to legally perform marriages.  I look forward to a time when there are mikvaot for our converts, and funding for buildings for all of our congregations.

Israel does not have separation of church and state, and while this is a cardinal principle in the United States, it is unlikely that Israel will adopt this in the foreseeable future. Since all Israelis pay a “religious” tax, it is fitting that a proportionate amount help to strengthen our Reform Movement in Israel, which is already in a tremendous growth spurt.  Just this year, four new congregations were established in Israel! This landmark decision will not lighten the financial situation of my congregation, but eventually (when all the details are worked out and any hurdles overcome) it will free up funds for the Reform Movement in Israel to make its mark on Israeli society.

I never once imagined that I personally would reap the benefits of this case.  I always hoped to be the “Alice Miller” who would move things forward.  Alice Miller was a commercial pilot before she went into the Israeli army.  She applied to be an Air Force pilot and was told that women are not accepted. She won a Supreme Court case which allowed her to try out.  She didn’t get accepted, but today there are women fighter pilots and navigators, thanks to Alice Miller. If we have not yet achieved all of our goals, we will succeed in the future. We will continue to pursue justice.

While I long for the day when we’ll all look back and wonder what all the fuss was about, I don’t see that happening for a long time to come. And we have new challenges to face.  Birkat Shalom, my congregation at Kibbutz Gezer, is being allocated a pre-fab building.  Now we will need to raise the funds to finish and install it.  Other congregations are facing similar hurdles. In the meantime, I remind myself that hope is a mitzvah, a commandment, and one which sustains me when times get rough.  In the meantime, let’s say “L’Hayim” and continue to choose life, to reach for the heavens and beyond the seas, day after day.

Rabbi Miri Gold is the rabbi of Kehilat Birkat Shalom on Kibbutz Gezer in the Gezer region of Israel. Rabbi Gold made aliyah in 1977, and in 1999, she was the third woman to be ordained as a rabbi by the Hebrew Union College. In 2005, Rabbi Gold petitioned the Supreme Court of Israel to recognize her as the official rabbi of her community and to receive a salary, as do the Orthodox rabbis serving communities in the Gezer Regional Council. She has been represented by the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC) in this case.

Today, Joe is a happy, healthy college student. We don’t talk about his liver transplant anymore, or the fact that we spent his younger years worrying that he might never reach today – but still, I remember. I remember that fear every time he got sick and that relief when we learned he would be receiving a transplant. I also remember the sadness: Someone had to die so that Joe could stay with us, and that fact was never lost on me. That afternoon, as I cried tears of joy, some other family cried tears of grief and loss.

When I turned 16 and applied for my driver’s license, then, it was a no-brainer for me that, when asked if I wanted to be an organ donor, I said yes without a moment’s hesitation. More than 114,000 Americans currently await new organs, and though 79 people receive transplants every day, an estimated 18 people die every 24 hours as they await donor organs that never come.

Despite this clear need, not all Jews recognize organ donation as a mitzvah; there are a number of reasons why observant Jews may consider organ donation to be a violation of Jewish law. Since 1986, though, the Reform Jewish Movement has advocated organ and tissue donation, stating in a responsum that the use of such organs to heal or save a life is in keeping with the Jewish tradition and a positive act of holiness. Since then, the majority of the North American Jewish community has come to agree that organ donation gives the greatest gift of all – matan chaim, the gift of life – and that deed supersedes any other concerns.

Why all this talk about organ donation? Aside from the fact that it’s personally important to me, it’s also been in the news quite a bit lately. As you’ve likely already heard, Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg tied the knot earlier this month with his longtime sweetheart, Priscilla Chan. Zuckerberg is notoriously private, and in that way, his bride seems to be quite similar. In “Who Is Priscilla Chan?”, the New York Times speaks of the new Mrs. Zuckerberg’s desire to remain low-profile on all but one thing – her passion for raising awareness about organ donation. Perhaps driven by Chan’s advocacy efforts, Facebook has partnered with Donate Life America to make it easy for Facebook users to share their organ donation wishes with their friends in family in the event of their death.

CNN explains how it works for Facebook users:

The Facebook tool works like this: Users go to their timelines, where under Life Event they will see a health and wellness section. Zuckerberg said: “You put in, ‘I decided to be an organ donor’ and your state or country you live in and you can add a story about how you decided to be an organ donor.”

A Facebook user will also see a Share Your Donor Status link when a friend’s donor update hits their news feed.

The Facebook page also includes links to Donate Life America for people to become official donors. Going through an online state registry or indicating you want to be a donor when you get your driver’s license means signing a legal agreement, unlike the Facebook pledge.

Of course, no one likes to consider his or her own death, and we all hope our last day is far into the future. Still, a mature grasp on reality demands more of us than willful ignorance about our own mortality. Thousands of people die every year awaiting organ donations – and yet one organ donor can save up to eight lives. Want to know more? This URJ brochure on organ donation explains more about the Reform Jewish position, the Mayo Clinic debunks common myths about becoming a donor, and OrganDonor.gov answers just about any question you might have on the topic.

David Fleming, president and CEO of Donate Life America, said of the national organ donor registry, “We could save thousands more lives a year if we had another 20, 30, 40 million more people registered.” That’s 20, 30, or 40 million more families like mine that might get to cry tears of joy instead of tears of loss. Register to become an organ donor today.

I have come full circle, having just returned from the WRJ District President’s Council meeting at the URJ Kutz Camp in Warwick, New York. It was my fifth DP Council at Kutz and I have enjoyed each year. This year was perhaps the most special, and a little bittersweet, because it was my last.

During the summers of 1979 and 1980, I was the lifeguard and a resident advisor at Kutz. I loved my positions; interacting with campers, faculty, and staff. I loved the programs, the music, services, and being part of the Reform community 24/7 for both long summers.

Fast forward a few years later. I married my college sweetheart, Bryan Roth, and we moved to Dallas, Texas. I craved a sense of Jewish community while living in the buckle of the Bible belt. I badly needed “my people.” I found a teaching job at the Orthodox Jewish Day School in Dallas. As much as I enjoyed this job for many years, these were not “my people.”

When it was time for our oldest son, Matthew to begin religious school in first grade, we joined Temple Shalom, where Bryan’s family had been members. I paid my sisterhood dues, because that’s what I thought a Jewish woman was supposed to do. And then my life changed!

Faye Spiegel, the sisterhood president, literally took me by the hand at a membership coffee and pointed out the best committees for me to join. Taking Faye’s advice, I joined a large committee for our signature fundraising event, and did a very small job, making phone calls and picking up a donation. I will never forget the feeling of being welcomed and needed to do this job. The feeling was that I finally found “my people”, and I really liked them!

A few phone calls led me to chair the committee the following year. After that, I was a vice president of our sisterhood, and later sisterhood president and long term temple board member. I can’t even count the number of committees that I participated in and chaired. I also have been teaching religious school since that first year. Professionally, I taught general studies at Dallas’ Reform Jewish Day School, The Wise Academy, for the life of the school. I have served on the camp committee for Greene Family Camp, and of course happily sent my children for many years.

Sixteen years later, I have served on the WRJ District 22 board, which is now the Southwest District. I now proudly serve as the Southwest district president, and the WRJ board. I have attended six WRJ assemblies/URJ biennials, and district biennials. I have traveled to many communities across the country sharing and learning about WRJ.

As a district president of WRJ, I am honored to be able to visit Kutz Camp for DP Council each year. There we plan, study, pray, play, and bond with the other fifteen first vice presidents and presidents, a few executive committee members, and members of the professional staff to do the planning for the districts of WRJ. The feeling of going to Kutz is overwhelming and full of emotion for me.

To get off the bus and see Kutz each year brings me comfort to know that it is thriving! To see my picture on the wall behind plexiglass shows me that I am part of the history of Kutz and makes me so proud! It reminds me where I came from as I do the work of WRJ. Most importantly, as I tour the camp with my fellow WRJ board members, I am reminded concretely why we do what we do, ensure the future of Reform Judaism with our support of NFTY and youth programming.

I am a product of the Reform Movement. I am a teacher of Jewish children, an active member of my congregation, and a leader in WRJ. I am quite sure that this is what the new Campaign for Youth Engagement is aiming to achieve. I indeed have come full circle, and it feels great! It’s a good thing that a circle doesn’t end because I have no intention of stopping now.

Renee M. Roth is president of WRJ’s Southwest District and attends Temple Shalom, in Dallas, Texas.