Stephen Wise Temple celebrates 50 years of women in the rabbinate
On June 3, 1972, Sally J. Priesand became the first woman to be ordained as a rabbi in the United States. On May 23, just ahead of the 50th anniversary of Rabbi Priesand's ordination, the Stephen Wise Temple Center for Jewish Life will host a special webinar celebrating 50 years of women in the rabbinate, featuring Rabbi Carole Balin, Ph.D., and our own Rabbi Sari Laufer. Stephen Wise Temple's Center for Jewish [...]
Wise YAD Movie Night: Another hit for the Jewish young adult crowd
On April 24, our Wise YAD (Young Adult Division) hosted a movie night under the stars, one of its signature events for Jewish young adults. Hosted by Cantorial Intern Josh Goldberg, a group of millennials gathered on Nahmias Plaza, where they found a delicious dinner catered by Maria's Italian Kitchen, as well as theater snack classics like popcorn, Starburst, M&Ms, and assorted candy bars. Adult beverages kept everyone satisfied as they sat [...]
Rabbi Ron Stern delves into the Pew survey of American Jews
In his four-part Daily Kavanah, sent to the Stephen Wise Temple congregation from April 25-28, 2022 Rabbi Ron Stern examines the recently-released Pew Research Center's survey of American Jews. Download the survey's full PDF report here. April 25: American Jews are "culturally engaged, increasingly diverse, politically polarized ..." In 2020, the Pew Research Center conducted a survey of America’s Jewish community. The results were recently made public. As committed Jews, this study’s [...]
Tali Tadmor announced as new Stephen Wise Temple & Schools Music Director
Stephen Wise Temple and Schools are proud to officially announce the hiring of Tali Tadmor as our new Director of Music. Tadmor will take over the position upon the retirement of Music Director David Kates at the end of this academic year. Stephen Wise Temple and Schools will celebrate Kates—who originated the position and has held it for 10 years—in a special Shabbat Evening Service on Friday, April 29, at 6:15 p.m. [...]
Stephen Wise Temple celebrates Passover at Mountaintop Shabbat
This past Saturday, more than 50 children and adults gathered together with Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback, Rabbi Josh Knobel, and Cantorial Intern Josh Goldberg to celebrate Shabbat and Passover at Stephen Wise Temple's Mountaintop Shabbat Festival Service. “This is amazing," said new member Radfar Eliasi, who joined his bride Olga for a special wedding blessing. "We’ll absolutely make this part of our monthly experience." As a diverse community with a wide range of [...]
Stephen Wise Temple Second Night Seder a hit with families of all ages
After a COVID-forced hiatus, Stephen Wise Temple's Second Night Seder was back and in-person this past weekend, returning to its place as the centerpiece of our yearly Passover programming. A gathering of more than 70 children and adults from the Wise community enjoyed an enriching, entertaining, and musical evening at Katz Family Pavilion. You can read some of the material discussed in our special digital Passover Haggadah Supplement, with contributions from each [...]