Arts and Culture

Old grunge vintage American US national flag over background of white painted wooden planks board

An Ode to American Artistry (on her birthday)

Now I know folks are complaining a lot these days; they’re quick to criticize. They’re saying it’s the end of Pax Americana, and they start to eulogize. But let’s stop with the doom and gloom, and take a moment to recognize That America’s artistic talents transform the world before our...

mah jongg

Mah Jongg with Your Mishpucha: Social Distancing Edition

My husband and I play Maj regularly with another couple from our temple. We are, at best, cheerfully mediocre. We don’t play for money; we play to connect, eat See’s bridge mix, drink wine and amiably trash talk each other’s Maj acumen. Needless to say, we were bereft when the...

From L to R: Ayelet, Gvanim Alumni; Heidi, Runnymede teacher and Shuli of Beged Kefet

A Room of Supplies

Shuli Zilberfarb Sela is closing the door on a meeting room so full of school supplies, you can’t sit down. It all came out of the power of weaving an idea across multiple groups who were primed to help. Two weeks ago, in a Hebrew-speaking Facebook group where people can give...

Diving photo by Marla Goodman

Life is Like Cave Diving

M. Goodman takes a deep dive beneath surface. Becoming a proficient SCUBA diver is an iterative process. Once you learn the foundational rules of diving, you can then begin learning new skills like proper buoyancy, air control and gaining a general awareness of your surroundings. Diving evolves from being frantic to meditative—you learn...

Lyndsey and others at a temple outside Kyoto

Know What You Are Made of

OFJCC Personal Trainer Lyndsey Jones shares profound insight from her trip to Japan. The last time I wrote I had just gotten back from my first solo trip to Peru, exhilarated by the perspective I gained. Even so, I couldn’t wait to embark on another journey. My goal in traveling is to experience other...

A flashback to celebrating my son's bar mitzvah at the OFJCC.

Why I’m Giving on #GivingTuesday

My favorite activities at the Oshman Family JCC are the lectures, talks and seminars. Mental exercise! I have always loved learning. My first job out of college was at the Brookings Institution, where going to hear dignitaries, academics and researchers was “part of the job.” Like most of us, my...

RWL Leah Dybbuk_compressed

Giving Voice to the Female Role

Opera is not kind to its female characters. Most of them suffer until the bitter end. In their suffering, many female roles are decidedly vocal. In Jewish mythology, a dybbuk is a malicious spirit that possesses the body of a living person until it has accomplished its task. Until recently, S. Ansky’s...