Oshman Family JCC Blog

Pictured: Abby and Seth Leslie

Staff Kids at the OFJCC

Some people go to work to escape their family lives. At the Oshman Family JCC, we bring our families to work! By our count, there are at least 10 pairs of OFJCC staffer parents who work here with their teenage or adult children. “So many of our kids have grown...

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Double D’var: Parsha Perspectives from American and Israeli Friends

Parshah Pinchas  An Israeli and American duo met to learn the weekly Torah portion together. In the process, they discovered they had two totally different but equally meaningful interpretations of the same text. Eyal’s perspective incorporates the words of Israel’s beloved national poet, Chaim Bialik, while Brad’s perspective grounds us in the...

OFJCC Preschooler Franklynn is all smiles with a chef's hat in the classroom!

“Smile More”—The Preschool Graduation Speech

Editor’s note: OFJCC President and CEO Zack Bodner had the privilege of addressing the Leslie Family Preschool Class of 2021 on May 28, 2021 as they marked the end of their preschool years and journey forward. Please find Zack’s speech below. ___________________________________________________________ Welcome, Leslie Family Preschool Class of 2021! It’s...

Ancient Goat Skin Torah Scroll

The White House and Pirkei Avot

On June 2, the White House’s first-ever Cabinet-level science advisor Eric Lander was sworn in using a volume of Pirkei Avot. Pirkei Avot, sometimes translated as “Ethics of the Fathers,” is a unique section of the Mishna. Unlike the rest of the Mishnah’s legal precepts, Pirkei Avot is a collection...

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Leadership Matters

As we celebrate President’s Day Weekend, I cannot overstate the importance of strong, reliable, trustworthy leadership. As we have battled COVID for the past year, we have oscillated between trusting our leaders and doubting them. From the highest levels of government in our country to our local medical officers charged...

Teacher Debbie donates tomatoes from the Preschool Giving Garden to JFCS.

Sharing the Bounty: Growing Values at the OFJCC Leslie Family Preschool Garden

While in the garden at the Oshman Family Jewish Community Center Leslie Family Preschool, the children experience and get to practice many Jewish values pertaining to nature and the environment. In my book Growing Jewish Values: Cultivating Your Jewish Roots in Your Own Backyard, I have emphasized ten values that can be...

Gideon, 5 (left) and Jonah, 8 (right) dressed up for OFJCC J-Camp Colors Wars Day (pictured with their Savta Ruth)

Escape from New York

This summer, Donna B., her husband and two sons decided to escape their home in Brooklyn for a little bit of the West Coast. They searched for a Hebrew-immersion summer camp option for their boys and were overjoyed to find the Tayasim Hebrew language program with J-Camp at the OFJCC....

Shuli (left) welcomes a visitor to campus at the OFJCC Visitor Welcome Table.

The Torah Portion Asks Us: Blessing or Curse?

Shuli Zilberfarb-Sela from the OFJCC’s Befed Kefet Hebrew Language Afterschool Program shares her personal take on the hardships of this year and how they relate to this week’s Torah portion. This article originally appeared in Hebrew in BAInyanim. This week’s Torah portion, “Re’eh” arrives for me with perfect timing that...