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  • Struggle Seder

    We didn't have any fresh vegetables for chazeret so we used dried oregano! Karpas was cilantro. We made haroset from fruits we already had, such as pineapples and cranberries -- not very good! At least we had an unopened box of Osem brand matzah in the pantry left over from Passover 2019 (doesn't sound kosher, I know). My husband is Yemenite and at the very least we had delicious food in the form of Yemenite soup and kitniyot (Mexican beans and corn).
  • Aftermath of the Chametz Struggle

    On the afternoon of Nissan 14, 5780 or April 8, 2020, a rabbi contracted through Chabad.org sold the rights to our chametz to a gentile for the duration of the Passover holiday. The chametz was still physically present in our home and the temptation proved too great for my husband, who was eating the gentile's cake within hours of the transaction.
  • Chametz Struggle

    On the afternoon of Nissan 14, 5780 or April 8, 2020, a rabbi contracted through Chabad.org sold the rights to our chametz to a gentile for the duration of the Passover holiday. The chametz was still physically present in our home and the temptation proved too great for my husband, who was eating the gentile's cake within hours of the transaction.
  • Caught in the Act

    On the afternoon of Nissan 14, 5780 or April 8, 2020, a rabbi contracted through Chabad.org sold the rights to our chametz to a gentile for the duration of the Passover holiday. The chametz was still physically present in our home and the temptation proved too great for my husband, who was eating the gentile's cake within hours of the transaction.
  • Recruitment, Retention, Development, Social Emotional, Governance & Ed Tech Webinars that Supported Jewish Day Schools

    Webinar recordings from Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools tell the story of how schools have had to pivot during the COVID pandemic. Recordings include How to help students thrive in uncertain times Retaining students in changing times Edtech tools for Judaics classrooms Space: your most valuable asset School schedules: covid-19 friendly options Making fundraising work: a guide for small school development in a pandemic Going virtual with SAR high school's director of technology
  • 100+ COVID Related Resources to Support Jewish Day Schools &Yeshivas

    The Prizmah Knowledge Center hosted over 120 COVID related resource pages directly developed to support schools through the COVID pandemic. This includes videos research social emotional resources recruitment and retention resources development resources HaYidion articles And more
  • Preparations for Success During Covid- Prizmah Podcast, Research Encounters

    Professor Jack Wertheimer of the Jewish Theological Seminary talks with Cheryl Maayan, head of the Saul Mirowitz Jewish Community School in St. Louis, and Dr. Steven Lorch, head of Kadimah Day School in Los Angeles, about how Jewish day schools have fared during the pandemic. Wertheimer proposes trends that have set up many day schools for success in the face of the overwhelming challenges that schools and families have experienced.
  • JFNA Scenario Planning: The Future of Jewish Day Schools

    In January 2021, Prizmah concluded a JFNA Scenario Planning project for Jewish day schools and yeshivas. This project was developed by JFNA and funded through the generosity of the Mandel Foundation. Over the course of two months, using the framework developed by JFNA, we imagined multiple scenarios that Jewish day schools and yeshivas might face and charted a path through the current Covid-19 crisis and into the post-pandemic time horizon. The scenarios envisioned two factors shaping our future scenarios: To what extent will our ability to gather (social, workplace and civic) be possible? and, What level of financial stability will we have? This slide deck presents the findings from the group.
  • HaYidion: The Prizmah Journal- Issue on Remodeling during COVID

    This issue examines how schools are adapting to the challenging circumstances of conducting business during the Covid-19 pandemic. Articles explore ways that school leaders are managing to organize stakeholders in a crisis; that schools are collaborating with each other and internally as a community to strengthen all systems; that educators are reinventing Jewish education through these exigencies by using online tools and shifting their pedagogies. Authors seek to find changes in the present that may have lasting value for a future, post-Covid reality.
  • Essay, "One Year and Counting" by Doris H. Goldstein

    Essay written by Doris H. Goldstein of Atlanta, Georgia. A copy is housed in her papers in the Ida Pearle and Joseph Cuba Archives for Southern Jewish History at the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum in Atlanta, Georgia (Mss 275, Martin and Doris Goldstein Papers, Box 1, File 5).
  • Taking the Pulse of Jewish Day Schools & Yeshivas, Prizmah Pulse Surveys

    Pulse survey results that provide a profile of Jewish day school development and enrollment, and explore the effects of COVID on day school finances, financial aid and more.
  • MJRC Guidance Regarding COVID-19 Vaccination

    The following guidance was prepared by the Faith and Halakhic Standards Committee of the Messianic Jewish Rabbinical Council. The global coronavirus pandemic has left a tragic (and still-rising) death toll and has radically disrupted our communal way of life. Meanwhile, the worldwide scientific endeavor to find solutions for COVID-19 immunity has yielded numerous vaccines in various stages of clinical trial, two of which have been proven (through rigorous testing and approval processes) to be both safe and effective​.​ According to public health experts, ending the pandemic soonest and most safely requires that a substantial proportion of the population be vaccinated. What does the Torah and our tradition ​teach regarding the obligation to be vaccinated against a virus spreading pandemically?
  • Sunday morning service

    Bruce Beeber with granddaughter, Yuval, attending Sunday morning services via Zoom with Ahavath Achim Congregation in Atlanta, Georgia.
  • Essay, "The Fireplace" by Doris Goldstein

    Essay written by Doris H. Goldstein of Atlanta, Georgia. A copy is housed in her papers in the Ida Pearle and Joseph Cuba Archives for Southern Jewish History at the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum in Atlanta, Georgia (Mss 275, Martin and Doris Goldstein Papers, Box 1, File 5).
  • Daily Congress Prayer, House, February 26, 2021, Chaplain Kibben: COVID relief bill & Purim miracle

    This video, contributed by Howard Mortman (Communications Director at CSPAN), shows House chaplain Kibben opening Congress with a prayer whose message combines the $1.9T COVID relief bill and the Purim miracle
  • Rabbi Romi Cohn: His Prayer in Congress and Remarks After His Passing

    These videos, contributed by Howard Mortman (Communications Director at CSPAN), center around Rabbi Romi Cohn. As Mortman notes in his book (see Source), Cohn was a Holocaust survivor and member of the Jewish underground in his native Czechoslovakia. He delivered the House prayer on January 29, 2020-- 75 years after the liberation of Auschwitz. Unfortunately, Cohn died from COVID-19 two months after delivering his house prayer. He is remembered in the House daily prayer on March 27, 2020.
  • Interfaith Chavurah Celebrates Hanukkah

    An interfaith Chavurah made up of members of Congregation Beth Or in Maple Glen, Pennsylvania celebrates the fourth night of Hanukkah together over Zoom. A pandemic didn't stop this Chavurah's 20+ year tradition!
  • High Holiday Sermon, "God Has Got Us Covered"

    Brief High Holiday [Rosh HaShanah, 5781] sermon delivered in 4 services, 2 in 2 different indoor rooms in the synagogue and 2 in 2 different outdoor tents in congregants' backyards, for the Young Israel of Jamaica Estates, Queens, New York.
  • Hanukkah Lighting on Boathouse Row

    The Mayor's Office of Public Engagement hosted their Hanukkah lighting on Zoom and shared it via Facebook Live.
  • Business Responses to Simchas Affected by COVID-19

    These items show how businesses provided special offers to those whose Simchas were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Shavuot and COVID-19

    These items show how Jewish businesses adapted their practices and offerings in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Donation Requests Due to COVID-19

    These items show how organizations have reached out to their communities to request donations to fill needs during the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Jewish Businesses and Religious Holidays

    These items show how Jewish businesses adapted their offerings for the high holy days in light of the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Face Masks from Jewish Businesses

    These items show how some Jewish businesses responded by producing face masks
  • Jewish Businesses and COVID-19 Adaptations

    These adaptations include curbside pickup, online ordering, and shifting to online platforms.