This year, Rosh Hashanah begins at nightfall on Friday, Sept. 11, and Yom Kippur begins at nightfall on Sunday, Sept. 20. Be sure to contact your preferred place of worship in advance to reserve your spot, if necessary!

Reform

• Bet Shalom Congregation in Minnetonka warmly invites you to celebrate the High Holy Days with us—in person or online. Registration is required for all in-person services, and lanyards will be required for entry. All services will also be livestreamed. Childcare is available during services—please indicate your needs when registering. Tickets are free, but voluntary donations are appreciated. Visit our High Holy Days 5787/2026 page for the full schedule and to register. Come say Shalom!
• Mount Zion Temple – This year’s schedule for the High Holy Days continues to include some opportunities to gather online and in-person as one community. To see the full schedule, read our High Holy Day bulletin, and we will continue to add more details on our High Holy Day webpage. As in years past, guests are welcome to be part of our High Holy Day services and programs. For security reasons, Mount Zion requires everyone to wear nametags. Please sign up to receive a nametag. We invite you to consider offering a free-will donation to Mount Zion. Members’ and guests’ contributions are what enable us to be the vibrant and welcoming Jewish spiritual home we strive to provide for our community.
• Shir Tikvah Congregation: Please check the High Holiday guide schedule or email the office to learn about our comprehensive programming and the many ways we’ll gather for High Holy Days 5787. We’ll do our best to provide inspiring, nourishing, joyous, transformative High Holy Days and hold the work of personal and communal t’shuvah– turning our hearts and our lives, and our communities towards greater wholeness, hope, and justice.
• Temple Israel in Minneapolis welcomes all who want to celebrate and observe the High Holy Days. For more information, check Temple’s High Holiday information page or contact info@templeisrael.com. 

Conservative

• Adath Jeshurun Congregation is a progressive, egalitarian and sacred community. Come as you are to Adath Jeshurun Congregation’s in-person or live-streamed services and leave transformed for the rest of the year. We warmly welcome you to egalitarian services and invite you to connect with us. For complete information on the High Holy Days at Adath, visit our website at adathjeshurun.org/highholydays or request a printed copy of our High Holy Day Guide. Let us welcome you by contacting Hanna Gensler, at hannag@adath.net or 952-545-2424. L’shanah Tovah from Adath.
• Beth El Synagogue in St. Louis Park: We would love for you to join us for the High Holy Days – and the rest of the year, too! Beth El Synagogue is a warm and welcoming egalitarian and spiritual community, where Judaism is relevant and meaningful for all ages. This year, we are excited to offer a rich array of services and learning opportunities for all ages to enhance your High Holy Day experience! Services are accessible virtually via livestream as well. All are welcome but registration is required! Find our complete schedule of offerings and registration form on our High Holy Day Hub. Questions? Contact Liz Rappaport, our Associate Director, via E-mail at lrappaport@bethelsynagogue.org or call 952-873-7314.
• Beth Jacob Congregation in Mendota Heights is an egalitarian and participatory community where anyone and everyone is welcome. We have never had tickets for the high holidays, and we welcome visitors. We host a shul Rosh Hashanah dinner and a free Yom Kippur break. We have vibrant youth programs throughout the chaggim, breakfast every day of Chol Hamoed Sukkot, and a Simchat Torah celebration not to be missed! Find out more at Beth-Jacob.org/HH. Feel free to reach out at 651-452-2226 or info@Beth-Jacob.org for more information and please let us know if you plan on visiting Beth Jacob for the holidays by calling or filling out our online form.
• Sharei Chesed will be updating its offerings shortly. Check their website for updates.
• Temple of Aaron welcomes the community to celebrate the High Holidays with us. Services are available in person for Temple of Aaron members and their invited guests, and all services will also be livestreamed on our YouTube page. We offer meaningful experiences for all ages, including family services, youth programming, spiritually uplifting musical services, a Pray & Play space for parents with young children, Tashlich on the Mississippi River, and babysitting throughout the holidays. For service schedules, questions, or the most up-to-date information, please contact Director of Operations Amber Brumbaugh at (651) 252-6415

Reform/Reconstructionist

• Temple Israel (of Duluth) is affiliated with both the Reform and Reconstructionist movements. All are welcome to participate in our High Holiday services (as well as all other services and programs throughout the year). Please note: In order to promote a secure and welcoming environment, all non-members must call the Temple office at 218-724-8857 at least 24 hours in advance of attending services for the first time so that we may add you to our guest list. Our High Holiday service schedule for 2025 is as follows: Selichot service: Saturday, September 5 at 9:30 p.m. (preceded at 9 p.m. by dessert reception and Havdalah). Rosh Hashanah services: Friday, Sept. 11 at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Sept. 12 at 10 a.m.; and Sunday, Sept. 13th at 10 a.m. Yom Kippur services: Sunday, Sept. 20 at 7:30 p.m.(Kol Nidre); Monday, Sept. 21 at 10 a.m. (Shacharit); 3:30 p.m. (Mincha, Avodah and Martyrology); 5:15 (Yizkor); 5:45 (Ne’ilah); 6:30 (Tekiah Gedolah and Community Break-the-Fast). Services will also be broadcast on Zoom. Please contact our office at office@jewishduluth.org to obtain the link. Donations to defray our costs are welcome but not required. In particular, no donations are requested or expected from students from outside the Duluth area who are attending college in Duluth. For further information please call our office at 218-724-8857 or e-mail office@jewishduluth.org.

Orthodox/Traditional

• Congregation Darchei Noam, a Modern Orthodox congregation in St. Louis Park, will be updating its offerings shortly. No ticket or payment will be required to attend. Information will be updated shortly.
• Chabad Greater St. Paul welcomes you to come celebrate the High Holidays among friends and connect with your inner self at Chabad of Greater St Paul. Services will be interspersed with explanations and page guidance. In short, you will feel at home. Discover more at our High Holiday mini-site: SPChabad.com/HighHolidays.
• Chabad Young Jewish Professionals has a full slate of services for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur to register for, as well as erev Rosh Hashanah dinner on Friday night, Sept. 11.
• Chabad Minneapolis, located in Minnetonka, offers welcoming and engaging High Holiday services that provide a meaningful and enjoyable experience for Jews of all backgrounds. Services incorporate explanations, insights, and page guidance, for an enjoyable user-friendly experience. With offerings like the Learner’s Service, Children’s Program, Shofar in the Park – there’s something for everyone. There is no cost, membership or affiliation necessary to attend, however, reservations are requested; click here to reserve. For more information, full schedule and to RSVP, visit the Chabad Minneapolis website. For any questions, contact  info@ChabadMinneapolis.com /952-929-9922. Shanah Tovah, we’re looking forward to celebrating with you.
• Chabad Maple Grove is conveniently located in Northern Plymouth. We are a warm and welcoming home for all Jews, regardless of affiliation or level of experience. Our services are designed to be both enjoyable and meaningful, accompanied by stories, inspiration, and melodies, with a friendly and personal atmosphere. For those who are unable to join synagogue services, we are also offering Shofar in the Park. All services are free of charge, RSVP is appreciated to help us plan properly. Full schedule at www.JewishMapleGrove.com/HighHolidays. For questions and more information, contact Rabbi Nissi at 612-520-1263 or email Rabbi@JewishMapleGrove.com.

Reconstructionist

• Mayim Rabim Congregation is a warm and eclectic Jewish Reconstructionist community in South Minneapolis; we meet at the Friends Meeting House in the Linden Hills neighborhood at 44th & York Avenue South. You are welcome to join us for any of our services and activities throughout the year and can check our schedule online. High Holiday Services will be led by Rabbi Stiefel and congregants, both in person and on Zoom. Email us at office@mayimrabim.org for the Zoom links. Rabbi Jeffrey Schein will be offering a study session on Thursday, September 3, An Exploration of Elul Themes of Tzedakah, Teshuvah, and especially TEFILLAH:  What Kind of Prayer Works for Reconstructionists? Contact the office for details. For Rosh Hashanah, we will gather on Friday, September 11, from 6-7:15 p.m., and again on Saturday, September 12, from 9:30 a.m.-noon, followed by a free light catered lunch. Visitors are encouraged to bring nonperishable food donations on Rosh Hashanah, which will be donated to STEP. Our services for the second day of Rosh Hashanah will be Sunday, September 13, from 10 a.m.-12:15 p.m. at Minnesota Hillel. On Sunday afternoon, September 13, we will also meet for the Tashlich (casting off sins) ritual, in person by Minnehaha Creek, weather permitting. Contact the office for exact time and location. Yom Kippur begins on Sunday, September 20 with Kol Nidre from 6:45-8:45 pm. Monday, September 21 includes services 10 a.m.-1 p.m., Yizkor at 5 p.m., a 5:30 p.m. study session, and a 6:30 p.m. closing service ending at 8 p.m., with one last long blast of the Shofar and a dairy potluck break fast meal. You can find registration information and make a donation on our website, but everyone is welcome, regardless of ability to pay. Questions? Call the office at 612-247-5490 or email office@mayimrabim.org. Shanah Tovah!

Humanistic Judaism

• Or Emet, the Minnesota Congregation for Humanistic Judaism, is celebrating this year’s High Holidays with services in person, as well as the option to participate in services online. We are a secular congregation celebrating and honoring Jewish culture, history and values from a humanistic, inclusive perspective. Our High Holiday services are free–no tickets–and open to all. You can join us for Rosh Hashanah, Tashlich, Kol Nidre or Yom Kippur services led by Or Emet’s Rabbi Eva Cohen: Erev Rosh Hashanah: 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 11, in person at the First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis and virtual (register here for virtual); Tashlich: 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 12 (email highholidays@oremet.org for details); Kol Nidre: 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20, in person at the First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis and virtual (register here for virtual); Yom Kippur: 4:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 21, in person at the First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis and virtual (register here for virtual). Following the Yom Kippur service, a break-fast meal will be served (this catered meal does require reservations; reserve and pay for your meal here). For Humanistic Jews, the High Holidays are a time to reflect on the relationship of the universe to human need and desire. We assess our behavior during the past year and affirm the possibilities for change, improvement and happiness. The High Holidays open the Jewish year with the most important message of Jewish history: human dignity is not a gift of destiny; it is a human achievement, requiring courage and self-reliance. In keeping with High Holiday tradition, Or Emet welcomes nonperishable donations at all services. For more information about Or Emet’s High Holiday services, email highholidays@oremet.org. For general information about Or Emet, email info@oremet.org or visit oremet.org.

Other/Independent

• Minnesota Hillel is the Center for Jewish Student Life, serving 500+ college students at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities and beyond. Minnesota Hillel enriches the lives of students so they may enrich the Jewish people and the greater community. Through our 6 Programmatic Pillars: Shabbat & Holidays, Jewish Learning, Social Action, Leadership Development, Israel, & Social Experiences, we aim to inspire every student to make an enduring commitment to Jewish life, learning, and Israel. High Holiday offerings are held in the Minnesota Hillel chapel on the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities campus. All services and meals are free for students; please check out the list of offerings and RSVP here! For community members, an $18 donation is appreciated to help cover the cost of meals, staff, and clergy. Questions? Contact Polly Lehman, Director of Jewish Student Life, via email at polly@mnhillel.org. 
• Minnesota JCC Join us for programming that will help get you ready for a meaningful High Holy Day season!  Registration is open for Bee Ready for Rosh Hashanah program on Sept. 8 from 4-5:30 p.m.  Discover the fascinating world of honey bees through an interactive presentation that explores their vital role in nature and the journey from hive to honey.  Participants will enjoy hands-on learning, a seasonal honey tasting experience, and a take-home craft to celebrate the new year.  Perfect for all ages, this unique program offers a meaningful way to connect with the traditions of Rosh Hashanah while learning about one of nature’s most remarkable creatures. Please contact Andrea Golden with any questions at Andreag@minnesotajcc.org. We also will be holding our first annual Great Shofar Blast on Wednesday, Sept. 9 at 4 p.m.  Join us for a special all-ages experience as we celebrate the sounds and traditions of the High Holy Days.  Learn about the meaning of the shofar, hear a community-wide shofar blast, and welcome the season together. Whether you are an experienced shofar blower or simply want to listen and celebrate, all are welcome!  Please contact Tracey Agranoff with any questions at Traceya@minnesotajcc.org
• St. Paul Jewish Federation offers two important programs to help our community connect, celebrate, and care for one another during the High Holy Days and throughout the year. If you’re looking for a synagogue, family program, volunteer opportunity, or other Jewish resource in the Greater St. Paul area during the High Holy Days, our Community Concierge can help connect you with the people, organizations, and opportunities that are right for you. With spiritual care visits and holiday programs, our Chaplaincy Program ensures that Jewish members of the community who may be isolated, facing illness, or are in life transitions remain connected to Jewish life during the High Holy Days.  Volunteers also deliver holiday gift bags filled with apples, honey, and other seasonal treats to registered clients who are unable to attend services, offering a meaningful reminder that they are remembered and cared for. Throughout the year, both programs strengthen Jewish connection and community by welcoming people into Jewish life, providing compassionate care during life’s challenges, and ensuring that no one ever feels alone. Learn more at jewishstpaul.org
• PJ Library has a new PJ Library guide that explores ways for your family to celebrate the three-week Jewish holiday season that begins with Rosh Hashanah. Anyone can download the guide in English, Portuguese, Russian or Spanish. Physical copies can be purchased on Amazon.

Note: If you’re a community leader and would like to be added to this listing, please email lonny@jewfolk.com with the information and any relevant links.

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Lester’s mother and grandmother both worked in the Catskills during the era the 1987 movie is based on; the musical’s national tour starts at The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul, running through Sept. 6.

“My grandmother was a chef, and she would bring my mother along, and they would stay in the kukhaleyns,” he said. My grandmother then moved on to working at the Concord, and by then my mother was old enough to work. She worked as a waiter, and she also worked as a – get this – dance instructor.”

The movie-turned-music is set in 1963 – the summer before President John F. Kennedy was assassinated and before The Beatles hit it big in America. The ending of one era and the beginning of another, Lester said.

“My mother and I watched the movie Dirty Dancing years ago, and she shook her head and said, ‘I can’t believe how accurate this is. I recognize that waiter. I recognize that dancer.,’” Lester recalled. “Eleanor Bergstein, who wrote the movie and it was her memoir, she really captured it, and it captured it authentically.”

The play holds up to the nostalgia of the movie, Lester said. 

“This production has really gone all out in creating the authenticity,” he said. “I remember the way people dressed in the early ’60s when I was a very young child, and the costuming and the atmosphere and everything – it really captures that period.”

The show is Lester’s return to Twin Cities theaters – he was the lead in a touring production of The Band’s Visit at The Orpheum. The cast and crew have been in previews leading up to the Aug. 20 opening night. 

“The audiences have been fantastic,” he said. “The St. Paul audience is like nothing I’ve seen before. They just go crazy for this show. The cheering, and the clapping, and the laughing; it’s just wonderful.”

Before rehearsals, Lester said that the group has “table work,” where cast discusses the play and the motivations of the characters. That was when he was able to tell the group about his familial connection to the era.

“Many of [the cast] are very young and have actually never heard of this world before they got involved. They’re all very familiar with it now, and they’re playing it very authentically. 

“My mother had such great stories, and what it made me yearn for was to have been alive during that time when it was happening. To have been alive and working there, and maybe have been one of the Borscht Belt comics? That would have been so fun. The downside to that is, I would now be almost 100 years old. So it’s kind of good that I can relive it now in 2026 and still be fairly young.”

Lester comes by his talent naturally; in addition to teaching dance in the Catskills, his mother also owned and sang in a jazz club in Los Angeles, and his father was an actor. His wife is also an actor, as are all three of their daughters. 

“They had a big passion for it, and luckily for me, they’re all extremely talented because if any of them were not talented, I would have to say something. And that would be heartbreaking for both of us,” he said. “They’re all just excelling in this crazy business of ours because they all have the goods.”

In the musical, Lester plays Max Kellerman, the owner of the Kellerman’s Mountain House resort where the show takes place. He only had a small bit of singing at the end of the show and didn’t have to dance. Since he has ballroom dancing experience, he asked the choreographer if he could dance in a scene rather than just stand around watching. It was also the role he was most interested in getting the opportunity to play.

“He is the most Jewish character in the entire show, so I was very attracted to that,” Lester said. “His dialog, the things that he says, are the things that I remember my relatives and my parents’ friends of that era, that’s how they spoke. “I love to be able to capture that because that is. That’s who I am.”

The post Family Ties To Catskills Propel Loren Lester In Ordway’s <i>Dirty Dancing</i> appeared first on TC Jewfolk.

Noet was one of the 21 teachers from 15 states who participated in the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas and the Humanus Network’s Power of Place: 2026 European Summer Institute for Holocaust Educators. This professional development program brought teachers from the United States to Lithuania, Poland, and the Netherlands to deepen understanding of the Holocaust, antisemitism, and Jewish life.

“It is truly powerful to be where history happened,” said JCRC trip leader Susie Greenberg. “To stand on sacred ground, to be in the context of where this occurred – to see the surroundings and better grasp the communities that existed, the culture and traditions that lived there at one time.”

Trip participants met with historians, who explained that many of the places educators visited were once vibrant Jewish communities before the Holocaust.

Noet, who will begin his 30th year teaching, shared that he was particularly drawn to the diary of Ilya Gerber, a 17-year-old diarist in the Kovno Ghetto.

“Seeing the pages of a young person’s diary filled with colored pencil and hearts and his girlfriend’s initials – it looked like something one of my students would have at their desk,” Noet said.

Noet will continue this education by working with an English teacher to develop a unit that focuses on youth voices in the Holocaust, expanding beyond traditional stories like Anne Frank.

Another touching experience for Noet was a visit to Ponar, a forest in Lithuania where thousands of Jews were executed.

“Sitting out there in the woods, where all this stuff happened, taking something that I find to be regenerative and having it flipped on its head – that was something,” he said.

According to Greenberg, creating personal connections is one of the most important aspects of the experience.

“Being able to humanize a story creates a doorway for audiences to better understand the individuals who were victimized in the Shoah,” Greenberg said. “Not only is it important for teachers to relay how and why this happened, but it is also important to identify and see who this happened to, and the mechanisms that made it possible.”

The Power of Place trip also challenged educators to not only connect with historical antisemitism, but to think about the issues facing Jewish communities today.

“Our conversations as a group addressed many of these challenges and helped teachers think more deeply about how to hold space for these discussions in their classrooms,” Greenberg said.

Noet hopes that his students recognize that history is not just something to study, but an agent for teaching kids their role in shaping the future.

“All this stuff happened gradually,” he said. “I’m hoping students see that they have agency. Maybe they see something they don’t like or want to change, and they’ll actually take action. That’s what we need – engaged citizens.”

Greenberg said: “Place is also about memory and those whose spirit is still there. Being physically present in a space can change the way you see history – and how you relay it.”

The interest form for Power of Place 2027 is open, with applications beginning in October. JCRC is also offering a Foundations Course: Holocaust History & Pedagogy to help educators meet the 2026 Minnesota Holocaust Education mandate.

The post Owatonna Teacher Gains New Perspective on Holocaust Education Through JCRC Trip appeared first on TC Jewfolk.

Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship marked its 5th anniversary of providing advice to thousands of people on navigating both the joys and challenges of relationships. Host Nina Badzin celebrated this milestone with a live podcast at Pique Travel in Excelsior, with more than 200 people in attendance. 

Badzin invited Rebekah Jacobs, her assistant producer from Maryland, for a conversation on five lessons she believes can transform friendships. Audience members laughed, engaged, and reflected throughout the night. 

The first lesson is embracing “abundance over scarcity.” Badzin used an anonymous letter from a listener who felt jealous about two of her friends becoming close. 

“Your friends can have other friends,” said Badzin. Having an abundance mindset over a scarcity mindset in your friendships will change your life.” 

The second lesson was regarding conflict. Badzin said, “Withstanding the discomfort of conflict is the only way you’re going to stay close.” “If you can’t have a conversation with your close friend, what are we doing?”

The third lesson challenged listeners to reflect on the way people measure and think about effort in friendships. Many listeners have expressed frustration, feeling that they put more effort into the friendship. 

“Effort is not ‘I do this for you, so you do the exact same thing for me,” Badzin said. Instead, people should recognize the different ways friends can show they care. Badzin says this can be through conversations, enthusiastic responses, and emotional support. 

Badzin’s fourth lesson centered around rejection, something most people have felt. 

Badzin quotes Harlan Cohen saying, “The law of rejection says that not everyone will respond to me the way I always want.”  Badzin claims that accepting rejection rather than fearing it will make friendships stronger. 

Badzin even reflected on her experience moving to Minnesota as she struggled to make friends. 

“You’re new, and you need friends. That’s your job,” she said. Badzin elaborated that one can’t expect others to reach out; rather, you need to take the initiative. 

The last lesson from the live podcast is to stop waiting for an invitation. 

“Never wait for an invitation. It is always your turn,” said Badzin. “Share more than you think you should, and share first.”

Badzin believes that friendship and its challenges are a universal experience. 

“I think the listenership has grown because friendship is an ageless, timeless topic,” Badzin said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re eight years old trying to figure out who to sit with at lunch or you’re 90 years old trying to get a seat at the mahjong table.” 

The live celebration reflected how many people are willing to laugh, listen, and think about what it means to be a good friend. 

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Early this morning – really early, before my workout, before my shower – I dragged myself to the grocery store to buy them.

Why?

I know him. We’ve been married for close to four decades. I could see the sour face he’d make as he opened the empty vegetable bins in the fridge. That face stings, enough to send me to the grocery store in my housecoat and slippers.

Younger people don’t do this – or at least that’s what I’ve been led to believe. Their marriages are egalitarian and fair, the chores divided evenly with each partner sharing in the shopping, cooking, cleaning and child and/or pet care. That’s the right way, but my gut tells me it sounds too good to be true. That’s why I never attempted it.

Hubbie and I are OG. As women have for most of recorded history, I do the lion’s share of the housework. It works for me; that is, until it doesn’t.

I don’t mind shopping, choosing the veggies, bagging it, paying and hauling it home in my granny cart, but that’s as far as it goes. Our house has 20 steps, one flight down and another up to get in. At the grand age of 67, I am no longer willing or even able to navigate the two staircases while lugging my cart.

Today I ask Hubbie to assist me.

 “I need help,” I said.

Note the “I” which replaces the other version “you need to help me.” The goal is not to command because commanding sparks rebellion.

Hubbie is allergic to be ordered around, even gently. It’s probably historical; his late father was a tyrant and a rager. He frightened his household, including his wife, my late mother-in-law, a woman who terrorized school children at her teaching job.

At home, she tiptoed around him. She wore herself down taking on after-school tutoring jobs to avoid his tongue lashings when the credit card bills arrived. She used her own money to buy her own stuff.

Unlike his son, my father-in-law avoided veggies. “Rabbit food,” he called it, so my mother-in-law pureed them and snuck them into his soup.

I am like my mother-in-law, resupplying Hubbie with his veggie stash to keep the peace, she and I both conflict-averse people pleasers. Are all women? Or perhaps only pre-feminist women? In the Hebrew Bible, part of Eve’s curse which followed the apple-eating episode, was that she’d desire to please her husband.

I park the shopping cart on the top of the first flight of steps, waiting for Hubbie to bring it in. Hubbie lies on our bed in his bathrobe relaxing after his hour-long extra-hot bath. He is in no rush to go anywhere.

The day is warm. I worry about the vegetables rotting. That thought is almost enough to force me outside but I don’t go. I change the channel in my head. Reading a New York Times piece on grey divorce. My peers, it seems, are divorcing in droves.

Should I join? I hate lawyers.

Is failure to put away the veggies a good enough reason?

On Instagram, my favorite is a young blonde comic called Tiferet whose handle is Tuches Offan Tish, (Yiddish for ass on the table). Today Tiferet mimics biblical heroines as performing the candy trauma dump: first Sara, whose husband nearly slaughtered her son, then Batsheva who married the peeping Tom who watched her shower, and then Tamar who slept with her father-in-law.

This cracks me up. Thank G-d I didn’t yet put on eye makeup. It would be wrecked by my tears. Then I go upstairs. The veggies are on the kitchen island. Who brought them in? Hubbie, our grown-up son who still lives at home, or perhaps the vegetables flew from the cart onto the counter where they sit in their cellophane bags.

My salad is in the fridge waiting for me.

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A group of people who were at camp at that time quickly raised $14,000 in Foxman’s honor. 

The plaque on the outside of the building reads: “In Memory of Abe Foxman, Beloved Program Director, 1962–1964. His time at Herzl left a lasting impact on fellow staff and campers, and he went on to lead and inspire others through his deep commitment to the Jewish people and the future of Jewish life. May his memory be for a blessing.”

“There is a Jewish expression called Tikkun Olam, repair the world,” said Jimmy Smith, who was a counselor at that time. “I think that he personified that concept as he devoted his entire life to trying to combat antisemitism and repair the world.”

Jerry Waldman, whose parents were instrumental in Herzl Camp’s early years, called Foxman one of the three most famous Herzl alumni, after Waldman’s cabinmate “Bobby” Dylan, and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Tom Friedman.

Foxman’s story was told regularly at the camp. Waldman said that Foxman openly talked about growing up in Europe during the Holocaust. His parents left him in the care of a non-Jewish nanny in order to escape the Nazis. She raised Foxman as a son, but when the war ended and his parents survived, they came back for him; the caretaker didn’t want to let him go. Foxman’s parents sued to get him back, and won. They moved to New York soon after.

“Every time I heard it gave me chills,” Waldman said. “It still does.”

Andy Halper, who was a camper during Foxman’s time at camp, remembers Foxman regaling campers with stories of his work fighting for Civil Rights in the South in the early 1960s. 

“He told us about dogs barking at people’s legs. He talked about fire hoses knocking over African-American people,” Halper said. “He told it in a way that we all felt it, because it was so heartfelt.

“Abe said, ‘I’m going to teach you all a song. I don’t know if you’ll ever sing it again, but this is what we sang down in Mississippi.’ And Abe started to sing “We Shall Overcome,’ and he had all of the camp singing.”

Ron Zamansky, who was Halper’s ozo (counselor in training) in 1963, said that – though he didn’t name Herzl – Foxman mentioned the importance of working at a Jewish summer camp in the Midwest in his autobiography. Foxman’s New York Times obituary mentions he met his wife, Golda, at a “Zionist summer camp in Wisconsin.”

“I think it’s very important to know that while his career was so dedicated, there was something that affected his career coming out of Herzl that he wrote about,” Zamansky said. 

Brooke Diamond, Herzl’s director of advancement, said that Foxman came from Brooklyn to Webster, Wis., because Herzl’s director at the time was a New Yorker who recruited Foxman to join him at camp.

“Abe is a true embodiment of our mission to raise the next generation of proud Jewish leaders who love Israel,” Diamond said. “It was a great thing for him, camp, and his memory to do this, and to teach staff what he did for the community.”

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The event at the Minnesota JCC Capp Center in St. Paul is free to attend and requires no experience – just come create! The Aug. 16 event, from 2-4 p.m., and features J-Pride Coordinator and artist Hunter Wengersky, and artist/educator Lynda Monick-Isenberg. This event is planned in partnership with TC Jewfolk, Rimon, Minnesota JCC, JPride and Heritage Judaica. 

“Collaging is not my main art form in any way, shape, or form, but I’m very excited to see what happens,” said Wengersky. “I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to do art in community.”

Wengersky generally focuses on fiber arts; they said they have “numerous” drop spindles, a spinning wheel, a rigid heddle weaving loom, and is teaching themself the Viking-era craft of nalbinding. 

Participants will explore the circle as a symbol of wholeness, continuity, and endless possibility. Through collage, colors, textures and imagery will be layered to create compositions that celebrate connection, renewal, and the beauty of beginnings without end.

Monick-Isenberg, who is co-leading the collage workshop, knows the circle well. At least most of the circle. Her work based on the Enso, a Japanese brushstroke that is a single circular stroke of an incomplete circle, is on display at the Capp Center gallery; Robyn Awend, the JCC’s director of arts engagement, said a reception for Monick-Isenberg’s exhibit will be part of the gallery.

“It signifies anything from the universe to eternity to emptiness to imperfection because you can’t ever do it perfectly,” Monick-Isenberg said. “There’s something beautiful about that practice.”

Monick-Isenberg said events like this are important whether you’re an experienced artist or not.

“To think about what can come from a piece or the action within a piece,” she said. “Instead of having this idea of what something should look like, and I think that’s how collage also connects to this idea of this enso or this circle. It gives you a starting place, but it’s going to move and it’s going to cycle into something totally new.”

Make art, find (or donate) Judaica

some of the items available at Heritage Judaica’s event on Aug. 16.

Heritage Judaica is one of the community partners hosting the event, and is a free clearinghouse for surplus Judaica. Donate mezuzot, tallitot, daily ritual items, Shabbat ritual items, holiday items, etc., and they become available to those in need. 

Some of the items that will be available include candlesticks, a hanukiah, and challah covers.

Donations to Heritage Judaica aren’t tax deductible, but think of the nachas you get knowing that Judaica you aren’t using will get to be rehomed!

The post Full Circle: Collage Drop-In Explores Jewish Symbolism Ahead of the High Holidays appeared first on TC Jewfolk.

“No one ever accomplishes anything on their own,” Latz said to a gathering of friends, family, and Senate DFL colleagues at Park Tavern in St. Louis Park. “It’s the nature of politics that there’s one person out front, but there’s only one way to do it, and that’s with the team, and with the support of all of you.” 

Latz is no stranger to close races, although it’s been a while: The first time he ran for office in 1993 to represent Ward 3 in the St. Louis Park City Council, he won by 66 votes. In his first race for the Minnesota House of Representatives, he won by less than 2 percent. 

“This was not an easy one,” Latz said. “I thought this was going to be one of those nailbiters.”

The race also took a turn in the last five days of the campaign, after an independent expenditure group dropped literature at homes in the district, which encompasses St. Louis Park and parts of Edina and Hopkins. 

The literature from a group that backed Dumalag called “SD46 Residents For Change” claimed that Latz “doesn’t share our DFL values” and accused him of being a “far-right sympathizer.” The piece attacked Latz for his comments about the way Hamas indoctrinated Gazan children, which he mentioned in a November 2023 press conference.

“Some people were more upset by the fact that Ron Latz called out the Hamas indoctrination of Palestinian children than they were upset about the Hamas indoctrination of Palestinian children,” said Ethan Roberts, the deputy executive director at the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas. “There are people out there who absolutely hate him, or at least can’t abide by, Senator Latz being an unapologetic Jew who supports Israel’s right to exist.“

A second literature drop the following day complained that Latz wasn’t on the front lines during Operation Metro Surge. 

“He’s been a highly effective senator on a whole host of issues,” said Roberts, who has worked closely with Latz and legislators of both parties as he’s lobbied on behalf of the Jewish community. “He is the leader on gun violence prevention [which is] something that we’ve supported at JCRC, [as well as] red flag laws and background checks. He’s been a leader on holding ICE accountable. 

“You can’t win an election anywhere in Minnesota if you’re just the Jewish candidate; you have to be able to be effective on issues which everybody cares about, not just the Jewish community.”

Roberts said one of the key areas that Latz, the chair of the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee, has helped lead is with getting state funding for the supplemental non-profit security grant program, where he’s either been the lead author or suggested which colleague should take the lead. The program isn’t just for Jewish community organizations; mosques, Black churches, Hindu temples, and others have taken advantage of the program. 

“Without the support of the chair, we wouldn’t have a program.”

As the staff of Park Tavern were about to close up, Latz thanked the party-goers and volunteers who were knocking on doors into the last hours of the campaign Tuesday afternoon.

“I’m just enormously grateful to all of you who have stepped up to the plate,” he said. “It’s humbling to be the object of your work and your confidence. And I try every day to live up to those standards to deliver for all the communities that I represent, and that’s what I’m committed to.”

Other notable results

• In Ramsey County, St. Paul City Councilmember Rebecca Noecker will advance to the general election in her bid to be the District 5 county commissioner. With nearly all the votes counted, Noecker trails State Rep. Maria Isa Perez-Vega by less than 4 percent in a three-person race. The top-two vote-getters advance to the November ballot.
• In the U.S. Senate race, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan easily defeated Congresswoman Angie Craig by more than 20 points, with more than 97 percent of precincts reporting. Flanagan will face former sports reporter Michele Tafoya in the general election.

The post Sen. Latz Survives Challenge, Wins DFL Primary appeared first on TC Jewfolk.

By the time this group boarded a plane to Israel, they’d already spent almost two years learning together.

That may be what makes the Minneapolis Mifgash different from almost any other Israel experience.

The Hebrew word “mifgash” means “encounter,” and that idea shaped the experience from the very beginning. Rather than organizing a traditional educational trip, Minneapolis Jewish Federation set out to create something more lasting: a cohort of Jewish communal professionals who would learn alongside one another before traveling, experience Israel together, and then return home with a shared responsibility to bring those experiences back into the communities they serve.

The Minneapolis Mifgash at the Anu Museum in Tel Aviv.

The idea grew directly out of Federation’s 2024 strategic planning process, which identified professional development and the creation of a Community Israel Engagement Strategist position as a community priority. After stepping into the new role, Kara Rosenwald partnered with the iCenter to make Minneapolis the first North American community to create a Mifgash specifically for professionals across its local Jewish organizations. Together, they secured funding and developed an Israel experience centered on building relationships among local professionals and their Israeli counterparts. 

Instead of sending individuals to join a national cohort, Minneapolis proposed something different.

Could an entire community participate together?

The answer was yes.

The inaugural cohort included professionals representing 11 Jewish organizations* across the Twin Cities. The trip was originally scheduled for the summer of 2025 but was postponed because of the Israel-Iran conflict. A year later, the group was finally able to make the journey.

But the trip itself was never the whole point.

Throughout the months leading up to the departure, participants met regularly to study, build relationships, and wrestle with questions about Israel, Jewish peoplehood, and the role Israel plays in the work they each do every day. Those conversations created a foundation that allowed the experience in Israel to begin at a much deeper level.

Just as importantly, the cohort wasn’t made up only of Minnesotans.

Three Israeli communal professionals from Rehovot joined the journey: outgoing Partnership Chair Sharon Yaron, Director of the Holocaust Center, incoming Chair Dudi Alon, high school teacher and art therapist, and Katzir Middle School Principal Marcelle Shmueli. Their participation reflected the longstanding Partnership2Gether relationship between Minneapolis and Rehovot and reminded participants that this was never intended to be a one-way learning experience.

That spirit of partnership appeared throughout the week.

The opening day took place at Katzir Middle School, the Rehovot school partnered with Smith Jewish Academy, where educators shared how they continue to nurture students while navigating the realities of life after October 7. Later, at the Weizmann Institute, the group was guided by a scientist who is herself connected to Minneapolis through the synagogue partnership between Berman Shul in Rehovot and Darchei Noam in St. Louis Park.

Brenda Ganot welcomes the Minneapolis Mifgash to the Katzir School in Rehovot, Israel.

Throughout the week, participants encountered many different sides of Israeli society. They visited organizations in Haifa bringing together Jewish, Arab, and Druze communities through arts and education. They listened to the CEO of Kibbutz Re’im describe both the trauma of October 7 and the painstaking work of rebuilding their community. They toured Jerusalem, explored questions of history and identity, and ended the journey with a storytelling workshop that challenged them to reflect on their own experiences after spending days listening to the stories of others.

What emerged wasn’t a single narrative about Israel. It was a collection of conversations, relationships, questions, and perspectives that will continue long after the trip itself.

In many ways, that is where the real work begins.

The Mifgash was intentionally designed as a three-part experience: learning before the trip, learning during the trip, and applying those lessons after returning home. Each participant committed to finding ways to bring Israel back into their own organization and community space, whether through educational programming, cultural experiences, visual storytelling, or entirely new approaches to Israel engagement. Kara Rosenwald will continue working with participants over the coming months as those individual projects take shape and the cohort continues learning together.

That ongoing commitment may be the Mifgash’s most distinctive feature.

Instead of measuring success by what happened over a week in Israel, it will be measured by what happens over the months and years that follow: the conversations that continue, the partnerships that deepen, and the new opportunities for Twin Cities Jews to engage with Israel in thoughtful, personal, and meaningful ways.

The trip may have ended at the airport, but the Mifgash was always meant to be the beginning. When asked ‘Now that the group has returned to Minneapolis, what comes next?”

Kara Rosenwald replied, “Now that we’re back in Minneapolis, the real work begins. The question becomes: How will the learning from Israel and the relationships built during our time together translate into bringing Israel home to our organizations? I’m excited to see what comes next. Our cohort will be meeting very soon to officially begin that work, and I can’t wait to see the ideas and collaborations that emerge.”

Participants return home carrying stories they couldn’t have heard any other way. Those stories will soon make their way into synagogue conversations, classrooms, coffee shops, family dinners, and community organizations. They become part of how our community understands Israel – not as an abstraction or a headline, but as a place filled with real people whose lives are now connected to ours.

In Jewish tradition, we’re often reminded that we inherit our stories from those who came before us. The Mifgash offers something else, too: the chance to become part of one another’s stories while they’re still being written.

*Participating organizations included Adath Jeshurun Synagogue, Gan Shelanu Preschool, Bet Shalom Congregation, Beth El Synagogue, Beth El Aleph Preschool, Jewfolk, Inc., Minneapolis Jewish Federation, Minnesota Hillel, Minnesota JCC, Smith Jewish Academy, Talmud Torah of Minneapolis, and the Harry Kay Center for Leadership Excellence.

The post More Than a Trip: The Story Behind Minneapolis’ Mifgash appeared first on TC Jewfolk.

Rafi Geretz, who is supporting Latz’s campaign, filed a complaint against the Lynette for Senate campaign over a sticker that was added to her lawn signs that read “DFL” in large letters and “candidate” in smaller letters. The claim was that the wording was misleading and could lead the public to believe that Dumalag was endorsed by the DFL.

Neither Latz nor Dumalag got enough votes at the March 22 Senate District 46 convention, which means that neither candidate can say they are endorsed, and party organizing units cannot endorse them either.

According to the probable cause order: “Geretz also testified that the DFL sticker attached to Respondent’s lawn signs is the type of thing you put on a lawn sign after receiving the endorsement.” Jake Spano, the former St. Louis Park mayor who is Dumalag’s campaign manager, said in the hearing that it was “in part a direct response to the yard signs placed by the Latz campaign displaying a DFL logo, which the Campaign Chair described as misleading to voters.”

The logo in question was the Senate DFL Caucus campaign logo, which Latz is a part of, and the organization is supporting his campaign.

“This testimony indicates that, regardless of Respondent’s stated explanation, Respondent was aware that prominent displays of the word ‘DFL’ could mislead voters, yet chose to place stickers on its signs in a similar manner,” the probable cause finding concluded. “It is reasonable to conclude that a voter who sees the ‘DFL candidate’ sticker on Respondent’s lawn signs may think that Dumalag is endorsed by the DFL.”

The issue will proceed to an evidentiary hearing before a panel of three administrative law judges.

This isn’t the first complaint brought in this campaign. Dumalag supporter Saul Eugene, who was responsible for placing some of the literature funded by an independent expenditure group on doorsteps last week, filed a complaint against the Latz for Senate Volunteer Committee over using the Senate DFL Caucus campaign logo on yard signs and mailers. The Court of Administrative Hearings found there was no probable cause in that case.

Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, who submitted a declaration as an exhibit in the hearing, attested that “‘[a]ny statement, express or implied that the Senate DFL Caucus supports Senator Latz’s reelection campaign is truthful and accurate and consistent with the instruction provided to the Caucus’ campaign staff’ to provide support for Latz’s campaign.”

“There is simply no evidence presented, other than Complainant’s subjective belief or suspicion, to support a finding that Respondent’s use of the Senate DFL Caucus logo was a knowing attempt to imply an endorsement from the DFL party as a whole or the DFL Senate District 46,” the judge wrote. 

St. Louis Park School Board member and Latz surrogate Susie Kaufman said Dumalag’s campaign is playing dirty in an effort to defeat Latz.

“This entire thing is a disservice to voters,” she said. “Sen. Latz’s opponent has no way to make a case against him, so they are resorting to dishonest tactics.

“People should know who is found to have misled voters, and it’s not the Latz campaign.”

The post Judge Finds Probable Cause that Sen. Latz’s DFL Opponent Violated State Statute appeared first on TC Jewfolk.