Relearning to be Jewish

By Uwe Siemon-Netto
UPI Religion Editor

WASHINGTON, Feb. 20, 2003 (UPI) -- Being Jewish in America often seems a contradictory existence. On the one hand, said New York Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald, there is a "growing hunger for participation in Jewish life."

Immediately after Sept. 11, 2001, this phenomenon even took on a strong spiritual dimension, which has since lost much of its thrust, Buchwald, founder of the National Jewish Outreach Program, told United Press International Thursday. CLICK FOR FULL ARTICLE

Sunday, March 2, 2003
On the Seventh Day
By Marianne Meed Ward

EXCERPT
"Of course the Sabbath does contain worship (who wouldn't want to thank a deity who gave 24 hours off after 144?) But it's mostly about rest.

And that's how the Jewish community celebrates Shabbat. It's a 25-hour period of rest from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday, with a Shabbat service Friday night that includes blessings, meditations and prayers -- even one for peace. How timely. To encourage people to rediscover the joys of Shabbat, the National Jewish Outreach Program in the U.S. is organizing the seventh annual Shabbat Across America/Canada Friday, March 7." CLICK FOR FULL ARTICLE

Posted on Thu, Mar. 06, 2003
Bay Area Jews Joining National Shabbat Services
SONGS, PRAYERS AND DINNER ARE INCLUDED; FOCUS ON THOSE SERVING IN U.S. MILITARY
By Lisa Fernandez

"As fear of terror abounds and talk of war increases, Jewish institutions throughout the country, including 10 in the Bay Area, are participating in a service Friday underscoring the importance of faith in God.

More than 600 synagogues, Jewish centers and university Hillels nationwide have joined the New York-based Shabbat Across America program, inviting unaffiliated Jews to participate in Friday night services with songs, prayers and a traditional Shabbat dinner of chicken and matzo ball soup. Any Jew or synagogue can celebrate on their own, even if they haven't signed up with the program." CLICK FOR FULL ARTICLE

Synagogues welcome all
By SHIRLEY RAGSDALE
Register Religion Editor
03/01/2003

EXCERPT:

Two Des Moines synagogues will join hundreds of synagogues across
the United States and Canada on Friday to celebrate the value of keeping the
Jewish Sabbath, or Shabbat.

Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald, director of the New York-based
National Jewish Outreach Program that is sponsoring the event,
seeks to throw Americans a spiritual life preserver.

"We are living in a pressure cooker which is about to explode," Buchwald said.
"Everywhere we turn there's another tragedy, disaster, bombing or war.
On TV all you see is mayhem and killing.

"Basically, we're in danger of losing our wits. If we are to have inner tranquility,
we have to work at it. Shabbat can give us a spiritual anchor
so we can continue our lives without allowing the terrorists to win."

The Daily Oklahoman
In Love and War: Chaplains embrace tests of soldiers' faith
2003-03-01
By Carla Hinton

EXCERPT
Embracing all who serve Military chaplains serve as leaders for faiths other than Christianity, as evidenced by battalion chaplain Henry C. Soussan of Fort Sill.

A Jewish rabbi, Soussan said he has been pleased with the Army's acceptance of all faiths. It's one of the reasons he took chaplaincy training and joined the Chaplains Corps.

"The pluralism. The multiculturalism. I have never seen anything like it," said Soussan, adding that Fort Sill also has a Muslim chaplain.

Soussan said faith plays an important role for military personnel on active duty. He said he is chaplain to the roughly 300 soldiers in his battalion, most of whom are Christians. If he thinks he cannot help them with issues that arise in their lives, he refers them to a Christian chaplain.

For Jewish soldiers, he offers Sabbath services. Soussan said the services can be an important link for the enlisted men and women, because there is no Jewish place of worship nearby.

For this reason, Soussan is excited about participating in Fort Sill's Shabbat Across America on Friday.

Soussan hopes to encourage Jewish soldiers to participate in the annual Jewish outreach program designed to honor U.S. servicemen and women and underscore the role that faith in general, and the Sabbath in particular, plays for civilians as well as soldiers.

The program, also to be conducted at Hillel Jewish Student Center at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, introduces unaffiliated Jews, and those with limited Jewish background, to the Jewish Sabbath. Since 1996, Shabbat Across America has reached 430,000 Jews in more than 1,500 synagogues, national organizers said.

March 4, 2003
Synagogues host Shabbat Across America
GABRIELA RICO

EXCERPT
"As the country braces for war, members of the Jewish community who seek reintroduction to their faith are being urged to participate in Shabbat Across America.

The National Jewish Outreach Program event on Friday is designed to introduce or reintroduce unaffiliated Jews to the Jewish Sabbath….

"People from all walks of life are seeking new sources of comfort," according to Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald, founder of the outreach program. "The United States and its citizens are all under tremendous pressure right now, and Shabbat and faith can be a real antidote for it."

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Updated: Monday, March 03, 06:57 p.m. ET

Soldiers to mark Shabbat

A handful of U.S. military bases will join an annual campaign to encourage Shabbat observance. Offutt Air Force Base, Neb.; Fort Bragg, N.C.; Fort Belvoir, Va.; Fort Sill, Okla.; and the U.S. Military Academy are among those joining Shabbat Across America on March 7. More than 700 synagogues from all denominations will participate in a service dedicated to the U.S. Armed Forces. The National Jewish Outreach Program leads the annual campaign to unify the American Jewish community.

March 2, 2003
Shabbat Across America

The National Jewish Outreach program will sponsor Shabbat Across America on Friday. This year, the program will honor U.S. servicemen and servicewomen "to underscore the critical role that faith in general and the Sabbath in particular play during these difficult times for civilians as well as for members of the Armed Forces."