To perpetuate faith, there is no place like home
They were shocked to discover that their long-separated families chanted much of the Passover Haggadah, the story recited during the festive meal, to identical beautiful but obscure tunes. Though their great-grandfathers had been driven apart by world wars and forced emigration more than a century earlier, not only their faith but even the shared religious flavor and music of their family home was alive and well four generations later.
As remarkable as this is, it is not unusual. It is why Jews everywhere will put such emphasis on gathering their families around their seder tables this Passover, knowing that it is around those tables that they will forge the ties of their children to the faith they so cherish.
This assumption is woven into the Passover narrative itself, as the seder commemorates the night before Moses led the Jews out of Egypt. Instead of departing the land directly from the fields and construction sites where they had labored, God insisted that they first spend that entire night in their family homes where they could reconnect to both family and faith as they offered and partook in a meal of a sacrificed lamb or goat.
It was in their homes around the renewed family table that they would find God and God would find them. The home – not the Temple or the synagogue – was the setting in which the foundations of faith were laid and it is the setting we replicate each year in our desire to perpetuate that faith, to ensure that future generations continue the tradition.
What does the future hold for our tradition and religion in general in America? This haunting question gnaws at clergy and parents across faith communities. Studies continue to show serious rates of decline in attendance at religious services across many faiths and denominations. Even the steadying of this decline found in the recent Pew Religious Landscape Study is obviously short term, as that data shows overwhelming gaps in religious observance between younger and older Americans. How do we address this decline?
Much can and must be accomplished with engaging and relevant religious services, programs and teachings and by truly compassionate, moral and inspiring faith leaders. Clergy and institutions cannot allow themselves to become or remain stale and must instead promote the truths and traditions of faith along with fresh and compelling ideas and experiences.
But – as decades of research have shown – an even more impactful predictor of our children's religious future is the extent to which we weave our faith into the fabric and atmosphere of our homes and families.
This was underscored by a recent qualitative study conducted by the Center for Communal Research of the Orthodox Union exploring attrition and connection in American Orthodox Judaism that discovered that even among those who reported that they had left Orthodox Judaism, most continued to maintain the rituals, traditions, and practices they observed at home, toward which they maintained warm and fond feelings.
For example, those who violate Orthodox norms of the sabbath by driving or using their phones continue to recite the Friday night blessings over wine and challah bread, or to hold a Passover seder meal. The extent to which connection is forged at home should lead parents to ensure that their religious home life is warm, full, and meaningful and that it leaves their children with positive associations that fortify religious bonds.
Houses of worship, religious schools and institutions play a crucial role in building faith communities, creating the enduring framework for worship and conveying religion's fundamental truths, but the most consequential houses of faith are our own homes.
An ancient Talmudic teaching notes that the Temple altar of days bygone has been replaced by the dining room table around which family and others are welcomed and cared for, where we sing the praises of God and the joys of our faith, and where the table talk teaches and explores Torah and its values.
That is our seder table, our family table, where – if we play it right – we will plant the seeds for the perpetuation of our faith and the faith of our fathers and where the songs of faith that we sing today will resonate for generations.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Epoch Times
17 hours ago
- Epoch Times
Day in Photos: Trump Meets Putin, World War II Anniversary, and Wildfire in Spain
Open sidebar A glimpse at the world through the lens of photography. Listen Save By Epoch Times Staff | August 15, 2025Updated:August 15, 2025 Share this article Leave a comment More Photo Pages see more Day in Photos: National Guard Patrols Washington, Air Balloon Accident, Clashes In South Africa Day in Photos: Floods In India, Wildfire in Greece, and Sailing Ship Festival Day in Photos: 105-Year-Old Royal Marines Veteran, Heatwave in Europe, and Grouse Hunting Season Day in Photos: Wildfire in Portugal, Attack on Refugee Camp, and Traditional Sailing Boats America in Photos: Flood in Wisconsin, Fire in California, and Astronauts Landing Day in Photos: NASA Astronauts Return to Earth, Protests in Ivory Coast, and Oldest Oak Tree in France Day in Photos: Texas Capitol Deserted, Waterspout in Cuba, and JD Vance Goes Fishing Day in Photos: Kenya Plane Crash, Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Protest, and British Chess Championships Day in Photos: Massive Fires in France, Ice Production, and Lightsaber Up for Auction To ensure we reach the high standards of reliability and neutrality that you expect from us, we are engaging with Ad Fontes Media to analyze our content. If you find an article you think falls short of the standard, please submit the link through this form. Copyright © 2000 - 2025 The Epoch Times Association Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Miami Herald
a day ago
- Miami Herald
Faith groups push Miami-Dade to rescind cuts to food, social service programs
At 67 years old, Raimundo 'Ray' Ricardo is one of the youngest members of a senior center in Miami Beach — but he still shows up almost every morning. A retired industrial engineer, he found the Diener Family Center on Española Way about a year ago when he sat down for a free lunch. Now the Miami Beach native is a regular member and a volunteer, organizing activities like domino tournaments for other seniors — many of whom are reliant not only on the daily meals but the community and friendships fostered at the center. 'I get to meet a lot of people here that, financially, can barely survive. They need this for food. They need this for entertainment, for getting together with people, giving them exercise … making them aware that somebody else cares about them.' Ricardo said, stopping to collect his emotions. 'We're like a family.' Ricardo is one of about 80 seniors who receives free meals at the Diener Family Center, which is owned and operated by Jewish Community Services. The meal programs sponsored by JCS provide kosher food and a host of social activities to the county's vulnerable senior population. But, starting next year, the program may be in trouble. The senior center is just one of dozens of programs that would be gutted due to severe budget cuts by Miami-Dade County. Nonprofits and charities take one of the largest hits in Mayor Daniella Levine Cava's spending plan for 2025-2026, which cuts about $40 million in grant money for nonprofits, including arts groups, social-services organizations and food pantries. Community-based organizations that offer health, human, social and educational services to hundreds of thousands of the county's most vulnerable residents — including some run by faith-based institutions — stand to lose about $16.5 million in grants. READ MORE: Charities facing cuts ask Miami-Dade mayor: Save the safety net, don't 'unravel it' Miriam Singer, president and CEO of Jewish Community Services, said senior programs — including both the senior centers and home care services — stand to be most impacted, and would lose about $433,000 in funding according to current budget proposals. JCS has been providing health and social services to members of South Florida's community for over 100 years and has programs in all 13 districts. 'We see ourselves very much responsible for ensuring that those that are suffering the most are getting the attention and the care that they need within the resources that are available,' Singer said. Under Florida's separation of church and state clause in its constitution, the government can partner with faith-based organizations as long as they provide non-religious social services to the community — like food banks or senior centers. Many religions share similar values of helping others in the community (including those outside the church), and often work together across religious lines to make their charity work most effective. For example, JCS is a community organizations based on Jewish values, but its services are utilized by anyone regardless of their faith background. 'Our mission is based on Jewish values, and the two primary areas are improving the quality of life of residents in our community, in our neighborhoods, in our spaces, and also building a bridge to self sufficiency,' she said. The loss, she said, would mean a reduction in staff, as well as the number of seniors that receive home care and the number of meals available to its members. Because many nonprofits use grant investments from the county as a way to get other donors to 'match' investments, the cuts may also lead to more financial hardships down the road. 'To completely eliminate this… completely eliminate the human side of the community in one fell swoop in a budget, it's just not reasonable to expect that it is realistic. I believe that there's room for balance,' she said. In response to the proposed cuts — which were announced with the release of the county budget on July 12 — the leaders at Jewish Community Services decided to form a coalition called 'The CBO Advocacy Collaborative' that pushes back on the elimination of the funds. The coalition now includes 54 organizations, including many well-known social service agencies like Catholic Charities, Boys & Girls Clubs of Miami-Dade, and Camillus House. The organizations sent a letter to Levine Cava and 13 county commissioners urging them to restore $16.5 million in CBO funding and scheduled individual meetings with elected officials to further stress the impact the reductions would have on individual communities throughout Miami-Dade. 'We move people from crisis to stability, often with brief but high-impact interventions that prevent long-term dependence and related costs to government services,' the letter reads. 'In the case of seniors and individuals who are homebound, we provide quality, economical, life-sustaining services to keep them in a safe and healthy living environment.' The county mayor's office did not respond to the Miami Herald's requests for comment. At Catholic Charities, leaders say the cuts would negatively impact their food pantry program — Matthew 25 Food Pantry — which receives the majority of its food donations through Farm Share, a nonprofit that partners with more than 2,000 food pantries, churches, schools and other nonprofits throughout Florida to distribute food to those in need. Farm Share is also another nonprofit that may lose CBO funding and is a part of the coalition. Matthew 25 is the largest food pantry in Miami-Dade and feeds over 1,500 households, according to the Archdiocese of Miami. 'We all have come together and said this funding is critical for us,' said Peter Routsis-Arroyo, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami. 'I think we all realize our voice is stronger if we unify ourselves rather than each other go our way.' Routsis-Arroyo said Catholic Charities would lose at least $100,000 in county grants, but that the impact on Farm Share would directly affect many food bank programs throughout the county, including Matthew 25. Catholic Charities also operates ten senior centers throughout the county that would also be impacted by the cuts. 'Our next step is to figure out exactly what is the financial impact, and then to see where we can make up that difference,' Arroyo said. 'But obviously at some point it impacts your ability to provide the service and your staffing, or it impacts how much you can provide to those that are in need.' Other CBOs that stand to lost grant funding include nonprofits that provide mental health and substance abuse care like Fellowship House and Better Way of Miami, immigration organizations like Americans for Immigrant Justice and Catholic Legal Services, and many other organizations that provide childcare and senior centers. Another nonprofit in Miami Gardens, UHI CommunityCare Clinic, which provides free healthcare to uninsured and low income members of the community, said though they have been around since 2008 and have applied, they've never received funding from the county. The clinic, which was founded by members of the South Florida Muslim community, has seen a steep increase in patients in recent days, said board member Khalid Mirza, and would be indirectly impacted by budget cuts to neighboring nonprofits. 'People are losing Medicaid, are losing the jobs, those kind of things. So our patient load is pretty high right now,' Mirza said. 'We still working and struggling and trying to see how we can hire more people.' The clinic is one of the only in Miami-Dade County that offers free eye exams and glasses for patients in addition to primary care and vaccines, which many patients utilize ahead of the school year. Mirza said the clinic often refers people who need mental health care to Jewish Community Services, and that the budget cuts could mean more strain on the nonprofit system as a whole. At Diener Center in Miami Beach, members socialize in small groups as the meal service begins. The energy feels reminiscent of a high school lunch room, except all of the members are above the age of 60. Tai Chi instructor Alberto Amaro just finished a class and is speaking to people about the health benefits of martial arts. A few seniors play dominos in the small recreational room and later, member Joel Louis graces the room with his piano talents, creating impromptu music that attracts a small crowd. The seniors say they appreciate the hot meal — today it's fresh tilapia and vegetables — but many are there to keep their minds and bodies active, said member Carolyn Dahan. 'I wake up in the morning and I know what I'm going to do, I have some place to go,' said Dahan who has been coming to the center for six years. 'Especially where I live, there's really nothing for me to do, and nowhere to go. I just love it here. It's vital.' Dahan, who will be 80 next month, no longer drives a car, and said she relies on the center's bus service for transportation. Dahan said she looks forward to after lunch, when the same transportation service will take the seniors to Walmart for a shopping excursion. 'From my house it's a good walk, like a 20 minute walk just to get to a bus… in this heat and my feet are not what they used to be, it's not easy. So when we go on these shopping trips I really appreciate it,' Dahan said. Frances Yanes, who volunteers in the kitchen, said she found the center when she was looking for stimulating and affordable activities to do after her retirement. 'I was searching for something to do. Something to push me after retirement. There was nothing to do like, everybody's working still.' Yanes said the center has also been vital for her 89-year-old mother who recently moved back to Florida from North Carolina after a bad fall. Without the center, she said, many of the seniors without immediate family in town would be left alone in their home, which could lead to loneliness and unchecked health problems. 'It would be very disappointing to have this cut. And most people, I could tell you, they would sit in their house and they would be boring, and people would die because there's no communication,' She said. 'There's a lot of people who don't have a lot of people.' This story was produced with financial support from Trish and Dan Bell and from donors comprising the South Florida Jewish and Muslim Communities, including Khalid and Diana Mirza, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.
New York Post
2 days ago
- New York Post
2,000-year-old coin produced by Jewish rebel unearthed in Jerusalem
A coin minted by Jewish rebels just before the destruction of the Second Temple – an event Jesus predicted in the Gospels – has been unearthed in Jerusalem. The 2,000-year-old artifact was found at the Jerusalem Archaeological Park, located in the Old City and just a stone's throw away from the Temple Mount. The discovery was announced by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) on July 31, just days before Tisha B'Av – the Jewish day of mourning that marks the Romans' destruction of the Temple, near where the coin was found. 'The obverse side of the coin carries the inscription in ancient Hebrew script: 'For the Redemption of Zion' – expressing the heartfelt desire of Jerusalem's Jews, toward the end of the revolt,' the IAA noted. The bronze coin was minted by ancient Jews between 69 and 70 A.D. The IAA said it was found near the southwest corner of the Temple Mount. The coin was discovered by Yaniv David Levy, a coin specialist with the IAA, who described its state of preservation as 'quite good.' 'On its reverse is a lulav, a palm frond used in the Sukkot festival ritual,' Levy said. 5 A coin minted by Jewish rebels just before the destruction of the Second Temple – an event Jesus predicted in the Gospels – has been unearthed in Jerusalem. Israel Antiquities Authority 'Next to it are two etrogs, the citron used in that same ritual.' He noted, 'The [Year Four] inscription denotes the number of years since the outbreak of the rebellion and allows us to accurately date the coin to the period between the Hebrew month of Nissan (March-April) of the year 69 CE, and the month of Adar (February-March) of the year 70 CE.' Speaking about her experience during the excavation, archaeologist Esther Rakow-Mellet told the IAA she had a feeling it was an unusual discovery. 'From the looks of it, [we thought] it might be a rare coin,' Rakow-Mellet recalled. 5 The 2,000-year-old artifact was found at the Jerusalem Archaeological Park, located in the Old City. Israel Antiquities Authority 5 The bronze coin was minted by ancient Jews between 69 and 70 A.D., according to reports. Israel Antiquities Authority 'We waited anxiously for several days until it came back from cleaning, and it turned out that it was a greeting from the Jewish rebels in Year Four of the Great Revolt.' She also noted the striking timing of the discovery, just days before Tisha B'Av. 'Two thousand years after the minting of this coin … [we found] such a moving testimony to that great destruction, and I think there is nothing more symbolic,' said Rakow-Mellet. 5 The discovery was announced by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) on July 31, just days before Tisha B'Av – the Jewish day of mourning that marks the Romans' destruction of the Temple. Israel Antiquities Authority The IAA noted that Year Four coins are 'relatively rare,' since they were minted toward the end of the revolt when rebels had reduced production capabilities. Excavation director Yuval Baruch said the coin's inscription 'indicates a profound change of identity and mindset, and perhaps also reflects the desperate situation of the rebel forces.' 'It would seem that in the rebellion's fourth year, the mood of the rebels now besieged in Jerusalem changed from euphoria and anticipation of freedom at hand, to a dispirited mood and a yearning for redemption,' the archaeologist observed. 5 The coin was discovered by Yaniv David Levy, a coin specialist with the IAA, who described its state of preservation as 'quite good.' Israel Antiquities Authority The coin will be put on display at the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel in Jerusalem. The recent discovery is one of many archaeological finds made in Jerusalem this year: an ancient garden was recently found at the holiest site in Christianity, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. In the Room of the Last Supper, located on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, centuries-old inscriptions have also recently resurfaced.
