North Country Reform TempleWelcomes YOU to OUR Table
North Country Reform Temple Ner Tamid strives to provide Long Island's North Shore with a center for Reform Jewish Values. Our temple supports and promotes a dynamic Jewish community from generation to generation through an inclusive and participatory approach to Worship, Study, Mitzvot, and Social Activities.
People of all backgrounds will find a home in our congregation. Some of our members come from traditionally observant homes, while others have lead a more secular lifestyle. Many of our most active members are Jews by choice and we welcome the participation of parents and partners who continue in their own faith as they raise a family in ours. Those who have felt cut off from religious life for a variety of reasons have a found a spiritual home at NCRT. Our temple family reaches out to everyone - including you.
We invite you to browse our website to learn more About Us. Come discover the North Shore's Best Kept Secret. The Little Temple in the Woods.
Many organizations match the charitable contributions you make including those to North Country Reform Temple. Contact your Human Resources Department for details. Donations can be made through the link below or by calling the Temple Office at (516)671-4760.
NCRT News and Information
Congregational Trip to Israel - February 15-26 2012 The itinerary has been completely revised taking into account that some of our travelers have been to Israel and adding specific places Rabbi Liss wants to go with you. Please take a look at our exciting new itinerary. If you have any questions, please email me at the office rabbiliss@ncrt.org or call me.
Get Fit With NCRT in 2012
We will be offering fitness classes beginning the week of 1/31 and going for 8 weeks. There are 3 classes being offered. Each class costs $60 for 8 sessions and will only be held if at least 6 people sign up. Each class will last for 1 hour. All classes start the week of January 31 and you must pay the entire fee at the first class.
Zumba Classes:
Tuesday mornings at 9:30am Zumba with Christina LoCascio Tuesday evenings at 7:45pm with Melanie Ranaldo Zumba is a dance fitness class based on international rhythms and combines music culture with synchronized choreography. Wear sneakers and comfortable clothing. We suggest you bring a water bottle and a towel.
Yoga Class:
Thursday mornings at 9:30am with Donna Coogan Yoga: ISHTA stands for Integrated Science of Hatha, Tantra, and Ayurveda, or a combination of physical, energetic, and healing practices. But ISHTA has a double meaning that stretches back to the very roots of yoga. ISHTA is also a Sanskrit word translating to 'that which resonates with the individual spirit.' Please wear comfortable clothing and bring a yoga mat.
Book Club
NCRT Book Club NCRT is back in session meeting the second Thursday of every month.
Thursday Feb 9, 7PM The Lemon Tree, Sandy Tolan
Thursday March 8, 7PM City of Thieves, David Benioff
Purchase your copy today through the Temple's Amazon link.
Temple Fundraising News
NCRT Partners with Amazon.com
Each tme you access Amazon through the NCRT website a percentage of your purchases helps support our congregation. Shop today and tell your family and friends!
Jews have had a long and illustrious history, and it is not surprising that over the centuries many misunderstandings, myths, misconceptions and bubbe meises have been circulated and handed down from generation to generation. The process has continued through our own day. Bubba Meises: Jewish Myths, Jewish Realities presents the origins of these misconceptions and how they have influenced the Jewish people over the centuries in order to set the record straight. The book covers a range of topics, including Basic Jewish Beliefs, Jewish Holidays, Ethics, Israel, Women and their Role, Ritual Objects and Observances, Death and Dying, Hebrew and Jewish Expressions, Bible, and Opinions about Jews. Click the cover to purchase your copy today!
Host the Cantor
We need your help! As the new year begins, we once again, need families to host our lovely student cantor, Faryn Kates. We also need help driving her to and from the train station. Please check the website to see our needs and do a mitzvah! So many members helped out last year, and enjoyed getting to know our cantor in a more personal setting. Faryn does not keep kosher and makes an excellent house guest!
by Benjamin J. Dubin Some 35 years ago my wife, Esther, gave birth to an adorable girl, Rachel. It was not until Rachel was three that we knew she had a hearing loss. Then, at the age of five, Rachel lost all her residual hearing. Esther, a coronary care nurse, took a break in her career to be with Rachel and to be her ears when necessary. Together the three of us advocated for the deaf and hard of hearing: Rachel testified before the United States Congress beginning at age eleven while Esther and I were involved in local and national disability groups. Everything was going well. Esther returned to nursing when Rachel was in her mid-teens and Rachel, despite her profound deafness, graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Goucher College with a major political science and a minor in Russian language and earned a masters degree from George Washington University. [...]
By Wendy Grinberg Back when I lived in Atlanta, my single girlfriends and I would get together for Rosh Chodesh celebrations. It was a wonderful time to get together, devote time to one another, acknowledge our spiritual and psychological growth and challenges, and just show each other some love and support. This celebration of the new Jewish month was revived by Jewish women groups in the ‘70s, based on the traditional association of women with Rosh Chodesh. We are commanded to celebrate the new moon in Exodus 12:2, right before the Israelites leave Egypt. A text in Pirkei D’Rabi Eliezar explains that women did not give their jewelry for the creation of the Golden Calf, and so were rewarded with the observance of Rosh Chodesh (Chapter 45). The actual celebration is hardly mandated, so there is a lot of room for creativity in designing a ritual celebration. I used to [...]
by Rabbi Leora Kaye I’m a rabbi, and my husband’s an atheist. My husband Doug’s atheism is well thought-out. He’s a loving, intelligent guy who doesn’t believe in God and hasn’t since he was eleven. He is moral, compassionate and Jewish, and he does not believe that his ethics are related to God. We believe parenting should be deliberate and purposeful, much like Reform Judaism. Choices should be based on knowledge, specifically knowledge about what kind of parent you want to be, what works in your family system and what works for your son or daughter. In this week’s Jewish Parenting Podcast, psychologist Richard Weissbourd says that while most parents do care about raising moral children, few make it their number one priority. Outside of the conversations my husband and I had trying to decide if a relationship between an atheist and a rabbi could work, we had one discussion [...]
