Blog

Dear Friends: Today marks eight months since I stepped into the role as the Executive Director. Nothing could have prepared me for these past few months, but I continue to be grateful to have the support and dedication of our fantastic Board. Today is also the 70th day since we closed, and while my son, Noah, can’t yet count to 70, I am grateful today for children. My child, your children, grandchildren, nephews, and nieces, and all of our children in our camp, preschool, aquatics, and ...

As our community wrestles with the many challenges that come with COVID-19, our Executive Director, Scott Braswell, reminds us that gratefulness is a part of resiliency and that we will get through this together. Friends, Below you will find my weekly Shabbat gratitude remarks that I shared with the staff on our weekly All-Staff Shabbat call. We had a beautiful Shabbat call today with over 83 people, highlighted by Joel and Chelsea Block (plus their beautiful children, minus ...

Pepper Bernstein visits the Blaze Bernstein School of Culinary Arts, which is named for her late son. The school is located within the Stern Family Teaching Kitchen in Irvine. (Patrice Apodaca) As seen in the Daily Pilot Thanks largely to the popularity of television shows centered around food and cooking, we have in recent years elevated culinary pursuits to a new level in our culture. American palates, once mocked for appreciating little beyond burgers and hot dogs, are ...

Whether your child is in fact a baby, or just “your baby” and entering middle school, junior high or (gasp) high school, transitions can be hard at all ages. Truth be told, the transitions are often harder for the parents. Happy to reach these monumental milestones, parents typically feel proud as their children start at new schools. Nevertheless, we also experience waves of bittersweet emotions as our “babies” grow up. Likewise, generally, children can be excited to ...

When Matzah is Good According to Max, 6 years old, matzah tastes like a cracker. Sydney, 10 years old, is a bit more dramatic – and perhaps correct – that matzah tastes like “wet paper put out to dry.” It’s true, most commercial matzah is about as tasty as the cardboard box it comes in. Making matzah with our kids has to improve the “bread that tastes like the baker failed” (Ada, 10 years old), in at least it is a fun activity and we get to talk about ...

The evolution of how, what and when a Jew learns is quite interesting. Shabbat is known as a “challah-day” to our preschoolers. For our youth, Hanukkah is a day of miracles, celebrating the little cruise of oil which lasted eight days, which in some households coincides with the number of gifts.  And Purim is a day when you can dress up in costume, make lots of noise when the bad guy Haman’s name is called out and eat triangular baked cookies, which either represent his hat or his ear…depending on your belief system.

One of the mitzvot related to the lighting of the Chanukah candles during this eight day celebration is the placement of the Chanukiah, the special menorah used. The Code of Jewish law declares that in the days of our ancient rabbis, the Chanukah lights were lit in the doorways that led to the public thoroughfare. Nowadays the candles are lit in the house, and if there is a window facing the public place, they should be lit there.” In the rest of world though, the placement is ...

Fifth-grader Shahrez beams as he talks about his first business venture, a website “SBay Kids”. Designing and building the technology himself, Shahrez is already into audience development suggesting he created a site and product line that “attracts people”. “SBay Kids is named like ebay, I want people to come find things they like. I priced everything in the mid-range and selected items that I love then other people will love them too.” The website looks ...

Here in the OC, while fall does not mean fall sweaters, it certainly does mean “Back to School”. Back to heavy-laden schedules and carpools, homework and school lunches, sports and Hebrew school. Back to the world of “fine” and “good”. Despite enveloping our kids in rich activities and fun, when asked “how was your day?”, universally we hear the seemingly requisite responses of “fine” and “good”. Amazingly our children ...

Rosh Hashanah deals with serious topics, like forgiveness and thinking hard about how to be a better person. It is also said to be a celebration of renewal and of the world’s birthday. In addition to the traditional family dinners and going to services, there are many ways our JCC families add fun and meaningful activities into their holiday traditions. Below we share just a few. Of course, apples and honey are the cornerstone of many families’ traditions. Rather than just picking ...