Meet: Ohr Chadash



As you can see, today I changed and added some elements to my blog homepage (I really lose track of time when I'm at the 'puter; it's been hours and I'm starving), so please feel free to give me a little feedback as to how they look.  Right now, I'd like to tell you a bit about one of my new additions: Ohr Chadash.

In my opinion, Ohr Chadash is one of the most wonderful sites on the web.  It is run by Rabbi Avraham Arieh and Rabanit Rachel Trugman, who have been involved in Jewish education and teaching Jewish spiritual paths for over thirty years.

They have run Jewish programs for adults and youth, in Israel and the United States. For years Rabbi Trugman directed the NCSY youth group (founded by the Orthodox Union) in Denver, Colorado. Way before that, in 1976, the Trugmans were one of the founding families of Moshav Modiim, and the Rav served as the Director of Jewish Education on the Moshav, while Rabanit Rachel was one of the main educators.

After their return to Israel in 1995, they founded the organization called Ohr Chadash: New Horizons in Jewish Experience.  Through Ohr Chadash, by running a myriad of programs at institutions and universities in Israel and the U.S., they show the richness, relevancy and depth of Judaism to Jewish youth, religious and secular alike.

On their website, you can find the most wonderful audio classes taught by Rav Trugman, and a fantastic search tool for scholars and laymen alike: the Tanach Word and Gematria Search Tool which, as far as I'm aware, is the most advanced such search tool to be found online.

In addition to being an educator, Rabanit Rachel is a licensed family therapist and an artist, having published a children's coloring book on the Talmud.  Rav Avraham is also an author of several books involving Jewish mystical concepts, such as The Mystical Meaning of Dreams (which I own), and The Mystical Power of Music (which I want to own). He has also composed hauntingly spiritual original music for the dulcimer, which he plays, and is also a storyteller; see his story, The Story That Has Never Been Told.

The Trugmans are available for teaching and lecturing and as scholars-in-residence.   I am honored to be counted among their friends.
Please, visit their site - and support them!

Comments

WomanHonorThyself said…
God bless their efforts and yours too!..ty for visiting and commenting at WHT~! :)
3:08 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Great Debate: Is it Itsy Bitsy, or Inky Dinky, of Spider Fame?

Image
For the better part of a year, I've had an on-again, off-again debate with my D.H. as to the "correct" adjective in the children's finger-play nursery rhyme, "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider" (now you know which one I favor). My D. H. insists that the correct descriptive is "inky dinky," whereas I demur.  I vaguely recollect from my own childhood, either hearing " itsy-bitsy spider ," or even more familiar to me, the description "eency-weency," referring to said spider's miniscule size, yet plucky persistance, and how he (she?) braved the violent rainstorm which "washed it out" after the arduous climb up the water spout, yet doggedly climbed the spout again, after the sun came out and 'dried up all the rain.' Many, if not most of our American nursery rhymes originated on the other side of the pond, in England, for obvious reasons: the American colonists were British in origin, and brought with them the culture an
Read more

The End. Is there a Beginning...?

This is my first post back on Tikkun Olam since April 23rd, 2015. It does not feel real. Why is it that we never think we will ever have a JOLT in our lives that will change the entire life course we have been traveling? We continue on, day by day, complacent, even in the face of serious illness--believing that what we are living is the only reality; that it is immutable, that it is PHYSICAL: you can touch it, feel it, and it will continue to be there for you tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow... But it isn't. And it won't.  Because the unthinkable can, and does, happen, in time. To everybody. As it happened to me, almost a year ago, on August 10, 2015, when my DH - Dear Husband, of 46 years, died. I am living in an Alternate Universe. Because the universe in which I was living all my life until now, is gone. I still want to slap myself in the face and wake myself up. It's a dream. A terrible nightmare.  It's a horror movie with a frightening ending, but I will
Read more

A Beautiful Name for a Beautiful Soul

Image
(nablopomo day 29) I was in a rush to get my post and pictures in yesterday, so I didn't pontificate on the significance of the name "Naomi." I remember, when my first Israeli grandson was born to my younger son, Nathaniel Blumenstein, I waxed eloquent ( or rather, my son did--I just copied and pasted his stuff!) on the meaning and significance of his name, Gavriel (which is translated as "Gabriel" in English) on my post back in November '08 after his birth, here . As is Gavriel, Naomi, too, is a special name.  It is Hebrew, originating in the TaNaCH in the book of Ruth.  Naomi was the mother-in-law of Ruth.  It means "my delight," coming from the Hebrew word, no'am , which is "pleasantness" or "delightfulness." The shoresh , or root, is " na-em ," which is 'pleasant' or 'lovely.'  The infinitive, " li-n'om , " means "to be pleasant." Hebrew grammar has seven different
Read more