JEWISH COMMUNITY BLOG

The 2025-26 Winter Perspectives Group volunteers with Save a Child’s Heart in Holon. Courtesy: Jordenne Parker & Matan Weitz By Jordenne Parker & Matan Weitz During UT’s winter break, Texas Hillel brought 21 student leaders to Israel and the West Bank as part...

Children enjoy arts and crafts as part of the programming for The Social Players!. Courtesy: Shalom Austin Since the 2020 pandemic lockdowns, parents have worried about the impact that isolation and Zoom classrooms would have on their children. In a recent Gallup...

1 Left. Yohay Sponder, entertainer for IGNITE! 2026. Courtesy: Yohay Sponder 2 Top Right. Lawrence Maze, Joseph Krassner Campaign Leadership Award Recipient. Credit: Andrew Holmes 3 Bottom Right. Jennifer Failla, Hymie & Louise Samuelson Leadership Award...

Rabbi Brian Leiken formally installed as Senior Rabbi at Congregation Beth Israel. Courtesy: Oliver Bernstein By Oliver Bernstein Congregation Beth Israel shook with excitement November 14-15 as hundreds of community members poured in for the installation weekend of...

Former AJA eighth-grader Sidney Nisenfeld giving a presentation on Code Talkers on Portfolio Day 2024. Courtesy: AJA By Abby Rapoport Each year, students at Austin Jewish Academy step into a role many adults find daunting: publicly presenting their academic work to an...

Rabbi Amy B Cohen. Credit: Andrew Holmes In May, Shalom Austin Jewish Family Service announced Rabbi Amy B. Cohen, who served as Shalom Austin Chief Social Services Officer and JFS Executive Director since 2020, was transitioning to a new position as Community...

Volunteers with Shalom Austin Women's Philanthropy at the Inspired Aging Hanukkah Luncheon. Credit: Andrew Holmes By Allison Teegardin  Every year, volunteers with Shalom Austin Women's Philanthropy dedicate their time and pour their hearts into helping create...

DJ Olsson celebrates 25 years as a staff member at the Dell JCC. Credit: Allison Teegardin By Allison Teegardin  Reflecting on the past 25 years of the memories made on the Dell Jewish Community Campus, several members have been a part of the Dell Jewish Community...

Local clergy and JFS therapists attend In Shared Memory as part of JFS Suicide Prevention Awareness programming. L-R: Maura Kinney, Audrey Burnett, Rabbi Kelly Levy, Cantorial Soloist Sarah Avner, Rabbi Eleanor Steinman, Rabbi Rebecca Reice, Rabbi Amy B. Cohen....

The older division high school counselors at the year Opening Seminar. Courtesy: Gili Meidan By Deborah Fuchs The past few years have tested the strength of Israelis everywhere. After the isolation of the pandemic, the political turmoil, and the devastating war, many...

Emilie Rosenfeld and Carli Price with author Yardena Schwartz. Credit: Andrew Holmes By Allison Teegardin  On November 13, 120 people attended Shalom Austin Women’s Philanthropy Book Lovers Breakfast featuring award winning journalist and best-selling author Yardena...

Attendees listen at the Burt Kunik JAMen Forum. Credit: Alachua Haskins By Alachua Haskins The Burt Kunik JAMen Forum, a signature initiative of Shalom Austin, launched its ninth season in November with a dynamic and thought-provoking evening that brought together 130...

Festival supporters Peach and Cynthia Reynolds model this year’s AJFF T-shirts at the closing reception on November 9 at the Dell JCC.  Credit: David Finkel Photography Contributed by David Finkel  The 23rd Austin Jewish Film Festival (AJFF) shone brightly,...

JWV member Jerry Silverman (z”l) returns a snappy salute from an unnamed patient at the Dallas VA Medical Center, ca. 2019. Credit: Retired Air Force photojournalist MSgt Patrick Nugent By Steve Krant, US Air Force (Retired), Commander of Jewish War Veterans...

Members of Austin Post 757, Jewish War Veterans of the USA march on Congress Avenue at the 2025 Veteran’s Day Parade. Credit: Steve Krant By Steve Krant, US Air Force (Retired), Commander of Jewish War Veterans Department of Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana & Oklahoma...

By Bettie Forman Over the last four years, Austin Jews and Partners for Refugees, AJPR, has partnered with several refugee services organizations to assist newly-arrived families with household goods, furniture, clothing, food, and transportation to begin their new...

Dr. Dean P. Bell. Courtesy: Dr. Dean P. Bell Dr. Dean P. Bell, president and CEO of the Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership, will speak on “Jews Have Never Lived in a Vacuum: Interreligious Engagement and the American Jewish Experience” at the second...

By Debbie Cohen and Hannah Lapin  When Hebrew Free Loan of Austin (HFLA) first opened its doors more than a decade ago, its purpose was simple: to offer interest-free loans that help Jewish Austinites weather challenges and pursue opportunity. But as Austin’s Jewish...

L to R: Emily Bourgeois, Shalom Austin public affairs director, Rabbi Daniel A. Septimus, Shalom Austin CEO, Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President of the Union for Reform Judaism, Rabbi Avi Weiss, founding rabbi of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, Elyse and Rick Rosenberg....

Children explore Hebrew words for Chanukah, lighting up their learning just like the candles on the menorah. Courtesy: Rochel Levertov Last year, Michelle Ramos’s daughter, Eden, a public school student, entered the third grade at Tamim Academy of Austin. She...

Jewish services held on Saipan in front of an Army Air Corps B-29 bomber shortly after Japan surrendered the Island in mid-1944.The service was conducted by (L to R) Chaplain Lt. Max Daina, Syracuse, NY, Sgt. Edward Slutsky, of New Haven, Conn., who acted as cantor,...

Ellie Cohen speaks at the Jewish Federation’s National Cabinet Leadership Retreat in 2024 about her experience as a Jewish college student. Credit: Orly Feldman Ellie Cohen, a 2025 graduate of UCLA, spent her college years deeply engaged in understanding how Jewish...

David Finkle and Lisa Brenner during the audience Q&A at the AJFF screening of “One Big Happy Family” at the Dell Jewish Community Center. Credit: Cynthia Winer By Allison Teegardin  On Sunday, July 6, approximately 60 people attended the Dell Jewish Community...

Janet and JP Newman honored with the Illuminator Award. L-R: Rebbetzin Mussy Levertov, Janet Newman, JP Newman, Rabbi Mendy Levertov. Credit: Alex Vise By Robyn Album Young Jewish Professionals Austin celebrated its 10th anniversary with a gala dinner that brought...

L-R: Austinites Robin Davis, Matt Schocket, Kim Schocket and Jennifer Koppel visit Paris on a Jewish Federations of North America mission with 65 other leaders and professionals representing 25 communities of all sizes. Courtesy: Jennifer Koppel Paris is home to the...

Members of Team Austin at 2025 JCC Maccabi Games in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Courtesy: Julie Waltzer The 2025 JCC Maccabi games took place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from August 3-8. Shalom Austin sent a local Team delegation, led by the enthusiastic Mark Pattis and...

L4 Cares team assists in Central Texas flood recovery efforts. Courtesy: L4 Cares By Wendy Goodman When devastating floods swept across Central Texas beginning in the early morning hours of July 4, destroying homes, disrupting livelihoods and displacing hundreds,...

By Linda Aronovsky Cox The Descendants of Holocaust Survivors in Central Texas brings together 2Gs (second generation—children of survivors) and 3Gs (third generation--grandchildren) and the broader community for programs and meaningful activities. Here’s a look at...