the lunch bunch at the temple

A non-denominational group of Jewish senior citizens gathers for lunch bi-monthly at The Temple.

the coleman family

The Coleman family is one of a small number of young Orthodox families to move to Nashville. The cost of living within Nashville's eruv (the ritual enclosure in which certain types of work are permitted on Shabbat) is one significant deterrent for many young religious Jewish families.

Whenever it rains the question Batya always asks is: why is it raining? And i explain to her that it's raining because HaShem wants it to rain. Because plants and animals and people need the rain and so we have to be grateful for it.

rob and joshua's wedding

Recent converts to Judaism, Rob and Joshua were married at The Temple. Their wedding was the first same-sex marriage to be officiated at a Jewish house of worship in Nashville.

sostrin family shabbat with tzofim

The Sostrin family hosts Israeli scouts (tzofim) for Shabbat dinner. The tzofim send a delegation to the US each summer for three months to represent Israel either through work at Jewish summer camps or song and dance performances.

congregation micah

Rabbi Flip helps students prepare for their b'nai mitzvah at Congregation Micah, a reform synagogue in Nashville.

the temple (congregation ohabai shalom)

Established in 1851 as The Vine Street Temple, the Reform congregation, Ohabai Shalom (usually just referred to as "The Temple") is the oldest and largest Jewish house of worship in Nashville.

Sheldon Lutz

Born in Chicago to Austrian Holocaust survivors, Sheldon Lutz has lived in Nashville since 1995 and currently serves as the President of Sherith Israel, Nashville's Orthodox Synagogue. I don't like the term "Jews by choice" applied to converts. In America, we are all Jews by Choice. This is not Europe or the shtetls. You can walk right across the street to a church and they will welcome you with open arms... Anybody can have a good set of values. Ritual is the core of living a Jewish life. It is through ritual that we perpetuate and teach what it is to live a Jewish life. It is through ritual that we pass those values on, that we begin to see the underlying beauty and need and reason. If you're just a people with an odd affinity for corn beef; well, you can't pass that on.

mika and maya

Best friends Mika and Maya attend Akiva, Nashville's only Jewish day school.