The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted so much of how we engage Jewishly, but Shavuot is a fantastic holiday for families to celebrate from the safety of their homes. Here are a few ways you and your family can observe this rich, festive Jewish holiday this year.

Being Black in America is its own journey within the journey of just being human, and living, and discovering who you really are on a soul level. Then there’s being Black and Jewish. And then there’s being Black, Jewish, married to a white Jew, and having bi-ethnic Jewish kids. It’s another journey, not an easy one at times, and instead of getting easier as I get older, we seem to be facing more challenges.

June and her partner, Betsy, adopted two girls from Guatemala and raised them together until Betsy died of cancer 4 years ago. June talked with me about the great joy she felt in fulfilling her dream of becoming a mom and the challenge she and her teenage daughters faced after suffering such a tremendous loss.

Isaac Hirt-Manheimer is the founder of Unity Ecovillage in Ghana, constructed according to eco-friendly principles that he learned while attending the Green Apprenticeship training program at Kibbutz Lotan in Israel.