It wasn’t your ordinary day at Jewish Federation of Cleveland headquarters. At 9:47 in the morning April 10, (fake) gunfire went off as an assortment of local and federal law enforcement practiced their response to a hypothetical attack.

Amongst a sea of people, bid paddles were shooting through the air. The auctioneer (just like you might find in the movies) reeled off monetary values at a mile a minute, hardly stopping to catch his breath. The cause? The Mandel JDS Annual Spring Benefit Auction.

Music accesses the part of ourselves that is soul-worthy. To reach the "specialness" that each of us represents, we sing, emote and dance rhythmically to express melody and the beat. We can connect through song in a way that transcends differences, which is one of the reasons music is so powerful.

World renowned speaker Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks inspired us as he shared his perspective on Jewish continuity with our Jewish Cleveland community on April 7, 2016. Watch his full speech here.

The preeminent medieval scholar, Rambam wrote, "As long as a person exercises and exerts himself…sickness does not befall him and his strength increases." (Hilchot De’ot 4:1; 4:14-15). It’s no secret that Jewish values underlie and drive everything that we do at Schechter. In the case of physical education, it’s no different. At Schechter, we look to the value of shmirat ha’guf, (guarding one’s body), which serves as the driver for encouraging and promoting exercise, healthy nutrition and stress management in our students’ lives. Here are three ways you can apply shmirat ha’guf with your children.

Like many schools, Gross Schechter has an expressed goal of ensuring that our students learn effective, proficient and fluent use of technology. We all know that developing and honing this skill is a necessary part of a 21st-century, outstanding education, and, yet, there is sometimes a barrier of fear.

My name is Danielle and I am a Shlicha, which means Israeli emissary in Hebrew. It’s my job to bring Israeli life and culture to Jewish Cleveland. And, this time of the year I want to bring you something very special.

The Jewish Federation of Cleveland will continue a 90+ year tradition and recognize the recipient of the distinguished Charles Eisenman Award for exceptional civic contributions: Rev. Dr. Otis Moss Jr. The Federation will honor Rev. Moss and celebrate the strength of a community and the power of a people at the 112th Annual Meeting on Tuesday, April 12 at 7:30 p.m. at Park Synagogue, 3300 Mayfield Road, Cleveland Heights. All are welcome to attend this free event.

The Rev. Otis Moss Jr. has received many awards during his illustrious career, including the Leadership Award from the Cleveland chapter of the American Jewish Committee in 1996.

When one thinks of international politics, eleven, twelve, and thirteen year old students are not typically the first image conjured in the brain. Maybe now that image will change as Mandel JDS students were given the opportunity of a lifetime, trekking to New York City to compete in the “Global Classrooms International Middle School Model UN Conference.”