Jacqueline Morris’s Passover Message for 2026

I spend my Sunday mornings teaching religious school at The Temple and I have for seven years. I have taught Hebrew and/or Judaics for third through fifth grade. No matter what I am teaching, eventually my students ask me if it’s OK that they don’t celebrate Shabbat every week or don’t keep kosher.

At this point, I usually start with the differences between Reform and the other sects of Judaism. I explain how some services have a lot more Hebrew than our service and, how we pray, can change based off of what type of congregation you attend. But being a good Jew is not based on what type of congregation you belong to. Nor is it about how often you show up to services. I know people who would say they are Reform, yet show up to services every Friday. And I also know people who would say they are Orthodox but show up to services only on the High Holidays. What I do tell them is that being a Reform Jew in not an excuse to not learn about Judaism. Many Reform Jews belive that we should be changing with the world, not assimilating into nothing. We still have the Jewish culture that we experience in our cooking, in the friends we hang out with, when we come back and teach religious school. Reform Jews though choose what laws we feel are important to us, we are still expected to learn the laws and what it means to be a Jew.

Personally, I celebrate Shabbat every time I am in town on a Friday by going to services or lighting candles at home. I also cover my head every day since I got married. I might not be wearing a sheitel, but I wear a large headband, bow or hat. I will even wear a fascinator sometimes. I also wear a Jewish star around my neck every day. When I started to make friends in Atlanta I do that at Jewish organizations, and now most of my friends are Jewish. And when I cook for large crowds at home, I always make my Nana’s brisket and my great-grandma’s kugel.

I donate money to charity and pass out food to the homeless. Being a good Jew isn’t about doing everything. It is about following the laws that are important to you, keeping our culture alive, and doing mitzvot. It’s a culmination of all of it, but the most important part of being a good Jew is just being a good person.

Jacqueline Morris is the Director of Events for Atlanta Jewish Times.