Friday, March 25 Back by popular request! Make your reservations now for Sara’s Mexican Shabbat Café beginning at 6 p.m. Services to follow. Cost is $10 for adults; $5 for children age 5-12. Free for 4 and under. Bring your own kosher wine or domestic beer. Reservations should be made at the Temple office 203.378.6175.
Sunday, March 13 The planning committee for the Holocaust Interfaith Memorial Service will meet at Temple Beth Sholom at 7 p.m. to continue coordinating the event. We will review the readings and prayers already chosen and select new pieces for inclusion in this annual interfaith program, which is co-sponsored by the Stratford Clergy Association. We will also confirm music selections for the event. Anyone interested in helping plan this special service is welcome. This year, Yom HaShoah (international Holocaust Day) falls on May 2 with the service scheduled for Sunday, May 1 at the First Congregational Church in the town center. More information about the service will be shared at the meeting. If you have any questions, please contact Mark Lambeck.
Sunday, April 3 the father of missing IDF soldier Gilad Shalit will speak from 9:30 – 11 a.m. at the Stamford JCC, 1035 Newfield Ave., during a live, interactive videoconference. Noam Shalit will talk about his son’s
plight and field questions from the audience. Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier, was captured in 2006
by the terrorist group Hamas in a cross-border raid in Israel, and has been held as a prisoner in
the Gaza Strip for nearly five years.
This event is presented by Connect Israel and Bar Ilan University, Bi-Cultural Day School, Carmel Academy, Chabad of Stamford, Congregation Agudath Sholom, Congregation Young Israel, Temple Beth El of Norwalk, Temple Sinai, the United Jewish Federation of Greater Stamford, New Canaan and Darien and the Stamford Jewish Community Center.
Admission is free of charge. Registration is requested. Register online at stamfordjcc.org or call the JCC front desk at 203.322.7900. Walk-ins welcome. For more information, contact Adam Weiss at aweiss@stamfordjcc.org or Michal Smart at msmart@alumni.princeton.
Lena was a dignified Caribbean-American woman who worked in the kosher dining room at the national headquarters of Hadassah. When the elderly volunteer who ran the dining room was absent, Lena was in charge and she prided herself on her delicious recipes and ability to handle tricky personalities. I often chatted with her as I filled my tray and one afternoon, right after the High Holy Days, I wished her Happy New Year. A strange look passed over her usually cheerful face.
“I’m sorry, Lena, did I say something I shouldn’t have?” I asked.
Lena shook her head emphatically and looked down at the floor. “In all the years I’ve worked here no one has ever wished me Happy New Year and do you know what? I’m Jewish.”
Actress Rashida Jones
Rapper "Drake"
I like to think that I learned an important lesson from Lena, but I’m not sure. February, as you know, was Black History Month. I’m ashamed to admit this but I didn’t immediately make the connection between being Jewish and being African-American. It wasn’t until I was catching up on reading some of the more interesting young Jewish writers on the Web that I came across these excellent Black Jewish History Month entries written by Shais Rison. Shais is a young writer who goes by the pen name MaNishtana (got to love that play on words) on his excellent Web site for Jews of Color MaNishtana.net. You can read his entries HERE.
Rabbi Capers Funnye
If you have never heard of MaNishtana, I think you’ll find him captivating. Bold, outspoken and incisive he trains his laser-like gaze on racism in the Jewish community as well as the greater world. He asks hard questions that we often don’t want to face, such as why do we assume that a black Jew either converted or had a white mother? Why are Jews of Color mistaken for the hired help at weddings and other simchas? What are we doing to welcome the growing diversity of the Jewish people?
Educator Yavilah McCoy
I think these are important questions we must start asking ourselves. What can we do to make everyone feel welcome at the Shabbat table? It is a wonderful opportunity to be a leader in the quest for moving beyond our surface differences.
Saturday, March 12 at 7 p.m. please join Phil Levine and Linda Grant for Havdalah, refreshments, discussion and art in their home as they present Handmade Midrash – A Creative Judaica Art Workshop.
“Turn it, turn it, for everything is in it…” say our sages about the Torah. From rabbinic times forward, we have stories and commentaries that record the rabbis’ explorations of and reactions to sacred texts. Termed Midrash (investigation, searching out), these teachings, a form of art in themselves, turn the text inside out, exploring all of its nuances and commenting on its meaning by answering unanswered questions found in the text.
In the last several decades, many artists, clergy, educators, and scholars have been creating what they refer to as “contemporary midrash.” Their work uses the process of investigating biblical and other sacred texts to draw out meaning for people today; to re-animate biblical stories and characters, give new life and meaning to ritual objects, and to add contemporary voices, visions, and concerns to the legacy of commentary.
Using Midrash you can create your own unique hamsah, Seder plate, Kiddush cup, candle sticks, or mezuzah using glass, cardboard, clay, or wood, while learning more about Jewish holidays and traditions. We’ll be eating and creating, so please bring a dairy appetizer or dessert to share. Please RSVP to Laurie Raccuia at leibaesther@aol.com and let her know what you will bring.
Saturday, March 5 at 9:30 a.m. help mark the National Day of Unplugging as Temple Beth Sholom celebrates the return of the newly repaired Torah scroll. Let’s focus on the words that have brought Jews together for generations as we take a break from the hectic hustle and bustle of our plugged-in, fast-forward, 24-7, twitter-fed lives. Services will be followed by a light kiddush lunch in Snyder Hall.
Please RSVP to the Temple office by March 2. For more information about the National Day of Unplugging, click HERE.
Hey, Daddy-o’s!
Calling all you Cool Cats and Kittens
to get your groove on and stick it to HA-man
at our Purim Coffeehouse at Temple Beth Sholom
Saturday, March 19 at 8 p.m.
as my man Mordechai and the elegant Esther speak truth
about the sham establishment in Shushan
So grab your berets and bongos
slip into your black turtleneck (Beatnik dress encouraged! Goatees optional)
and join us for an evening of coffeehouse poets and musicians telling it like it is.
Coffee and other righteous refreshment will be served.
BYO kosher wine or domestic beer if you want to get into the spirit(s).
Be there or be square!
RSVP to the TBS office (378-6175) by Wednesday, March 16
Want to help us tell the story of Mordy & Esther bringing down HA-man? Contact Rabbi Strassmann (tbsrabbi@gmail.com) to volunteer to take on a chapter of the megillah in Hebrew, English, verse, song, interpretive dance…
Interested in performing at the Coffeehouse? Please contact JeriAnn Geller (gentlermuse@gmail.com) as soon as possible.
During the dark days of World War II, a young Polish Catholic woman – who works for a Nazi officer — risks all to hide Jewish workers in her basement. Irena’s Vow is the riveting, true story of Irena Gut Opdyke who for more than two years uses her wit, humor and courage to hide her friends until the end of the German occupation. Dan Gordon’s recent Broadway success is one of the most inspiring plays of our time. Directed by Tom Holehan and featuring:
Lucy Babbitt
Gary Blomberg
Mark Frattaroli
Matthew K. Gutierrez
Peggy Nelson
Brian Michael Riley
Danielle Sultini
Alisson Wood
David Victor
February 9-19, 2011: Fridays & Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m. and Saturday at 4 p.m. Tickets $19 and $20; dinner packages available. For tickets, call 203.375.8778 or www.squareonetheatre.com.
BOWTIE BINGO HAS BEEN CANCELLED
Sunday, February 13 — Despite our best efforts not even 10 people have responded to Bowtie Bingo scheduled from 1-4 p.m. This event has always been great fun BUT if we don’t have people committed to being there we just cannot invest the time and money. If you will be attending on Sunday, you MUST RSVP by Wednesday, February 9. If we don’t have at least 30 people committed to this event we will cancel. You may RSVP to the synagogue office or on Facebook. A lack of responses by Wednesday night means no event. Thanks to those of you who have already responded, donated gift items and have volunteered.
INTERFAITH HOLOCAUST SERVICE PLANNING MEETING
Sunday, February 13 — Experienced and new volunteers are invited to the first planning committee meeting for the Holocaust Interfaith Memorial Service at 7 p.m. at Temple Beth Sholom. The committee will be pulling together some of the initial readings and prayers that will be used in this annual interfaith event, which is co-sponsored by the Stratford Clergy Association. They will also discuss potential music selections. This year, Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) falls on May 2 and the service is scheduled for Sunday, May 1. More information about the service will be shared at the first meeting. If you have any questions, please contact Mark Lambeck.
SHABBOS CAFÉ DINNER
Friday, February 18 – Our favorite Israeli chef Orna Rawls will cooking up a hearty, vegetarian soup, fresh salad and homemade challah at 6 p.m. Join the TBS family for a heart warming dinner among friends. The cost for this dinner is $8 for adults, $5 for children ages 5 – 12, free under age 5. Call the temple office for reservations by February 17.
TBS BOOK CLUB INVESTIGATES MURDER
Saturday, February 26 – (Please note change of date) The TBS Book Club will meet at 11 a.m. to discuss Batya Gur’s Murder on a Kibbutz: A Communal Case. In Gur’s third mystery, clever, charming Israeli investigator Michael Ohayon must once again put his skills to work to solve a murder, this time within the complex, closed society of a kibbutz.
Calling all playwrights! The Temple Players, Connecticut’s first Jewish Theater company, is accepting submissions for “Tribal Humor 5,” a staged-reading festival of original one-act plays that will be performed at Temple Beth Sholom in June. Check back for details and guidelines.
