Programs at the JCNWJ, 2007–2008

Adult Hebrew Reading Course - NEW!
Charlotte Fels and Howie Hirsch
The Adult Hebrew reading course for the winter and spring months for 2008 will be focusing on the Friday night service and working on becoming more fluent and comfortable with the service.

Class will be on Tuesday nights beginning on January 22rd and continuing until May 27th. We may take a week or two off during that time. If you would like to participate in this class, please contact Howie Hirsch at 908-850-1030 or e-mail him at jcnwjhowie@comcast.net. We will be using the prayer book as our text, so there will be no charge for the books. Class fee will be $72. The only pre-requisite is that you know the Hebrew letters and vowels.

Torah Study
This continuing Shabbat morning study group assembles monthly to wrestle, as Jacob did, with the meaning of Torah. Newcomers are welcome; the only requirement is participation (no homework!). The text of Exodus is the topic for discussion during 2007–2008. (Short history of the group: spent almost six years on Genesis; in our third year on Exodus.) Enjoy stimulating group discussion (Torah-based) with occasional digressions into contemporary events and politics.

Monthly meeting dates are Saturday mornings, 10:30 to 12:30:
October 13, November 17, December 15, January 19, February 16, March 22, April 26, May 10 and June 21. (Check with Sharon Herson if you are coming for the first time or if you missed the last meeting.)

Temple members can come and participate at any and all sessions.

Pirke Avot
This collection of very short texts, The Wisdom of the Elders, provides an endless source of both wisdom and controversy. Join in the text-based discussion that bears on everyday life and decision-making in the modern world.

Take full advantage of our gifted teacher, Rabbi Ellen J. Lewis, who guides us in understanding these rabbinic aphorisms and helps us decide how/if they apply to our own lives. The course, for adult members of the congregation, requires simply a desire to study and participate in lively discussion. No homework is required, though if you are willing to read a little outside of class, you will receive benefits without measure.

Rabbi Lewis meets with interested students on Sunday mornings once a month, from 10:45 to noon. Scheduled dates are: October 7, November 4, December 2, January 6 (special program), February 3, March 2, April 6 and May 4.

If you are new to the class please contact Rabbi Lewis by October 1.

Cooking Club
Share your special recipes and sample those of others. According to Esther (one of the coordinators), parenting, justice, and cooking are the traditional Jewish professions. Participants will do exactly what the word suggests: PARTICIPATE. No watching of a person imitating Julia Child slapping sides of meat or dough while underscoring it with an elegant accent. The first session will focus on the preparation of basic crepes (feel free to call them blintzes or even egg-rolls), with fillings for appetizers, main dishes, and desserts. At that session we will also discuss future projects: Jewish holiday meals, traditional Jewish dishes to serve as part of Thanksgiving celebrations. As all participants above the age of five, in all probability, will be more or less seasoned cooks, we will teach each other to prepare traditional or recently developed dishes. Material fee and other details will be discussed at the initial meeting, so come prepared with ideas, suggestions, and willingness to share your most guarded kitchen secrets.

Scheduled dates are Sundays, 12:15 p.m.-2:30 p.m.: October 14, November 18, December 2, January 13, February 3 and April 6. Bring bag lunch.
Fee: Share in expenses of ingredients. Contact Iris or Esther at least a week before session(s) you will be attending. Children interested in cooking may come with a parent.

Book Club

The next title is Daniel Mendelsohn's The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million. . The book is a non-fiction mystery, family history, tale of healing, biblical commentary, all woven together in a humorous (yes) and gripping story of the author's search to discover what happened to six members of his family (his father's generation) who didn't survive the Holocaust. Please contact Risa Smith by December 10 if you plan to come because the group will be meeting at the home of a participant, and where we meet will depend on how many people plan to attend.

The first book to be discussed is The Pity of It All by Amos Elon, 2002, 448 pages (the subtitle is different in the hardcover and paperback versions). Other titles to be decided by group participants. Participants to purchase their own books

From an acclaimed historian and social critic, a passionate and poignant history of German Jews from the mid-Eighteenth Century to the eve of the Third Reich. As it is usually told, the story of the German Jews starts at the end, with their tragic demise in Hitler's Third Reich. Now, in this important work of historical restoration, Amos Elon takes us back to the beginning, chronicling a period of achievement and integration that at its peak produced a golden age second only to the Renaissance.

Writing with a novelist's eye, Elon shows how a persecuted clan of cattle dealers and wandering peddlers was transformed into a stunningly successful community of writers, philosophers, scientists, tycoons, and activists. He peoples his account with dramatic figures: Moses Mendelssohn, who entered Berlin in 1743 through the gate reserved for Jews and cattle, and went on to become "the German Socrates"; Heinrich Heine, beloved lyric poet who famously referred to baptism as the admission ticket to European culture; Hannah Arendt, whose flight from Berlin signaled the end of the German-Jewish idyll. Elon traces how this minority--never more than one percent of the population--came to be perceived as a deadly threat to national integrity, and he movingly demonstrates that this devastating outcome was uncertain almost until the end. A collective biography, full of depth and compassion, The Pity of It All summons up a splendid world and a dream of integration and tolerance that, despite all, remains the essential ennobling project of modernity. [Blurb is quoted from publisher; reviews of the book were superb.]

Coordinated by Risa Smith
Scheduled dates are Wednesday evenings, 7:30-9:30 p.m. on October 17, January 16 and March 19.

Gourmet Kosher Wine Education and Tasting
It's not just Manischewitz any more. . . . Come join us for a tantalizing taste experience. You'll learn how to select the right wine for all occasions. We will be enjoying a wide variety of the latest Red & White, Kosher wines. Impress family and friends at your next celebration.

Thursday evenings, 7:30-9:30 p.m. on January 10, February 21, March 13 and April 10.
PARTY ON SATURDAY EVENING, MAY 10
Fee: $35.00 per person for all four sessions or $10.00 per session; check payable to JCNWJ; contact Jennifer or Karen at least a week before the session(s) you will be attending. Party cost: TBA

Crafts
This class will concentrate on traditional crafts as well as on 21st-Century projects. The introductory meeting will introduce crocheting, making basic stitches and turning them into "granny squares" - the building blocks of many wearable and decorative items. The group will also discuss the interest in/schedule for other projects, like knitting, beading, making scrap books, and any other projects proposed by a participant willing to share her/his talent. The basic concept is sharing talent and ideas, and seeing what community participation, if any, could be our ultimate goal. Because this group has no "history," every participant may find a way to make the sessions most relaxing, rewarding, as well as simple fun. (Materials to be purchased will be discussed at the appropriate time.)

Coordinated by Esther Bakonyi.
Scheduled dates are Sundays at 12:15 p.m.: February 24, March 9, March 23 and March 30. Bring a bag lunch.

Upcoming Adult Programs Elsewhere

For the most up-to-date information on programs, including films, check the Web sites below:

www.ssbjcc.org/Jlife.htm (JCC Bridgewater)
www.allentownjcc.org (JCC Allentown)
www.ohrtikvahjhc.org (Ohr Tikvah Jewish Healing Center)