Kesher - The Village Temple · 2019. 12. 18. · Kesher 3 A LETTER FROM THE CO-PRESIDENTS don’t miss FEBRUARY Friday, the 3rd, 6:45pm; Kabbalat Shabbat Services, SPEAKER SERIES:

SOCIAL JUSTICE

SOCIAL ACTION

IMMIGRATION

GUN CONTROL

HATE CRIMES

HUMAN RIGHTS

HEALTHCARE ACCESS

KesherTHE NEWSLETTER

IN THIS ISSUEA Letter From the Rabbi . .............................................. 2

A Letter from The Co-Presidents..................................3

DON’TMiss ....................................................................3

Education News ..............................................................4

Jewish Disabilityd Awareness & Inclusion Month..............5

February Calendar . ........................................................6

February 2017 —5777

JEWISH RESPONSES TO SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUES IN 2017

“What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor.”

(Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 31a)

Equality in the Jewish tradition is based on the concept that all of God’s children are “created in the image of God.” (Genesis 1:27)

From that flows the biblical injunction, “You shall have one law for the stranger and the citizen alike: for I, Adonai, am your God.”

(Leviticus 24:22)

IT IS OUR MORAL IMPERATIVE TO UPHOLD THE RIGHTS OF THOSE AT RISK IN OUR SOCIETY.

Connection is the force that binds members and clergy to Judaism and to The Village Temple.

Come as you are. Discover who you are.

Welcome to Kesher

The Newsletter of The Village Temple

Congregation B’nai Israel of New York

INTERIM RABBIDeborah A. Hirsch

CANTORNancy Bach

EXECUTIVE DIRECTORSandy Albert

DIRECTOR OF EDUCATIONAlex Tansky

DIRECTOR, CHILDREN'S CHOIR & ACCOMPANISTAnita Hollander

DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Liotte Greenbaum

CO-PRESIDENTSJulie Salamon Jerry Arbittier

EDITORElyse Grusky

LAYOUT & DESIGNJill Boltin

PHOTOGRAPHERSusan Rosenberg Jones

We invite all who wish to join us to en-ter our doors: Jews by birth, Jews by choice, interfaith families. Inside you will find a community of people who are on a quest to reshape Shabbat and holiday worship, reinvigorate Jewish learning, and renew our commitment to tikkun olam through social action and justice.

LETTER FROM RABBI HIRSCH

33 East 12th Street New York, NY 10003 212-674-2340

www.villagetemple.org

KESHER

Kesher2

During the winter break I made the de-cision to renew a very dormant interest in playing acoustic guitar. Like so many of my generation, I came of age during the folk-rock era of the 1960s and was influenced by the great legends like Joni Mitchell, Simon and Garfunkel, Judy Collins, and Bob Dylan, to name just a few. As I gazed at the growing wall of post-its in the Union Square subway station following the recent presiden-tial election, I couldn’t help but recall the final lyrics of Simon and Garfun-kel’s classic, The Sounds of Silence: “The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and tenement halls.” Fifty-two years later this prophetic song has been re-recorded for the new Bat-man V Superman film, and performed by the heavy metal band, Disturbed.

As Bob Dylan wrote, indeed The Times They are a Changin. Whatever our per-sonal political choices this past Novem-ber, we can assume that the months and years ahead will include attempts to reverse landmark decisions that have protected the rights of all American cit-izens, especially those most vulnerable: Roe v Wade, Health Insurance, Immi-gration, LGBTQ, Medicare and Medic-aid. Both The Sounds of Silence and The Times They are a Changin were written in 1964—the same year President John-son signed the Civil Rights Act that out-lawed discrimination based on religion, sex, race, national origin, or color. That piece of legislation was drafted in the conference room of the Reform Move-ment’s Religious Action Center (RAC) in Washington, D.C.

The Reform Movement has a deep and rich historical link to social justice and equality and the RAC remains the pre-miere North American Jewish insti-tution that teaches high school youth from across America about national issues that demand a Jewish response. Judaism teaches respect for the funda-mental rights of others as each person’s duty to God. The RAC website reminds us of these traditional Jewish values:

“What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor”(Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 31a).

Equality in the Jewish tradition is based on the concept that all of God’s children are “created in the image of God” (Genesis 1:27).

From that flows the biblical injunction, “You shall have one law for the strang-er and the citizen alike: for I, Adonai, am your God” (Leviticus 24:22). It is our moral imperative to uphold the rights of those at risk in our society.

Village Temple leadership will be dis-cussing the many areas in which our congregation can engage in raising its religious voice to uphold the democrat-ic principles we hold precious and to help champion social realities that may be at risk in the months ahead. Unfor-tunately, that list is lengthy. As you will read in our co-presidents’ letter, leader-ship will be prioritizing and selecting a couple of key causes that our congrega-tion will address in the year ahead—all facets of our congregation—congregate, clergy, committees, our school. We hope to partner with others institutions whose values we share and with whom we can form coalitions. The Judaism 201 adult education class, originally intended to focus on theology, will be addressing the Jewish view of Immigra-tion and will be held on Thursday eve-nings March 2, 9th and 16th.

The 60’s was a decade that rooted a generation in hope for change: a time when the melting pot image of America boiled down to reveal the particularis-tic groups that made up our country: women, blacks, gays and lesbians. And at the same time, it was a generation whose collective voice, like the trum-pets at Jericho, helped bring an end to the Viet Nam War.

In just a few weeks we will celebrate Tu B’Shevat—the New Year of Trees. We are reminded that even in the darkest of winters, new life can blossom. May we rekindle our passion for justice and join hands to create change for good.

L’shalom, Deborah A. Hirsch

[email protected]/212-674-2340 x1

3Kesher

THE CO-PRESIDENTSA LETTE R FROM

don’tmissFEBRUARYFriday, the 3rd, 6:45pm; Kabbalat Shabbat Services, SPEAKER SERIES: Jewish Disability Awareness & Inclusion Month — “Designing a Life for Life” Leslie Epstein Pearson, LCSW will speak from personal experience about the challenges of raising a child with disabilities and the preparations parents need to take to help their child transition through the different stages of their life.

Friday, the 10th, 6:45pm; Kabbalat Shabbat Family Services Tu B’Shevat

Friday, the 17th, 6:45pm; followed by wine tasting oneg led by Fred Basch

Sunday, the 12th, 10am - 4pmThe Annual Village Temple Blood Drive The blood drive is coordinated with The New York Blood Center

We want to move into the New Year with optimism and fortitude, acknowledging that there has been a change in rhetoric in our country during this past year that has often been disturbing. The question for us as a spiritual com-munity is this: How can we use Jewish values as a template for social action? What can The Village Temple do to pro-tect and strengthen the values that bring us together, as Jews and as Americans?

We hope that all of you will engage in answering these questions through action and support—emotional and fi-nancial. While many causes are just and important, we are a small synagogue. In order for us to have impact, Rabbi Hirsch, staff, lay leadership and the social action committee are working to identify two meaningful areas for our com-munity to concentrate on (in addition to our soup kitchen). We are hoping that everyone will be involved, including our religious school students! One of these areas will be immigration. For the past year we have been collaborating with Judson Church and other spiritual communities to protect the rights of immigrants, through the New Sanctu-ary movement. That effort will continue, through speakers

at Shabbat services and identifying ways that each of us can help this cause, either by volunteering or through con-tributions. As for the second, please don’t hesitate to join the conversation about what that should be. This is a time of uncertainty but is also an exciting moment, offering us a chance to put our beliefs into action.

You will also be alerted soon to the dates for Town Hall Meetings aimed at continuing our discussions about The Village Temple: Who are we and what do we want to be? Those of you who have had the opportunity to attend Shabbat services, the speaker series, Rabbi Hirsch’s Ju-daism 101 class, religious school celebrations and other special events have experienced the vibrant spirit that represents our congregation. How do we build on our strengths? What is your vision for our future? Be part of the conversation!

Thank you all for being such a kind, inquisitive, welcoming group of people.

And wishing you all a hopeful 2017,

Jerry Arbittier & Julie Salamon

THE VILLAGE TEMPLE COMES OUT IN FORCE FOR THE WOMEN’S MARCH IN NYC Jan 21, 2017

Approximately 75 Village Temple congregants and friends joined forces with other downtown synagogues to support social justice issues such as healthcare access, immigration, human rights, and equality for all at the Women’s March on NYC--the day after the inau-guration of our 45th President.

TOY COLLECTION UPDATEThe Village Temple family joined forces and took part in the Holiday Toy Drive in December. The toy drive has been organized through our partnership with the UJA-Federation of NY. Over the course of this community initiative, thanks to outreach by Liotte Greenbaum, we collected more than 30 new toys to be shared with communities with a significant number of children in need. It was a pleasant surprise and especially rewarding to hear from our partners at the UJA-Federations of NY that our recipient would be the Marks Jewish Community House of Bensonhurst, a community center in South Brooklyn that has been serving vulnerable refugee populations in Brooklyn since 1927.

I have my own very special connection with this agency. When my family and I first settled in Bensonhurst, upon our arrival as refugees in the US in 1999, JCH was the first place we stopped by to receive guidance on local elementary school choices and assistance with our immigration paperwork. Through JCH’s new refugee assistance programs, in partnership with Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, we also received a set of used living room and bedroom furniture which made our first apartment so much more comfortable. The assistance and guidance my family received from this agency is just one of many hundreds of thousands of stories and anecdotes about refugee journeys in Brooklyn, and the role JCH of Bensonhurst played as they made their first steps in the US. JCH of Bensonhurst continues its legacy helping refugee, low income, special needs, and other vulnerable populations. Its incredible story has been featured multiple times in the New York Times Neediest Cases section.

Interestingly enough, my connection with JCH of Bensonhurst took

another turn in 2002, when as a Masters in Religious Education student at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, I saw an ad in the Jobs section in The Jewish Week. JCH of Bensonhurst was seeking a bi-lingual Jewish Educator. I responded in a blink and the rest was history. I spent an amazing three years as a Jewish Educator at the JCH of Bensonhurst until I started my tenure at the Village Temple in 2005.

I am certain the toys we collected brought much joy and smiles to young children in the Jewish Community House of Bensonhurst community and I look forward to more opportunities to engage the Village Temple Religious School family in meaningful and rewarding tzedakah projects.

MUSIKEF UPDATE

MusiKef, our newest music and movement program for young children, ages 6 month – 3 years is off to an amazing start. Following our trial class in December, we now offer it weekly on Thursday mornings from 9:30-10:15am. The class is led by a dynamic team of two young Israelis who

engage the little ones in music, song, movement and give an early taste of Jewish learning. Spread the word if you know families with young kids who might be interested in joining.

L’shalom,Alex Tansky

Director of Education

Shalom! EDUCATION NEWS

Kesher 4

Disabilities can affect any of us or our loved ones at any time. Kesher asked congregant Sophie Steinberg to share with us what it was like to live with a brother with learning disabilities. The interview is between Sophie and her mother, Lisa Shapiro.

Q: Your brother, who is 22 months younger than you, learns in a unique way. Do you remem-ber the first time you realized that you both ap-proach learning differently?

I think it was in preschool. We went to the same Pre-school in Brooklyn Heights and we walked there together, left together, and played together. Even as a child, I heard through the grapevine that he had been having problems in the classroom set-ting and with the teachers. We had done everything together and even had some of the same teachers, but that was when I realized that we were both so different.

As we grew up, I started to notice how his behavior was different at birthday parties or whenever we went out to dinner, and it was hard not to feel em-barrassed. However, today I know that there’s noth-ing wrong with having a learning disability and that it’s nothing to be embarrassed about.

Q: How has having a brother with special needs changed you as a person?

Really, it’s taught me how to be empathetic and how to see everyone without judgment. Some people are so quick to judge and taunt others that they can’t imagine what the other person is going

through. I know that children with learning disabil-ities are labeled “misunderstood” or “stupid” and made to think that dyslexia is “bad” or a “disease.” Having a sibling with learning disabilities has taught me that isn’t the right approach. If you can separate the differences and understand them, you’re bet-tering their experience and making yourself a more compassionate. It has changed me for the better because now if someone sticks out or is struggling I don’t jump to conclusions or outright judge them.

Q: I know that you’ve seen peers make fun of other students with special needs. What is the one thing you want to tell people who don’t understand about students with a learning disability?

I think most kids believe that if something is “off” or “different” about someone it gives them permis-sion to make fun of them. This is not the case. Kids with learning disabilities are easy targets for bullies because they stick out or struggle amongst their peers.

I wish they could put themselves in their shoes and understand their embarrassment when reading out loud or see the difference in the way they talk. Peo-ple often lack empathy for others, which leads kids to feeling isolated and ashamed. A difference in learn-ing shouldn’t be punished, it should be celebrated.

FEBRUARY IS JEWISH DISABILITY AWARENESS & INCLUSION MONTH An interview with Lisa Shapiro and Sophie Steinberg

MEET OUR BAR MITZVAHLuke Bayer will become a

bar mitzvah on February 11th

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R = Religious School S = Service SK = Soup Kitchen = Choir E = Events

Congregation B’nai Israel of New York 33 East 12th Street New York, NY 10003

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

29 30 31 1 2 3 4

R4:00 pm; Pre-K & Kindergarten

6:30 pm: Religious School Committee Meeting

S Kabbalat Shabbat Services: Jewish Disability Aware-ness & Inclusion Month, Speaker: Leslie Pearson, LCSW, 6:45 pm

SK Soup Kitchen 9:00 am

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

RParparim 9:30 am R

Madrich 6:00pm

Confirmation Class 6:00pm

S Bim Bam Shabbat 5:30pm Light Dinner 6:15

Kabbalat Shabbat Tu B’Shevat Family Services 6:45pm

SK Soup Kitchen 9:00 am

Bar Mitzvah of Luke Bayer: 10:30 am

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R

E

Pre-K & Kindergarten 9:00am

10am-4pm: BLOOD DRIVE

R

B

4:00 pm; Pre-K & Kindergarten

6:30 pm: Board Meeting

S Kabbalat Shabbat Services followed by Wine Tasting Oneg led by Fred Basch 6:45pm

SK Soup Kitchen 9:00 am

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NO RELIGIOUS SCHOOL

NO RELIGIOUS SCHOOL

NO RELIGIOUS SCHOOL

NO RELIGIOUS SCHOOL

S Kabbalat Shabbat Services 6:45

SK Soup Kitchen 9:00 am

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NO RELIGIOUS SCHOOL

SK Soup Kitchen 9:00 am