First-Rate Programming On The First Monday Of Every Month

Lunch and Learn is returning with another lineup of first-rate programming, this time on the first Monday of every month. We’re starting with a fascinating program by a guest presenter, Brad Kolodny, whose book Seeking Sanctuary: 125 Years of Synagogues on Long Island, responds to our interest in the history of synagogue buildings, considering the rich history of our own building, which dates from 1901. Yet, we were not the first. The story behind the first synagogue building is quite a saga.

For an advance look at what Lunch and Learn will offer, you might want to visit the Suffolk County Historical Society Museum, 300 West Main Street in Riverhead, which has mounted a special exhibit in honor of the anniversary of the first synagogue to be built on Long Island. The images on display at the museum and planned for Lunch and Learn are architecturally significant, aesthetically interesting, and culturally important.

Brad Kolodny has photographed more than 600 synagogues in 13 countries over the last 30+ years, including images of synagogues here on Long Island. He is president of the Jewish Historical Society of Long Island in Setauket. His second book, The Jews of Long Island 1705-1918, published by SUNY Press, is due out in March 2022.

Once a month, Monday at noon

We know, we know, the popular Lunch and Learn program was an every-Monday Zoom event  through the height of the pandemic, when all of us were captives in our own homes. But the situation is easing now, and people are venturing out. Lunch and Learn seeks to present programs of consequence without Zoom exhaustion.

Keep in mind that beginning in January, the Marshall S. Hurwitz Fund For Special Programs and Projects is sponsoring a Jewish Theological Seminary course, “Beyond Dispute: Debates That Shape Jewish Life,” to be offered every Sunday in person and also on Zoom. [See separate story below.] Lunch and Learn, a Zoom-only event, will revisit its schedule at the conclusion of the JTS course.