Lunch and Learn
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Enthusiastic Audiences Zoom In For ‘Lunch and Learn’
We knew we had a good thing going when shul members zoomed in on April 20 with a big turnout for our first Lunch and Learn session with Ron Rothman talking about his grandfather’s friendship with Albert Einstein. (Yes, that Albert Einstein.) Sara Bloom offered a session on memoir writing, which was followed by our third Lunch and Learn session with Marian Friedmann, an inveterate gardener. Susan Rosenstreich came next, talking about body language and how actions sometimes can speak as loud as words. Chef Deborah Pittorino delighted the zoom at noon group with a cooking demonstration. Gnocchi anyone? And rounding out the month, we invited Cantor Melissa Berman to lead us in songs of celebration for Memorial Day Monday. Each week, Rabbi Gadi filled the Thursday slot with probing questions about Judaism. What have we cooked up for June? Zoom at noon every Monday and Thursday and find out. Sometimes it’s chitchat; sometimes shul folks or guests offer particular expertise for all of us to learn while we lunch. There’s always discussion, Q&A, and more chitchat. It’s instructive, it’s entertaining, it’s fun.
To Zoom at noon for Lunch and Learn, visit www.tiferethisraelgreenport.org, click on “Go to meeting/services,” follow the prompts, and enter the password (you know it from the services and previous events). Come learn. Bring lunch.
Lunch and Learn with Melissa Berman
‘Lunch and Learn’ couldn’t wait another day to tell you about an extraordinary treat we have programmed for Memorial Day. Plan to Zoom at noon this coming Monday, May 25, for a holiday sing-along, led by Melissa Berman, whose sweet and enchanting voice is familiar to Shul Schmooze readers who have enjoyed her “Quarentunes” videos. Melissa will lead us in “Songs of Celebration” as we pay tribute to our nation and its proud history.
Melissa Berman serves as cantor at New York City’s West End Synagogue, where she enriches her congregation with joyous song, blending the best of Jewish tradition with modern sensitivity. She earned a bachelor’s in music from Duke University and master’s degrees in sacred music and Jewish education from JTS. Before returning to New York, she was cantor at Congregation Or Tzion in Scottsdale, AZ, and for three years at the United Jewish Congregation of Hong Kong.
Please plan to join Lunch and Learn on this Memorial Day to welcome Cantor Melissa Berman and to sing together the songs that elevate the spirit.
Join ‘Lunch and Learn’ For A Gnocchi Cook-Along With Chef Deborah
Here’s a preview of what’s on tap for the 5th week of our Zoom at noon program. We hope you were able to Zoom at noon on Monday to hear Suzi Rosenstreich’s revealing talk on what our bodies say about what we are thinking. Rabbi Gadi followed on Thursday with a discussion about the how’s and why’s of creating a new blessing.
Coming up next week is a cook-along with Chef Deborah Pittorino on Monday, May 18. Chef Deborah believes in zero-waste food prep, as her famous Carrot Pulp Gnocchi will attest. You can watch and lunch and learn, or better still, gather the ingredients and cook with the chef.
Here’s what you’ll need: One cup carrot pulp, 3/4 cup flour, 1/4 teaspoon turmeric, 1 whole egg beaten, 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese. Gnocchi for supper, everyone.
On Thursday, May 21, Rabbi Gadi will give a Jewish followup to Monday’s food discussion with ideas about the spiritual aspect of meal preparation. It ain’t just kashruth.
Other topics in the works include music, travel, books, art, poetry, politics, health, photography, maybe some Yiddish, and what to do with all that hair…
Sign into Zoom at 12 o’clock every Monday and Thursday. Have lunch with shul friends, and learn a little, followed by a Q&A and some lively discussion. Click on “Go to meeting” on the shul’s website. Follow the prompts, and type in the password that you use for synagogue zoom events. That’s all there is to it.
Why lunch alone? Come eat, come listen, come talk. Don’t forget: Zoom at noon for Lunch and Learn. See you Monday.
Learn About Body Language and What Your Body Is Saying. Oops…
Here’s news about the fourth week of our new Lunch and Learn program. We hope you were able to Zoom at noon on Monday to hear Marian Friedmann talk about her passion for gardening: what to plant when and where. Rabbi Gadi led an absorbing discussion on Thursday about the Halakhah view of streaming/virtual services.
Coming up next week, Suzi Rosenstreich will offer up some surprises with her popular talk on how our bodies telegraph what we are thinking. “You may think you know what you’re saying, but your body knows more than you do,” Suzi says. Zoom at noon on Monday, May 11, to learn how bodies tell stories. Rabbi Gadi will lead again on Thursday, May 14, with a workshop on a topic that has spurred spirited discussion among Conservative rabbis, Rabbi Gadi said: How to create a blessing to protect us from the coronavirus.
To join us for Lunch and Learn, sign into Zoom at 12 o’clock every Monday and Thursday, have lunch with shul friends, learn a little, followed by a Q&A and some lively discussion. Click on “Go to services” on the shul’s website. Follow the prompts, and type in the password that you use for zoom shul events. And you’re in.
What’s ahead? On Monday, May 18, Chef Deborah Pittorino will offer a Zero Waste cooking class from her kitchen, showing us how to maximize what we have on hand. Rabbi Gadi will lead the discussion on Thursday, May 21. Other topics in the works include music, travel, books, art, poetry, politics, health, photography, maybe some Yiddish, and who knows what else…
Why lunch alone? Come eat, come listen, come talk. Don’t forget: Zoom at noon for Lunch and Learn. See you Monday.
Learn About Spring Gardening; Bring Lunch
Here’s news about the third week of our new Lunch and Learn program. We hope you were able to Zoom at noon on Monday to hear Sara Bloom talk about writing the moments in our lives that have made us the individuals we are. Rabbi Gadi led an absorbing discussion on Thursday about the halakah view of streaming/virtual services.
Coming up next week, Marian Friedmann and Adrianne Greenberg will lead off on Monday, May 4, with a talk about spring gardening. Rabbi Gadi will lead again on Thursday, May 7, with Part II of the discussion about Jewish law and streaming services. Rabbi Gadi will distribute literature prior to the Thursday session, so if you plan to attend, please let the rabbi know so he can email materials to you.
To join us for Lunch and Learn, sign into Zoom at 12 o’clock every Monday and Thursday, have lunch with shul friends, learn a little, followed by a Q&A and some lively discussion. Click on “Go to services” on the shul’s website. Follow the prompts, and type the password. (Get it from ctigreenport@gmail.com if you don’t have it already). And you’re in.
What’s ahead? Suzi Rosenstreich’s popular lecture on body language on Monday, May 11, and another session with Rabbi Gadi on Thursday, May 14, when he will take up another interesting facet of Judaism. Other topics in the works include cooking, music, travel, books, art, poetry, politics, health, photography, maybe some Yiddish, and who knows what else…
Why lunch alone? Come eat, come listen, come talk. Don’t forget: Zoom at noon for Lunch and Learn. See you Monday.
Zoom! The Shul Schmooze Connection Expands And Delights
The Shofar delivers news and comments once a month. And the editors certainly hope shul members enjoy catching up on local and global news from the world’s Jewish community. But in the time of coronavirus, some thoughtful people in our shul hoped to strengthen our connection to each other each week, with a column titled “Shul Schmooze,” delivered to members’ email inboxes, mostly on Thursdays. From the scuttlebutt we pick up over here at Shofar central, shul members are truly enjoying the weekly missives from members — music, art, poetry, cartoons, jokes and the hello-how-are-you messages that let all of us know what’s going on in our homes.
And now, making a good thing even gooder (yes, yes, we know…), the Shul Schmooze idea has gone virtual two days a week. Mondays and Thursdays at noon, you can schmooze with shul members at a Zoom session called “Lunch and Learn.” Sometimes it’s chitchat; sometimes folks in our shul with particular expertise offer something for all of us to learn, and then there’s discussion, Q&A, and more chitchat. It’s instructive, it’s entertaining, it’s fun.
Our thanks to Judy Weiner and office assistant Andrea Blaga for the Shul Schmooze column. (And please email your contributions to Andrea at ctigreenport@gmail.com/.) And thanks to Rabbi Gadi for the Lunch and Learn idea to expand Shul Schmooze to all who want to Zoom at noon. Download the shul’s website, click on the “Shabbat services” item on the home page, and follow the prompts to the shul’s Zoom room. Come schmooze with us. Bring lunch.
Excerpted from the Shul Schmooze column
We ask you to indulge The Shofar’s appreciation for a poem by New York Times reader Joyce Bartlett, submitted to the Shul Schmooze column and reprinted here. As we huddle largely alone in our homes, away from our usual routines and those we know and love, the essence resonates.
May you find happiness in the small spaces. Joy in the staying put.
No highways. No office buildings. No crowded subways.
May you find peace in your own kitchen. May your four walls
Feel like a sanctuary. A haven from a noisy world.
May you take pleasure in a bad pun, a bowl of popcorn.
Laughing with the people closest to you. Patting the grateful dog. The clever cat.
May you discover the delight of writing letters on paper.
In baking cookies. In the birds visiting your early spring garden.
May you find yourself fully in the present moment. Where all of life
Is happening right now. And worries about the future don’t exist.
May you invent ways to help people who need you.
Because times like this were made to remind us that we are all the same.
Even as you wrap yourself in a blanket of solitude,
may you discover the secrets of the universe from your spot on the couch.
And…may you be so well loved that others will rejoice
when you are finally able to run into their arms again.
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