Shul News & Notes
News Briefs From The Nov. 21 Meeting Of The Shul’s Board Of Directors
- The board approved a Nominating Committee consisting Miriam Gabriel and Rochelle Garmise to serve with Susan Rosenstreich, chair. The 2022-23 slate will be presented to the Congregation in May 2022.
- The board approved a Contract Negotiating Committee consisting of Sara Bloom and Judith Weiner to serve with Alan Garmise, chair.
- The board approved the Yellow Candle Project in connection with the observance of Yom HaShoah in April 2022. All contributions will be turned over to the Blue Card project that benefits Holocaust survivors.
- The board approved the use of the synagogue for a free Citizenship Course for immigrants seeking to become American citizens. The Tikkun Olam Initiative is sponsoring the course.
- Technology updates to better facilitate services include two laptops, a microphone, and a large monitor.
Book Circle Selection Travels From Devout Brooklyn to Glitzy Miami
The Book Circle will meet again on Wednesday, Dec. 15, at 2 p.m. on Zoom to discuss David Hopen’s The Orchard: A Novel, a National Jewish Book Award finalist. This selection, a coming-of-age story about a devout Jewish high school student in ultra-Orthodox Brooklyn, traces his trajectory to glitzy Miami and the challenging effects of the secular world on his understanding of himself and his beliefs.
The Orchard probes the conflicting forces at work on the protagonist’s young mind.
The book circle meets monthly to explore works about Jews and by Jewish writers. For information, email the shul at ctigreenport@gmail.com with a message for Susan Rosenstreich, coordinator.
Tikkun Olam Initiative Continues Its Mission To Help Those In Need
As the Thanksgiving holiday approached, the shul’s Tikkun Olam Initiative group delivered 60 chickens (preferred to turkey) to CAST for distribution to the organization’s clients. The group also continued to harvest vegetables from the Common Ground beds to accompany a traditional holiday dinner.
Needed in December are donations of personal care items, particularly soaps and detergents. The TOI has suggested that shul members bring an item or two to donate when they attend the Hanukkah party at the shul on Nov. 28. Plastic collection bins will be placed in the shul’s vestibule and also on the porch by the kitchen door. “In the spirit of the Festival of Lights, let us bring light where it is needed,” said Veronica Kaliski, one of the organizers of the TOI group.
And this final note, a happy surprise awaited the TOI group when a neighbor responded to the group’s request last month for a wheelbarrow to replace one that had outlived its usefulness. Julie Levi, a new Southold resident, saw the request while reading the November issue of The Shofar that was posted on the shul’s website. The Shofar thanks Julie Levi for her neighborliness, and the TOI for its many efforts on the shul’s behalf to help those in need.
Pictured, from left, Madelyn Rothman, Veronica Kaliski, and Susan Rosenstreich. Tom Byrne photo
New JTS Course Coming in January; Rabbi Gadi To Lead The Discussion
Sign Up Now To Reserve Your Place In The Class
Debuting on Sunday, Jan. 2, and continuing on Jan. 9, 16, 23 and 30, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., the shul will offer a provocative new course, “Beyond Dispute: Debates That Shape Jewish Life.” The course, developed by the Jewish Theological Seminary and facilitated by Rabbi Gadi, probes philosophical, spiritual, ethical and cultural questions at the heart of Jewish life.
The first session focuses on issues surrounding conflicting values and how to handle disagreement, an essential discussion for our time. The following session is related to Tikkun Olam. Other topics ask, do we need to mean what we pray? When can we legitimately modify tradition? Are religion and reason compatible?
JTS has programmed 11 sessions, but some topics may require more than one session, Rabbi Gadi said. There will be a short break after the first five sessions before the remaining sessions are scheduled. Each session will begin with a short video by a JTS faculty member whose experience mirrors the topic. Relevant source materials distributed by JTS to each registered participant (or downloaded) prior to the start of the course will suggest areas for study and discussion.
The course will be offered as a hybrid — in person and on Zoom. “Face-to-face discussion during a previously-offered JTS course titled ‘The Ethical Life’ added greatly to everyone’s experience,” said Ann Hurwitz, administrator of the Marshall S. Hurwitz Fund For Special Programs and Projects, the sponsor of both JTS courses for our shul. Tax deductible fees are $18 per member household and $36 for nonmembers.
Click this link to sign up for the course. https://tiferethisraelgreenport.org/beyond-dispute/
A link to pay online is embedded in the application, or you can mail a check to the shul, P.O. Box 659, Greenport, NY 11944.
For questions, email the shul at ctigreenport@gmail.com and leave a message for Ann Hurwitz.
All Hail The Return Of Lunch And Learn: Monday, Dec. 6. Zoom At Noon
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.
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