5771 - Launching a Year of

New Jewish Learning

  During the month of Elul leading up to Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, I spend a good deal of time reflecting on the year past and the year coming. My thoughts turn to our beloved synagogue, B’nai Jacob. Approaching the High Holy Days, when I think of the synagogue, I visualize our beautiful sanctuary that we will be worshipping in, with its rich colors of deep blues, accented with dark wood tones of brown, and the crisp, bright red and yellow accents of magnificent mosaic panels adorning the ark with the words, ‘Emet’ and ‘Khesed.’ – ‘Truth’ and ‘Compassion,’ respectively, and the wall panels to either side of it with their emblems of Judaism – all architectural and design elements that inspire reflection and contemplation. This sacred space that provides such a special context for prayer only is enhanced by its central roof area above the pews with its great height and light offering a spiritual welcoming to us all.

   The sanctuary of our beloved B’nai Jacob reinforces our notion of the synagogue as a ‘Bet Tefilah,’ literally, a house of prayer. But the sanctuary is not the only sacred space of our synagogue. Everywhere in the synagogue is sacred ground. The rabbis tell us that a synagogue’s purpose is threefold: ‘Bet Tefilah’ – a House of Worship, ‘Bet K’nesset’ – a House of Gathering, and ‘Bet Sefer – A House of Learning. This coming year, in 5771, while continuing to encourage everyone to attend synagogue services in our sanctuary, I am also encouraging everyone to work towards a commitment of making B’nai Jacob once again truly a Bet Knesset and Bet Sefer, a complete sacred space of gathering and learning, as well. To that end, in this month’s column I would like to give you a preview of some of the exciting new programs, and the continuation and expansion of others, that will allow us to go beyond Shabbat and Holiday services and round out our conceptualization of B’nai Jacob as fulfilling its three-fold purpose as a synagogue: a place for worship, gathering and learning. I hope it will inspire you to attend some of these opportunities for New Jewish Learning in 5771 as you plan for the coming year.

   On Sunday mornings, commencing in October, we will have a new monthly program series entitled, “Lox ‘N Learning.” Everyone loves to gather and socialize over lox and bagels, so why should B’nai Jacob members and guests be any different?! The idea behind this monthly Sunday morning gathering is for us all in the community to enjoy each other’s company, enjoy some tasty Sunday brunch food, AND, most importantly, to enjoy learning something new about Judaism and Jewish life. These Sunday events will focus less on ‘religion’ and more on ‘culture.’ Needless to say, when it comes to Jews, of course, the two are always intertwined, which just makes life doubly interesting!

   The ‘Lox ‘N Learning’ program at B’nai Jacob will launch on Sunday, October 17th, just after the completion of the fall festivals of Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah. Our kick-off program will be a ‘field trip.’ Following a mini-feast of lox, bagels and all the trimmings at the synagogue, in keeping with a theme of ‘Jewish in America’, we will board a bus to the upstate location of Marboro, New York to visit the Gomez Mill House, the oldest Jewish dwelling in North America dating from the pre-Revolutionary War period. After our tour we will head down the road to the Kedem Winery for a Sunday afternoon of kosher wine-tasting and purchasing for both Thanksgiving and Hanukkah (early this year!)

   On Sunday morning, November 14th for Lox ‘N Learning at the synagogue we will have a most interesting exploration of synagogue architecture and design, from ancient times to the 21st century, complete with plenty of visuals. In my last column, I mentioned some of the ancient synagogues of Israel with their artististic decorative allusions to the Zodiac. Believe it or not, I know of at least one modern synagogue with a decorative reference to the Zodiac, as well! We’ll take a look at an array of permutations and combinations of synagogue styles, both interiors and exteriors, from around the world. For those of you who have had the pleasure of visiting the intricate miniature synagogue models at Museum of the Diaspora in Tel Aviv, this may even be a bit of a stroll down memory lane!

   In December, Lox ‘N Learning will celebrate the world of Jewish Klezmer music and the accordian with a visit by Ben Laden from Philadelphia, a new friend I met this summer in of all places, Maine. Ben has organized the Intergalactic Jewish Music Festival for five years in Philadelphia and performs with Benny and the Vildachayes, a popular local group there. He also brought the Kabalas from Iowa and John Zorn with Masada from New York to the festival. The event clearly conveyed that the accordian, Ben’s favorite instrument, is a much-favored instrument in music of the Jews. Last year, when David and I attended a special bus trip to the Russian-Jewish favorite Brooklyn nightclub spot in Brighton Beach with an organized group as part of the OyHoo! Festival, we had our own private accordianist on the bus from Manhattan! Now we will be honored with B’nai Jacob’s own private accordianist at our Lox ‘N Learning!

   Although dates have not been scheduled yet, Sunday morning Lox ‘N Learning programs will continue throughout the winter and spring with a Tu B’Shevat Kabbala Seder, The Jewish Folk Art of Papercutting, Jewish Matchmakers, Yizkor Books of Holocaust Remembrance, and Jewish Theatre topics. Look for more information in future newsletters.

  With all these activities planned for 5771, you will want to make Congregation B’nai Jacob ‘Your Place for Jewish Belonging” on a regular basis. I look forward to greeting you all at our Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur services, but try to come the previous Saturday night, September 4 at 7 PM for “Saturday Night at the Movies” followed by our traditional, brief Selichot service. We’ll have popcorn and other refreshments during the screenings of two important American films on Jewish topics, the 1927 version of “The Jazz Singer” starring Al Jolson, followed by the 1970 version of “The Jazz Singer’ featuring Jewish rock star, Neil Diamond, and Sir Laurence Olivier. Central to the themes of both versions of the film is the issue of assimilation across the 20th century and beyond and the challenges young people face in embracing both their American and Jewish identities. I hope that these films will kick-off a year-long focus for the congregation on this very important topic: “How do we want to be Jewish in America? and through whose lens?”

   I look forward to seeing you all September 4th for the pre-Rosh Hashana Saturday night Selichot kick-off to the High Holy Days and, of course, on September 9th and 10th for Rosh Hashana services and September 17th and 18th for Kol Nidrei and Yom Kippur services. Jane and Sid Cantor have generously sponsored our annual delicious, catered Break-the-Fast  meal directly following Neilah services. And don’t forget our Tashlich-on-the-Hudson on Sunday afternoon, September 12th complete with apples and honey, live music and Israeli dancing as we cast away our sins and usher in 5771.

   Wishing everyone a Shana Tova u’Metuka!

Cantor Marsha Dubrow, Ph.D.

cantor@bnaijacobjc.org

(201) 910-4334