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Photo: Marci Regan. Museum of Modern Art Exhibition Coordinator to Oversee Changing Exhibits at Holocaust Museum Houston HOUSTON, TX. Holocaust Museum Houston has hired Marci Regan Dallas, formerly with New York’s Museum of Modern Art, as director of changing exhibits for the Houston museum. A Louisiana native, Dallas received her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in art history from Louisiana State University. Upon graduation in 2000, she moved to New York City, where she obtained an advanced certificate in connoisseurship at Christie’s auction house. She has also done graduate work in arts administration at New York University. She is a graduate of St. Louis High School in Lake Charles Louisiana. She had been an exhibition coordinator at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) for the past 4 years. At MoMA, she was primarily responsible for managing temporary, permanent and touring exhibitions. As director of changing exhibits for Holocaust Museum Houston, she will be responsible for planning and implementing the Museum’s temporary exhibitions in its two main galleries and working closely with the Changing Exhibits Committee to propose appropriate and meaningful new exhibitions. Holocaust Museum Houston promotes awareness and educates the public of the dangers of prejudice, hatred and violence against the backdrop of the Holocaust by fostering remembrance, understanding and education. Holocaust Museum Houston is free and open to the public and is located in Houston's Museum District at 5401 Caroline St., Houston, TX 77004. For more information about Holocaust Museum Houston, call 713-942-800. To contact Holocaust Museum Houston, e-mail info@hmh.org . Contact Ira D. Perry at E-mail: iperry@hmh.org
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CULTURE 2006
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YOUNG JUDAEA TO OFFER NEW THREE-WEEK SUMMER PROGRAM IN ISRAEL Also reinstitutes popular program that begins in Italy and ends in Israel.
Photo: Young Judaea summer program participants board the Exodus for a once-in-a-lifetime experience of arriving in the port of Haifa as thousands of refugees did during World War II. With the strong revival of tourism to Israel, Young Judaea has re-instituted this popular program.
In response to the demanding pace of modern life, Young Judaea, the Zionist youth movement of Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America, will offer a shorter, more intensive summer program beginning in 2006. Nofim, the three-week program designed for young people who have a shorter period of time to spend in Israel, will offer complete immersion in Israeli society and culture. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of the Middle East by meeting Israeli youth, delving into the culture and exploring the sights. In addition, they will also be able to enjoy the outdoors by taking scenic hikes or going on kayaking excursions. Also, due to the great popularity of Young Judaea summer programs, a program is being offered for the first time in five years that incorporates a once-in-a-lifetime experience of arriving in Israel by boat, recreating the journey of the ma’apilim, the thousands of immigrants that came to the land of Israel following the Holocaust. The Ma’apilim program begins in Italy, where participants explore the rich history of Italian Jewry through a three-day stay in historic Rome. Participants then sail the Mediterranean on the ship, Exodus, playing games, attending workshops, socializing, relaxing, and even meeting a survivor from the original historic voyage. The program concludes with a dramatic landing in the port of Haifa followed by a comprehensive five-week program in Israel. As further incentive to travel to Israel this summer with Young Judaea, participants can even earn college credits. By special arrangement with the Jewish Community High School, a division of Gratz College of Philadelphia, students entering their junior or senior year in Fall 2006 are eligible to receive three college credits. For more information about Hadassah-sponsored Young Judaea programs in Israel, call 800-725-0612.
Founded in 1909, Young Judaea was the first Zionist youth movement in the US, and since 1968 has been exclusively sponsored by Hadassah. Young Judaea seeks to impart a strong Jewish and Zionist identity to American Jewish youth of all affiliations through its network of social, cultural, and educational programs, camps and conventions. Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, is the largest Jewish, largest women’s and largest Zionist organization in the US, and supports the Hadassah Medical Organization and education and youth institutions in Israel. Hadassah’s domestic programs include health education, volunteerism, social action and advocacy, Jewish education and research, and forging partnerships with Israel. For more information, please visit: www.youngjudaea.org ________________________________________________________________
Diaspora Female Students Unite in Song for Disadvantaged Brides in Israel
Photo: Students singing at the 6th Annual Kol Chatan V'Kol Kallah Choir Competition in Jerusalem. A sellout crowd of more than 2000 female students attended the sixth annual "Kol Chatan V'kol Kallah" Choir Competition in Jerusalem on Saturday night, January 14th, 2006. Thirteen choirs participated this year, representing Midreshet Moriah, Midreshet Lindenbaum, Darchei Bina, Machon Gold, Michlala, Afikei Torah, Ba’er Miriam, Midreshet Harovah, Midreshet Yeud, Tiferet, Orot Bat Tzion, Michlelet Mevaseret Yerushalayim and Sha’alvim for Women. While officially a competition, there was a spirit of camaraderie as the women united in song in order to raise funds for needy Jerusalem brides, most of whom are orphans. Since the event began seven years ago, over $70,000 has been distributed to appreciative brides through Rabbanit Kapach, an Israel Prize winner recognized for her wonderful work with the underprivileged in Israeli society. The evening was filled with songs of hope for peace in Israel and amongst all people, as well as prayers reflecting the transcendent sense of harmony, both literally and figuratively, evident amongst the overflowing crowd.
Photo: Group of participants singing at Kol Chatan V'kol Kallah" Choir Competition in Jerusalem on Saturday night. It was a most delightful event. First place was awarded to Michlala which performed the "Jerusalem Medley", second place went to Darchei Bina which dedicated one of their songs to the Gush Katif evacuees and third place to Sha’alvim for Women. The evening included a d’var Torah by Dr. Karen Bacon, Dean of Stern College for Women, and a presentation of various ethnic wedding dresses which were modeled by the college-age students. "The choir competition has developed into the largest, most powerful event for female students studying in Israel for the year. It sends a moving message of unity, encourages the students to express their talents and raises awareness of the importance of chesed and social justice. In many communities, it is common to spend thousands of dollars on weddings, so helping those brides who can't afford a basic wedding will hopefully inspire our students to take steps to make our society a just and caring one," said Meital Bonchek, KEDMA's Executive Director. "It was truly memorable to hear the unified voices of over 2000 students singing Hatikva with such emotion at the end of the evening," she said. "Such experiences are probably more effective than any lectures on Judaism and Zionism in giving students a sense of the beauty of our religion and our country." The Choir competition was coordinated and sponsored by KEDMA, a student organization which empowers overseas students studying in Israel to run social action programs and campaigns, in conjunction with Yeshiva University and Partnership 2000 - UJA Federation of New York. Contact: Meital Bonchek, kedma2@netvision.net.il ________________________________________________________________
Release Time Winter Camp Makes A Difference
J ust a few short weeks ago Kingston, NY was the site of a life-altering, joyous gathering. Release Time - a project of NCFJE (National Committee for the Furtherance of Jewish Education) gave 25 public school children the chance to spend a fun-filled week learning about their Jewish Heritage. The NCFJE’s Released Time Program, run by Rabbi Shazak Zirkind, reaches out to lost Jewish youngsters and exposes them to the beauty and truth of their heritage and religion. Each day of the exciting and energizing week of Release Time winter camp, started with davening and learning, followed by a day-trip to somewhere special.
Photo: Release Time children enjoying learning. The trips were the perfect opportunity for the children to bond with their devoted counselors as well as experience some of the exciting things to do all around Kingston. After spending a full day in Ulster County, the winter camp participants enjoyed an evening program of story and song. The children feasted on three delicious meals each day which were prepared by Rebbetzin Leah Hecht. “It is extremely rewarding knowing that the week of fun a public school child has in Release Time camp can turn out to be an inspiration for a lifetime,” said Rabbi Zirkind, Release Time director. This project, a joint venture of Cong. Agudas Achim/Chabad of Ulster County, NCFJE, F.R.E.E. (Friends of Refugees of Eastern Europe), was a big success. Rabbi Yitzchok Hecht, spiritual leader of Cong. Agudas Achim, and host to the camp said “It was very inspirational to see children so interested and involved in learning about their heritage.” For more information about our program or to help us reach out and bring public school children closer to their heritage, contact Rabbi Shea Hecht 718-735-0200. ________________________________________________________________ Online Exhibit
Connects Jewish Feminism and American History in Landmark Project
from Jewish Women’s Archive
For more information, please
contact: Sue C. Kelman, Director, Marketing/ Communication,
Email: skelman@jwa.org ELIAS CANETTI: A SPANISH POET OF GERMAN LANGUAGE A Celebration of the Nobel Laureate On His Centennial Anniversary presented at the Center for Jewish History Elias Caneti (July 25, 1905-August 14, 1954). Click on each photo. It is a treat!
Behind the accessible smoothness of his autobiography, there is a reserve which, twisting and taking on disguise, conceals an unsuspected otherness, an ungraspable and unconceivable identity. (…) Both of them are teaching us, day in and day out, how to unmask the mad delusion of power and of death, and both remind us of a statement in “The Human Province:” “Everyone is the center of the world. Everyone.” Claudio Magris, author of the “Danube,” winner of the 2001 Erasmus Prize. T he American Sephardi Federation, Leo Baeck Institute, and Centro Primo Levi at the Center for Jewish History are presenting day-long festivities to mark the centennial year of writer, intellectual, and Nobel Laureate, Elias Canetti. With special events dedicated in several European cities to honor Canetti’s 100th anniversary this past year, the Center for Jewish History represents the only venue in the US to pay homage to one of the great revolutionary thinkers of the 20th century. The Center for Jewish History is located at 15 West 16 Street, New York City. Elias Canetti’s considerable reputation, and one that is especially revered by his peers, is based largely on his articulation – outside of ephemeral ideologies and short-lived battles – of the way in which totalitarian rulers come to power through the mythical culture of historical heroes.
Through films, readings, and talks by preeminent scholars at the Center, audiences will be given a rare opportunity to participate in a dialogue exploring the link between Canetti’s Sephardic roots and his Mittlel European identity that formed the basis for his ideas. Of all his contemporaries, Canetti is the one who by the very nature of his persona and his writings, most drastically defies general expectation and eludes specific explanation. The internationally acclaimed Italian author, Claudio Magris, will lead the talks in exploring the man and his work. Speakers from the academic community will examine Canetti’s life-long reticence to be public, his eclectic; quasi-Renaissance interest for the human experience as a whole; his annoyance at ethnic labels; the almost disorienting absence in his writing of any obvious rhetoric and any ready-made morale; the unemotional way in which he analyzes the ability of humans to commit horrors; all of which contributed to alienating Canetti from the wider readership he so richly deserved. Yet, writers and intellectuals with an international perspective, e.g. the late Susan Sontag or Salman Rushdie have been able to treasure these traits and have written beautifully of the importance of Canetti’s thought, placing his work into an immediate relation to American culture. This event is presented by the Primo Levi Center, the Leo Baeck Institute, and the American Sephardi Federation and is made possible through the generous contributions of The Cahnman Foundation, the Italian Cultural Institute, and the New York Council for the Humanities, a State affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
P rogram schedule: Sunday, October 30, 2005 , Brunch time film screening , 12 noon - ELIAS CANETTI by Thomas Honickel, Germany, 2005. (60 min., German w/English subtitles. U.S. premiere). Talks and debates 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm , Gloria Ascher, Tufts University , Michael Taussig, Columbia University , Dagmar Barnouw, University of Southern California , Robert Elbaz, University of Haifa . Readings, lecture, and public dialogue 7:30 pm - An evening salon on Elias Canetti with Claudio Magris and other guests. Introduced and moderated by Liliane Weissberg, University of Pennsylvania. For reservations, please call the Center for Jewish History Box Office at 917-606-8200. Film & talks: $20 and $10 students /faculty, and members of LBI and ASF. Evening lecture: $20 and $10 students/faculty, and members of LBI and ASF. The Date Palm Café will remain open all day. All-day Pass: $35 (includes 10% discount at the bookstore and café). This event is presented by the Primo Levi Center, the Leo Baeck Institute, and the American Sephardi Federation and is made possible through the generous contributions of The Cahnman Foundation, the Italian Cultural Institute, and the New York Council for the Humanities, a State affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The following organizations have contributed to the outreach for this symposium: Center for the Humanities at CUNY Graduate Center, Institute for the Humanities at New York University, the Goethe Institute New York, the Deutsches Haus at NYU, and the National Book Foundation.The Canetti Centennial Celebration is being presented as part of the Gisella Levi Cahnman Open Seminar Series at the Center for Jewish History, which brings together international scholars and public audiences. It is made possible through the support of the Cahnman Foundation, the Italian Cultural Institute and the New York Council for the Humanities, a State affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. For further information and a complete press packet, including biographical information on Elias Canetti, Cluadio Magris and speakers, visit www.cjh.org. You may also contact Natalia Indrimi, Program Curator for the Center for Jewish History at 212-294-8314, nindrimi@cjh.org.
The dialogue between his Sephardic roots and his Mittel-European identity is essential to his self-perception, and at the same time is what makes his experience completely foreign to many, Jews and non-Jews. His place in the history of ideas is twice removed from the current “center:” The entire historical memory he represents is rooted in the exile from Spain and the successful resettlement all across Europe and the Ottoman Empire of a highly sophisticated, integrated, and multifaceted strand of the people of the book. Canetti’s mental map lies on the European-Ottoman axle, which, by the end of World War I, had been supplanted by the Soviet-American axle. Secondly, even in the face of what he defines as “Hitler’s most monstrous undertaking,” Canetti chooses to continue his battle against “the culture of the survivor,” which his people, the Jews of Spain, had always, even as conversos, refused to accept as a possible way of life. To understand Canetti, his fierce rejection of death, and the adoring exploration of life in all its forms, colors, inventive as well as destructive manifestations, his non-normative, ever-open approach to the queries of the mind, we must understand the Sephardic perspective on history and the way in which Inquisition changed the face of Europe. Furthermore, from the Sephardic tradition of sages, healers, thinkers, and practitioners of all trades of life, Canetti draws a form of humility that has long been won over by the “culture of the survivor.” It’s a humility that at the same time regards one’ self as a respected given, valuable part of the creation, but not as a primary object of one’s own inquiry.
A humility thanks to which one’s ego does not need to be harnessed, because it is simply understood as one of the many points of view co-existing in the universe. It is precisely in this perspective that his three autobiographical works can be better understood, not as a way to conceal his “true” (and possibly mystifying) self, as most critics lament, but as a way to use facts from one’s relatively (un)important life, to disclose a broader human reality. This background is equally relevant to fully appreciate Canetti’s masterpiece, Auto-da-Fé. Auto-da-fé is a puzzling work. It is a modern epic on the folly brought about by the separation of the book from the world. Unlike Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, however, Auto-da-Fé does not entrust to the book per se any saving power. While composing some of the most heartbreaking paragraphs on book burning, Canetti clearly sees that the book is an instrument, a means of expression and communication, but is not the primary source of life. Nor can be called upon as a justification for isolation or death. For Canetti the ultimate responsibility to communicate and renew life rests with no other but man. THE SPEAKERS Gloria Joyce Ascher was born in the Bronx, New York of parents from Izmir, Turkey. Descended from the Jews expelled from Spain in 1492, she grew up in the Sephardic (Judeo-Spanish) tradition. She attended the Bronx High School of Science, Hunter College (B.A., summa cum laude), the University of Bonn, Germany (Fulbright Grant), and Yale University (M.A., Ph.D., Germanic Languages and Literatures). She is the co-director of the Program in Judaic Studies at Tufts University. Her Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) Language and Culture course is the only one offered by a US college. Gloria Ascher also teaches German and Scandinavian literature. She is a writer and composer. Her poems are included in the trilingual (Judeo-Spanish, German, and Turkish) anthology of Sephardic poetry published in Austria in 2002 as part of the series “Lyrik der Wenigerheiten” (poetry of minority peoples). Ascher’s translation of Matilde Koén-Sarano’s two-volume Ladino grammar text (2002, 2003) is the only Ladino grammar available in English.
Dr. Barnouw is a professor of German and Comparative Literature at the University of Southern California. She has taught at Brown University, University of Texas and as a guest professor at numerous German universities, notably a semester at Rostock University. Her research and teaching has been interdisciplinary, extending into the fields of historiography, anthropology, sociology, political science, the history and theory of documentary photography, and more recently also clinical and cognitive psychology. She is the author of 11 books, including studies of Eduard Moerikes poetry, the cultural politics of Thomas Mann, of Elias Canetti's poetic anthropology and sociology of death (1979 and 1996), on utopian discourse from Thomas More to feminist science fiction (1985); her books published in the US include Weimar Intellectuals and the Threat of Modernity (1988); Visible Spaces: Hannah Arendt and the German-Jewish Experience (1990); Critical Realism: History, Photography, and the Work of Siegfried Kracauer (1994); Germany 1945 Views of War and Violence (1997); Naipaul’s Strangers (2003). Her current book project is The Uses of Remorse: Memory and Politics in Postwar Germany which begins with a critical comparative discussion of fundamentalisms in political Zionism and Islam.Professor of German and Comparative Literature, (Ph.D. Yale University). Fields of research and teaching: the intellectual history and theory of cultural and political modernity (18th to 21st century), Dagmar Barnouw came to USC's Departments of German and Comparative Literature in 1988 from positions as Professor of German and Comparative Literature at Brown University (1981-1985; Associateprofessor 1979-1981) and the University at Texas at Austin (1985-1988). She has taught as a guest professor at numerous German universities, notably a semester at Rostock University (German Democratic Republic, 1982. Her numerous grants and awards include a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship (1983/84), a Getty Senior Research Fellowship (1993/94), a Humboldt Senior Research Award Fellowship (1997/98); two Phi Kappa Phi USC Faculty Recognition Book Awards (1991 and 1998); a USC Associates Award for Creativity in Research and Scholarship (1998) and a variety of book prizes and nominations including Choice's "Outstanding Academic Book of 1990" and the Maine Photographic Workshops Award, Best Critical Photographic Study (1997) . Her research and teaching has been interdisciplinary, extending into the fields of historiography, anthropology, sociology, political science, the history and theory of documentary photography, and more recently also clinical and cognitive psychology. She is the author of 11 books, including studies of Eduard Moerikes poetry, the cultural politics of Thomas Mann, of Elias Canetti's poetic anthropology and sociology of death (1979 and 1996), on utopian discourse from Thomas More to feminist science fiction (1985); her books published in the US include Weimar Intellectuals and the Threat of Modernity (1988); Visible Spaces: Hannah Arendt and the German-Jewish Experience (1990); Critical Realism: History, Photography, and the Work of Siegfried Kracauer (1994); Germany 1945 Views of War and Violence (1997); Naipaul’s Strangers (2003). In a large number of essays and research articles she has explored contemporary cultural and political issues in the context of their history, including questions of feminism, technocracy and the politics of identity, modernity and documentarism (verbal and photographic), the cultural politics of memory, and most recently the growing power of fundamentalisms in both Western and non-Western political culture. Her current book project is The Uses of Remorse: Memory and Politics in Postwar Germany which begins with a critical comparative discussion of fundamentalisms in political Zionism and Islam. Born in Morocco under French colonization, Robert Elbaz is professor and chairman of French studies at the University of Haifa. He received his PhD. in comparative literature from McGill University. A literary critic and a fascinating reader of Maghrebian, Mediterranean, and Sephardic literature of the 20th century, Elbaz wrote on extensively on authors such as Tahar Ben-Jelloun, Albert Memmi, Mouloud Feraoun, Rachid Mimouni, Albert Cohen, Elias Canetti. Robart Elbaz’ interests span from semiotics to 19th century political theory and many of his studies wrestle with the notion of marginality in the narrative of the contemporary global world. The shifting of cultural paradigms and power centers from Europe and the former Ottoman Empire to the United States and former Soviet Union provides the backdrop for some of his work on the theory of autobiography and the changing nature of the self. His new book, Literature and Society in Elias Canetti will be published in January.
An internationally acclaimed writer, scholar and public figure, Claudio Magris began his literary career in 1963 when, at the age of 24, he published his first book, Il mito absburgo nella letteratura austriaca moderna (The Hapsburg Myth in Modern Austrian Literature). One of the last commentators of Central European intellectual history. Magris has significantly contributed to contextualize for a broad readership the works of such writers as Arthur Schnitzler, Hugo von Hofmansthal, Karl Kraus, Franz Kafka, Elias Canetti, and Joseph Roth.
Since Michael Taussig began fieldwork in 1969 in Colombia his writing has spanned different issues in roughly the following order: two books in Spanish for local people on the history of slavery and its aftermath, and books and articles in academic journals on 1) commercialization of agriculture, 2) slavery, 3) hunger, 4) the popular manifestations of the working of commodity fetishism, 5) the impact of colonialism (historical and contemporary) on "shamanism" and folk healing, 6) the relevance of modernism and post-modernist aesthetics for the understanding of ritual, 7) the making, talking, and writing of terror, 8) mimesis in relation to sympathetic magic, state fetishism, and secrecy, and 9) defacement. Much of his work is an attempt to develop new forms of cultural artifactuality in the writing itself. His two most recent books are Law in a Lawless Land: Diary of a Limpieza (The New Press, 2003), and My Cocaine Museum (Chicago U.P., 2004).
Dr. Liliane Weissberg, Professor of German and Comparative Literature, has been reappointed the Joseph B. Glossberg Term Professor in the Humanities, a title she has held since 1998. After completing her M.A. at the Freie Universität Berlin, Dr. Weissberg earned both her A.M. and Ph.D. in comparative literature at Harvard University. Before coming to Penn in 1989, Dr. Weissberg taught at Harvard University, Hochschule der Künste Berlin, and The Johns Hopkins University. In addition to her faculty position in the department of Germanic Languages and Literatures, she is a member of the Center for Folklore and Ethnography, the Jewish Studies Program, the art history graduate group, and the advisory committee in Women's Studies. Since 1986, Dr. Weissberg has held visiting appointments throughout Germany, including a professorship at Hochschule für Jüdische Studien in Heidelberg this past summer. Dr. Weissberg's research interests include German, American, and French literature; literary theory; aesthetics; and cultural studies. To address themes of German-Jewish literary and cultural tradition, her recent work focuses on Jewish women writers of the early 19th century. Distinguished scholarship in these fields has earned her fellowships from the American Philosophical Society, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture as well as recognition from the Netherlands-America Association. In April, Dr. Weissberg received a Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation Award to honor her commitment to teaching excellence. In addition to publishing close to 100 articles, she has authored or edited ten books and recently completed a monograph entitled Approaching Gentility: Early German-Jewish Autobiography and the Quest for Acculturation. She currently serves as general editor of the book series Kritik: German Literary Theory and Cultural Studies and is on the editorial boards of the Lessing Yearbook, Poe Studies, and Medienkultur. Dr. Weissberg has shared her expert commentary on BBC WorldServices and CBC in Toronto broadcasts. Contact: Natalia Indrimi, Program Curator, 212-294-8314; nindrimi@cjh.org Eric Katzman, Public Relations, 212-294-8252; ekatzman@cjh.org |
EVENTS NOT TO MISS
Sarah Bernhardt: The Art of High Drama
Sarah Bernhardt: The Art of High Drama
is the first major museum show ever devoted to the great French actress
(1844-1923). Over the course of a remarkable sixty-year career, “the
Divine Sarah” established herself as the premier tragedienne in the
West. Her very name became synonymous with acting and, long after her
death, it continues to exercise a powerful spell on performers and
audiences around the world. Born five years after the invention of
photography, Bernhardt pioneered the use of modern technologies to
disseminate her image, and was the first major stage actress to star in
films. _______________________________ THE POPE,
THE CHIEF RABBI, AND JEWISH ORPHANS AFTER THE HOLOCAUST” TOPIC OF FEB. 2
NYU LECTURE Henry Roth Centennial Celebration
Jewish Author Explores Her Iranian
Roots Why Can't a
Woman Be More Like a Man?
March 2006 events occurring at the JCC of Mid-Westchester, 999 Wilmot Road, Scarsdale NY 10583.
_________________________________________
JNF Connects Students with the Land of
Israel on Tu B'Shevat
Photo: Students from The Ramaz School enjoy a Tu B'Shevat Seder. On February 13, 2006, the holiday of Tu B’Shevat will come alive for students across the country who participate in Jewish National Fund’s annual “Tu B’Shevat in the Schools” educational program. Tu B’Shevat, the Jewish New Year for Trees, falls on the fifteenth day of the Hebrew month of Shevat and marks the time when trees begin to drink in the rainfall of the new year. It is a celebration of spring’s rebirth and renewal, and an appreciation of the interconnectedness of man and nature. "Over the years, this holiday has taken on the theme of planting trees in Israel, making it JNF's holiday," said Bob Levine, JNF's National Vice President for Education. "Perhaps no other organization is as strongly associated with a holiday as JNF is with Tu B'Shevat. Over the past 105 years, Jews have come together to plant over 240 million trees through JNF, providing luscious belts of green covering more than 250,000 acres of land in Israel." “Tu B’Shevat in the Schools” gives children the opportunity to reinforce their connection and dedication to the land of Israel by planting trees in honor or in memory of someone special. JNF will provide tree envelopes for each student in participating schools. The first planting is $18, and each additional tree is only $10. Students and honorees will receive specially designed certificates commemorating the plantings. New to the program this year are two exciting contests. Students who order at least one $18 tree will be entered into a nationwide raffle for a free ticket to Israel. Each school that has either 25% student participation or submits $2,000 worth of tree orders will be entered into a separate raffle for another ticket to Israel. Last year, 7,091 students from more than 860 schools participated in JNF’s “Tu B’Shevat in the Schools” program. Additional materials to be sent to schools include posters and copies of the Tu B’Shevat issue of JNF’s educational newsletters -- A New Leaf for students in grades 1-4 and Growing Up!, a new version for students in grades 5-8. Participating schools may also order JNF’s special Haggadah, Branching Out, which they can use to conduct a Tu B’Shevat Seder. This tradition dates back to the 17th century, when the Kabbalists developed a Seder for the holiday that was modeled after the ritualistic Passover meal. The custom includes four cups of wine and foods that are symbolic of the four levels of physical and spiritual life taught by the Kabbalists. “We have been participating in ‘Tu B’Shevat in the Schools’ for around ten years and have taken our Seder to a new level,” said Ilana Davidov, Education Director of The Sylvia and Harry Halpern Religious School at the Beth El Synagogue Center in New Rochelle, New York. “Supporting Israel and the welfare of the Jewish state is not only a school agenda for us, it is a congregational agenda. Our Tu B’Shevat Seder is open to the entire congregation, and there are usually 300-350 people in attendance. Many of our congregants take materials with them and conduct their own Seders at home.” Judaism teaches us to have great respect for nature. The Torah instructs that a tree’s fruit may not be eaten during the first four years of its life. Tu B’Shevat, the start of the New Year for trees, is the marker by which a tree’s age is determined. Tu B'Shevat embodies the strong dedication to ecology, environmentalism and conservation that JNF has always championed. To register your school, please visit www.jnf.org/education, call the JNF Israel Advocacy and Education Department at 212-879-9305 ext. 263, or email education@jnf.org. Jewish National Fund is a non-profit organization founded in 1901 to serve as caretaker of the land of Israel, on behalf of its owners—Jewish people everywhere. Over the past century, JNF has planted over 240 million trees, built over 180 reservoirs and dams, developed over 250,000 acres of land, created more than 450 parks, provided the infrastructure for 1,000 communities and educated students around the world about Israel and the environment. Today, JNF is putting its century of experience to work with the Blueprint Negev initiative, supporting Israel’s newest generation of pioneers in developing the Negev Desert, Israel’s last frontier. For more information on JNF or to plant trees in Israel, call 1-800-542-TREE (8733) or visit http://www.jnf.org/. To contact your local office, please call 888-JNF-0099 or visit http://www.jnf.org/. ___________________________________ JCC Teen Schedule Jan/Feb SUMMER
LUAU IN WINTER (GR. 6 – 8). It’s hula time - enjoy a fun filled evening
with swimming, great food & great company. Bring your bathing suits &
big appetites. Sunday, January 15 at 7:30pm - 9:30pm, Members $10, Non
Members $15. SKI TRIP—CATAMOUNT (GR. 6- 8). Ski, snowboard, & hang out
at Catamount. No experience necessary & experts welcome. Limited spots
available. Monday, January 16 at 8:00am – 7pm. Members $110 (Lift,
lesson& rental) $90 (Lift & lesson). Non Members $ 130 (Lift, lessons&
rental) $110 (lift &lesson). MALL MADNESS – SCAVENGER HUNT (GR.6-8).
Enjoy a trip to the mall like no other. Teams of 5 will race to beat the
clock in taking photos & collecting various objects through out the The
Westchester Mall. Participants will meet at be picked up from the food
court. Monday, February 20 at 1pm – 5pm. Members $ 20. Non Members $25.
NYC LIMO SCAVENGER HUNT (GR.9-12). Your group is divided into teams.
Armed with a Polaroid or digital camera and a custom-designed scavenger
list, each team using a local map, set out to capture themselves on film
with as many items from their list as the three-hour time limit allows.
Saturday, January 14 at 6pm – Midnight $125.
BREAKFAST RUN – TO FEED THE HOMELESS (GR 9-12). EARN COMMUNITY SERVICE
HOURS!!! Make breakfast at the JCC and travel into NYC to feed and
clothe the homeless. All participants are encouraged to bring donations
of warm winter clothing to be distributed on the run. January 29 at
6:30am – 11:00am , February 26. BATTLE OF THE BANDS. This annual event
is known as the “BEST TEEN BATTLE” in the county. The JCC will be
rocking – make sure you get there early before the event sells out!!!
Saturday, February 4 at 7pm- Midnight $12.JCC MACCABI GAMES - (AGES
13-16). OPEN HOUSE. Learn about this annual week – long, international,
multi-sport, athletic, and cultural event that has united Jewish teens
since 1982. This year the JCC of Mid-Westchester delegation will be
traveling to Vancouver, British Columbia in August for the 2006. Summer
Games Wednesday, January 18 at 6:30pm. JCC MACCABI ARTSFEST (AGES 13 -
16). OPEN HOUSE Designed to inspire Jewish teens through a dynamic
combination of workshop, performance, exhibition, competition, community
service, social activites and fun to develop their individuality through
the medium of artistic expression while strengthening their bonds to
their Jewish heritage, community, and Israel. FREE . Wednesday, January
18 at 7:30pm. Contact: Cynthia Blustein, Director, Marketing and
Communications, JCC of Mid-Westchester/Bendheim Performing Arts Center,
999 Wilmot Road, Scarsdale NY, (914) 472-3300 ext. 304,
blusteinc@jcca.org
Mix and Match: Love, Religion, and Cultural
Diversity on TV This 30-minute compilation of video clips from the Museum’s broadcast archive examines portrayals of interfaith and intercultural love on television. Topics include the tension surrounding courtship and dating, depictions of marriage rituals, conversion, anti-Semitism and racism, and challenges confronted by mixed families. The video features excerpts from a wide range of television genres including soap opera (Days of Our Lives, 1987) western (Bonanza, 1963), and sitcom (Sex and the City, 2003). Other clips include Bridget Loves Bernie (1972), Rhoda (1974), thirtysomething (1990), Seinfeld (1997), Queer as Folk (2000), The Sopranos (2001), and 7th Heaven (2002).
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