6 minute read
What’s Happening
The aleph-bet, a mystical journey that even adults will love
Presentation: Tuesday, November 29, 12 pm, online Workshop: Monday, December 12, 12 pm, Sandler Family Campus Art on view through December: Leon Family Gallery
Sierra Lautman
Part bedtime story, part poem, and filled with highly evocative illustrations, Malkah’s Notebook: A Journey into the Mystical Aleph-Bet, is a love letter to the Hebrew alphabet. Written by Mira Z. Amiras and illustrated by Josh Baum, an Israeli artist and sofer (Hebrew for scribe), the book is divided into four parts, with four distinct styles of illustrations. Amiras takes readers through the kabbalistic journey of young Malkah, whose father is trying to teach her to read Torah. As with many young students, the more she learns, the more questions she asks until her learning path takes her through Jewish mystical texts, far-off places, archaeological digs, ancient gods, and ultimately into the nature of existence itself.
By offering a variety of opportunities centered on this profound and beautifully illustrated book, art lovers and Jewish scholars alike will find a way to connect with the story in Tidewater.
Forty of the books’ illustrations are on display in the Leon Family Gallery at the Simon Family JCC through December. Take a walk through the gallery to view the art ahead of the online event, when Mira Z. Amiras and Josh Baum will be in conversation with local Kabbalah enthusiast, Rabbi Michael Panitz. This online event is presented by the Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, Simon Family JCC, and Community Partners’ 12th annual Israel Today series, as a part of the Lee & Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival. It is free and open to the community; registration is required.
After hearing from the author and illustrator, community members are invited to create their own illustrations during a hands-on workshop offered by the Konikoff Center for Learning at the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater. Local artist Sharon Serbin will lead attendees through Malkah’s Aleph-Bet workshop, Following the Journey of your Name. In this workshop, participants will have the chance to investigate the kabbalistic approach to the letters of their name and then illustrate their name in a way that is personal and meaningful. No previous art experience or perceived talent is required. All materials will be supplied.
Mira J. Amiras.
For more information about Malkah’s Journey or any of these opportunities, visit JewishVA.org/BookFest or contact Hunter Thomas at HThomas@Ujft.org.
"Secrets are costly—heavy weights to carry around. In 'Shanda
' , Letty Cottin Pogrebin takes aim at shame, the factory where the costliest secrets are made. She dismantles the machinery of shame, and she does it with stories that are vivid, emotional, and unforgettable. "
– Alan Alda, actor, author, and director
A Conversation with Letty Cottin Pogrebin Thursday, November 17, 7:30 pm
Reba & Sam Sandler Family Campus
5000 Corporate Woods Drive, Virginia Beach
JewishVA.org/BookFest
WHAT’S HAPPENING
Beyond the Bible
Four weekly sessions: $60
Rabbi Michael Panitz and Sierra Lautman
Last month, in a course offered by United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Konikoff Center for Learning, Origins: Ancient Jewish History in International Context, students began to consider the answer to the question, “Where did the Jewish People come from?”
Next month, a new course, Beyond the Bible—The People of Israel, In the World of Ancient Empires, will continue to investigate the Jewish origin story through the world of the Greeks and the Romans. Scholars have more access to the general history of that time and place than previous centuries, and the task is to build up a picture of actual Jewish history, based on both personal sources and on what can be gleaned from the knowledge of the entire Mediterranean and Persian Gulf region.
This four-week course is considered a “second season” to the first, featuring some of the same characters, continuing down the same storyline, but can be equally enjoyed by those who joined the October Jewish history series and those who are just jumping in now. The course’s four sessions will cover nearly a millennium and the impact that other nations had on the development of the people of Israel.
The Persian period of Jewish history, which will be covered in the first class, was an important incubator in which post-biblical Judaism first developed. The Persian emperors, more tolerant than their predecessors, gave both geographical and cultural space for Jews to develop their distinctive history.
Persian overlordship gave way to Greek after the conquest of Alexander the Great. The principal challenge to the small Jewish nation in Hellenistic times was how to respond to the attractiveness of Hellenistic culture. Ultimately, the Jewish response, which students can discover in the second session, was neither assimilation nor rejection, but the fashioning of a creative synthesis.
Greek rule gave way to Roman with the expansion of Roman rule across the Mediterranean in the 1st century BCE. Roman rule over the Jews of the land of Israel was harsh and oppressive, driving the Jews to a doomed rebellion in the year 66 CE. In suppressing that rebellion, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem’s Temple. The response to that unparalleled crisis launched Judaism on a new path, elements of which still exist today.
In the final session, students will examine how the Jewish people learn to cope with a new challenge: the overlordship of a rival monotheistic state—either Christian or Muslim.
Rabbi Michael Panitz
To learn more or to register, visit JewishVA. org/KCL or contact Sierra Lautman, director of Jewish Innovation, at SLautman@UJFT. org or 757-965-6107.
Hanukkah Sunday Fun Day
Sunday, December 11, 1–4 pm, Simon Family JCC
Families with children of all ages are invited to begin their Hanukkah festivities early at the Simon Family JCC with a special Sunday Fun Day.
Toddlers through teens will enjoy Hanukkah-themed crafts and glow-in-thedark games led by Camp JCC counselors and leadership. Middle-school students and teens will have a special experience with the Tidewater ShinShinim, Aya Sever and Alma Ben Chorin, baking sufganyot (jelly-filled donuts).
Sunday Fun Days at the Simon Family JCC are free and open to JCC members, Strelitz and Camp JCC families, YAD participants, and Tidewater synagogue members. For more information, or to register, visit JewishVA.org/PJLibrary or contact Nofar Trem at NTrem@UJFT.org.
Kids Night Out: an evening of fun for kids
Kids Night Out is back with a thankful theme!
Parents with Simon Family JCC family memberships can drop off their children at the JCC and then enjoy a night out on their own! Children, ages four through 12 years old, will get to enjoy a night filled with games, crafts, snacks, and swimming. Swim is lifeguard supervised for those who can swim without a flotation device.
And, just in time before Thanksgiving, the night will include a canned food drive for the JFS Food Pantry. Those who would like to participate should bring non-perishable food item(s). Some ideas include boxed mashed potatoes, stuffing, canned corn, and green beans. Help make Thanksgiving better for families in need in Tidewater.
The cost is $20 per child. Each additional sibling is $15 (max of $50 per household). Register by 4 pm on Friday, November 18 at the JCC Front Desk or call 757-321-2338.
Brith Sholom presents The 504 Trio
Sunday, Dec. 4, 11 am, Masonic Temple
Brith Sholom’s December’s social event will feature its deluxe brunch catered by Beth Sholom Village and a performance by a jazz trio. The 504 Trio’s musicians play and sing New Orleans Jazz with songs such as When the Saints Go Marching In.
A very special dessert will be served after the entertainment.
With higher quality entertainment comes higher costs, along with higher food costs, so this event is $10 per member.
Masonic Temple is located at 7001 Granby St. in Norfolk.
For information or to RSVP, email brith.sholom1@gmail.com.
