Our hearts are in Israel. Our thoughts never leave Israel. The tenor of the newsletter will certainly change during such a tragic period for the Jewish people. At the same time, this week we are blessed to celebrate Kenny Schamisso’s Bar Mitzvah. With the intention of bringing more light into what is at the moment...
We are postponing our 70 year anniversary gala celebration in light of the war in Israel. Instead, we will hold a special afternoon event on Saturday, November 11 including Shabbat services and a kiddush luncheon to honor and memorialize the soldiers and civilians we have lost in the war. This special event will also highlight...
A message from Gilad Cohen, Ambassador of Israel to Japan: I am writing to you in the midst of difficult times for the State of Israel, perhaps the most difficult since the establishment of the state. Israel is at war, a war for our home, the peace of our children and citizens, and for our...
“Music has healing power. It has the ability to take people out of themselves for a few hours” are the wise words of Sir Elton John. Join us for a performance by Ukranian-born, Berlin-based folk-pop singer Maria Raykhman for an opportunity to bring us together in unity and provide healing at this time when we...
In 1923, 40% of the proceeds from the sale of the Beth Israel synagogue in Nagasaki went to organizations helping Jews settle the Land of Israel. Thirty years later, Minister of Israel in Japan Joseph Linton went on a real estate tour of Tokyo for the new Israeli Legation. He wrote in the JCC’s 5718/1957-1958...
Whether you’re at a Long Island Shabbat dinner or a Palm Beach beauty parlor, it would not be unusual to hear a version of the following Jewish-exceptionalist trope: ‘Well just look at how many Jewish Nobel Prize winners there are. Must be something to that whole chosen people thing huh?’ Put aside the absurdity that...
A thriving Jewish life existed in Europe prior to the Holocaust. Jewish artists—painters, composers, authors, actors, and musicians—contributed to society and shaped its image, even while repeatedly suffering antisemitism. The Holocaust brought the unique, highly respected German-Jewish culture to a sudden end. Today many of its well-known personalities have slipped into obscurity. Friedrich Gernsheim (1839-1916),...
As we put the finishing touches on our sukkah and scramble as every other year to procure sets of lulav and etrog, let’s pull back on this frenetic High Holiday season just a bit. Historically, the ‘can’t miss’ Sukkot event at the JCC has not actually been on the holiday itself. The Sunday morning spent...
Steve and Phyllis Goldstein, $5400. Adam and Susan Schneiderman, $3600. Harry and Rachel Blumberg, $1800… On and on a typical Yom Kippur Appeal will go for 5-15 minutes depending on the size of the congregation. In what is no doubt the most peculiar institution in synagogue life, a board member ascends the bimah following Kol...
Round Challah. The unmistakable, yet subtle indicator of Rosh Hashana compared to the widely practiced apples and honey ritual or more frontal fish or in rarefied circles, sheep’s head. Many an explanation have been proffered by rabbis and bakers alike as to the symbolism behind the often oblong bread dotting many a holiday table. The...