Recent TSE Emails

Coping with Isolation from Family with Melissa Friedman, CSW: Tuesday, January 12 12:00pm-1:30pm

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During this period of Pandemic one of the challenges has been the lack of contact with family. Even when we are together, we remain socially distant. Even our holiday celebrations have moved online. Join in a group discussion of this strange new normal, learn some coping strategies and find ways to gain support and connection even in the midst of isolation.

Dialogues of the Children of God: An Interfaith Dialogue of The Golden Rule in Our Traditions: Wednesday, January 13 7:00pm-8:30pm

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Join Rabbi Melinda Panken, Monsignor Sam Siriani, Rev. Jonathan Elsensohn and Fatima Jaffari for an exploration of the Golden Rule from the perspective of Jews, Catholics, Protestants and Muslims. This event is sponsored by the Greater Freehold Clergy Association which brings houses of worship together from all different faiths, building tolerance and understanding, and working together as people of faith to make the world a better place.

Rabbi Panken's Jewish Interest Book Club: Wednesday, January 20 8:00pm-9:00pm

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After a decade as a political speechwriter—serving as head speechwriter for First Lady Michelle Obama, a senior speechwriter for President Barack Obama, and chief speechwriter for Hillary Clinton on her 2008 presidential campaign—Sarah Hurwitz decided to apply her skills as a communicator to writing a book . . . about Judaism. And no one is more surprised than she is.

Hurwitz was the quintessential lapsed Jew—until, at age thirty-six, after a tough breakup, she happened upon an advertisement for an introductory class on Judaism. She attended on a whim, but was blown away by what she found: beautiful rituals, helpful guidance on living an ethical life, conceptions of God beyond the judgy bearded man in the sky—none of which she had learned in Hebrew school or during the two synagogue services she grudgingly attended each year. That class led to a years-long journey during which Hurwitz visited the offices of rabbis, attended Jewish meditation retreats, sat at the Shabbat tables of Orthodox families, and read hundreds of books about Judaism—all in dogged pursuit of answers to her biggest questions. What she found transformed her life, and she wondered: How could there be such a gap between the richness of what Judaism offers and the way so many Jews like her understand and experience it?

Sarah Hurwitz is on a mission to close this gap by sharing the profound insights she discovered on everything from Jewish holidays, ethics, and prayer to Jewish conceptions of God, death, and social justice. In this entertaining and accessible book, she shows us why Judaism matters and how its message is more relevant than ever, and she inspires Jews to do the learning, questioning, and debating required to make this religion their own.

Tour of Congregation Shearith Israel, the first Jewish Congregation in North America With Janet Kirchheimer from the Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy: Sunday, January 24 11:00am-12:30pm

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Virtually visit Congregation Shearith Israel, commonly known as the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, the first Jewish congregation in North America founded in 1654. Come tour the Synagogue and learn about its very long, rich and interesting history in New York City.
 
The Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy (LESJC,) is a non-profit organization in existence since 1998, whose primary goal is to preserve the synagogues of the LES, the most famous immigrant neighborhood in America. 
 
Janet Kirchheimer is a prize-winning poet and author of a book entitled How to Spot One of Us.  Janet is also a teaching fellow at The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, and she has been a member of Congregation Shearith Israel for over 20 years.