Monday, January 5 – Kenny Barton

Port Chester-Rye-Rye Brook EMS Administrator, Kenny Barton will focus on the heimlich maneuver and how to respond to emergencies.

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Thursday January 8 – Yossi Taubenfeld

Learn about balance, posture and functionality, as well as understanding the biomechanics of the human body in order to facilitate activities and prevent injuries. Yossi will show ways to improve everyday functionality by improving strength, balance, coordination and flexibility.

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Born and raised in Israel, Yossi served in the Israel Defense Forces Medical Unit as a medic and army clinic director and went on to become a physical therapist. He has a Bachelor of Physical Therapy from Ben Gurion University and a Master’s in Public Administration from Clark University in MA. Yossi has 23 years of experience as a physical therapist working in hospital, clinic, home, school and daycare settings.

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Monday, January 12 – Innovation Africa

Innovation Africa is a non-profit organization that utilizes Israeli solar and water technology to help rural African villages, as well as the broader concept of technological advancement across the continent. Key aspects of their work includes water projects, solar energy, drip irrigation and remote monitoring.

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Thursday, January 15 – A Discussion about Anti Semitism with Jessica Baen

Assistant Director Jessica Baen & Emily Pangalila from the Hate and Bias Prevention Unit New York State Division of Human Rights will bring us information and a discuss on hate and AntiSemitism in NYS.

 

It will address the concerns and efforts being used to prevent it in our home state of New York.

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Monday, January 19 – MLK Jr. Day, No SAJE

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Thursday, January 22 – Hila Madar Itzkovitz

Senior Community Shlicha (emissary) for Westchester NY, Director of the Westchester Shinshinim Program, Hila is an education professional with a deep passion for fostering connections and promoting understanding between diverse Jewish communities. Driven by her enthusiasm for Israeli history, culture, nature, and politics, Hila has dedicated her career to building bridges between Jewish communities in Israel and abroad.

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Hila is fascinated by the vibrant Jewish communities in Westchester and is eager to strengthen the connection to Israel. Through the lens of kibbutz life, Hila will look at what Zionism meant in the 1920s and 1930s and how it shaped the spirit, values, and communal structures of these early communities. Moving between past and present, she’ll explore the unique Jewish traditions that developed within the kibbutz—such as the Omer festivities, Shavuot celebrations, and the communal Passover seder—and how they expressed a new cultural and spiritual vision. Finally, she will explore what remains relevant today and how these ideas and traditions continue to shape our understanding of Zionism and community in our own time.

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Due to a scheduling consideration the SAJE January Book Club will meet on Thursday, February 5th.

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Monday, January 26 – Soup and Salad

Let’s come in from the cold and share soup and salad. Please bring or send a favorite soup recipe that we will post on our website and print (brendawilkin123@gmail.com). Soup’s history is as old as cooking itself and is more than a meal. It can be comfort, tradition, memory, or love in a bowl. Write or share your favorite story involving soup. It might be a soup made by a parent or grandparent, a recipe passed down through generations, a bowl that brought comfort during a difficult time, or a soup shared at a meaningful gathering. Describe the setting, the people, the aromas, and why this soup—and this moment—has stayed with you. There is no right or wrong story just share what makes your soup memory special to you.

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Thursday, January 29 – Scott Brevda, Eldridge Synagogue

The Eldridge Street Synagogue was the first synagogue in America purpose-built by immigrants from Eastern Europe. Previous synagogues for these immigrants were adapted from other structures–event halls, small storefronts, or even old churches. The Eldridge Street Synagogue was more than a place to pray; it was a spiritual home for immigrants from Russia, Poland, Lithuania and other Eastern European countries. The magnificent building provided an inspiring contrast to the crowded streets, tenements, factories and shops of the Lower East Side. While the Museum at Eldridge Street has been offering tours of the neighborhood and the building for many years, our presentation offers a freshly designed virtual tour of the Lower East Side and beyond. Our expert guide and docent, Scott Brevda, will provide insight into this historic synagogue and the surrounding community. He is passionate about this city, and well-informed about local history, traditions, rumors, and fun facts.

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Thursday, February 5 – Helene Krauss

Book Club with Barb Tankel: Heart of a Stranger: An Unlikely Rabbi’s Story of Faith, Identity, and Belonging by Angela Buchdahl

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From the first Asian American to be ordained as a rabbi, a stirring account of one woman’s journey from feeling like an outsider to becoming one of the most admired religious leaders in the world. Angela Buchdahl was born in Seoul, the daughter of a Korean Buddhist mother and Jewish American father. Profoundly spiritual from a young age, by sixteen she felt the first stirrings to become a rabbi. Despite the naysayers and periods of self-doubt—would a mixed-race woman ever be seen as authentically Jewish or chosen to lead a congregation?—she stayed the course. Her path took her first to Yale, then to rabbinical school, and finally to the pulpit of one of the largest, most influential congregations in the world.

Angela Buchdahl has gone from outsider to officiant, from feeling estranged to feeling embraced—and she’s emerged with a deep conviction that we are all bound to a larger whole and mission. She has written a book that is both memoir and spiritual guide for everyday living, which is exactly what so many of us crave right now