​​Monday, January 26 – Soup and Salad

Let’s come in from the cold and share soup and salad. Please print a favorite soup recipe or email it to brendawilkin123@gmail.com. 

 

Write or share your favorite story involving this 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. It can be comfort, tradition, memory, or love in a bowl. Soup’s history is as old as cooking itself and is more than a meal. We will post them all on our website for you to enjoy. 

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Thursday, January 29 – Scott Brevda, Eldridge Street 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.