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September
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11
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Sunday
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Open
House, 11:00 AM — 12:30 PM, Rutgers Prep (Call
732-545-9691 for directions and further information.)
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18
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Sunday
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(Class 1)
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Opening Ceremony/Parent
Orientation – 9:30 AM Rutgers Prep
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25
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Sunday
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(Class 2)
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Adult Yiddish Class: First meeting to discuss framework
for the year. Beginners welcome –
9:30 AM at Rutgers Prep.
Adult Program:
Brainstorming to gather ideas for the year's Sunday morning
programs. Everyone is
welcome. 10:30 AM at Rutgers Prep.
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29
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Thursday
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Rosh Hashana Ceremony - 11:00 AM - Rutgers Prep.
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October
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2
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Sunday
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(Class 3)
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Adult Program: “Parent Brunch: IL Peretz Curriculum
and the Philosophy of Your Child’s Jewish Education” 10:30 AM at Rutgers Prep.
School
parents please join us in welcoming the New Year and the start of school.
At this
interactive program you will:
1. Learn about the stories, history
and culture your child will be/is exposed to at the school.
2. Read and discuss an excerpt from
one of the novels used in the curriculum.
3. Discuss the philosophy of IL
Peretz Jewish education and your wants and dreams for your child’s Jewish
education.
4. Get to know each other better and
deepen your relationships with other parents.
This program
will be facilitated by Ruth Goldsmith, Co-VP of Academic Administration,
parent of Level 1 and Level 3 children, and Jeremy Freidman, school
principal.
Everyone is
welcome to learn more about our school.
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8
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Saturday
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Yom Kippur Ceremony
- 11:00 AM - Rutgers Prep.
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9
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Sunday
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(Class 4)
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Adult Program: "BS - Bogus Stuff" - A
presentation by Howard Beroff.
This lecture will focus on the use and abuse of logic in the media
and in everyday life. We will discuss such diverse topics as the
demographics of race, religion and ethnicity; medical product safety
testing; the logic of a criminal trial; the architecture of ancient
Greece; and a host of other subjects, all from the standpoint of
uncovering misinformation. You will learn a systematic way to recognize
and categorize BS, as well as to appreciate the sociological implications
of this BS. Howard Beroff is a
retired biomedical engineer, formerly with J&J, who previously worked
at Cape Canaveral on Project Gemini. He currently teaches math and
ophthalmic science at Raritan Valley Community College. 10:30 AM at Rutger
Prep.
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16
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Sunday
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(Class 5)
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Sukkot Celebration - 11:00 AM - Rutgers Prep.
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23
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Sunday
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(Class 6)
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Adult Program: Are You There God? It's Us at Peretz - Our
secular Jewish community is comprised of people with diverse beliefs
including atheists, people who believe in God, agnostics, pantheists, and
those who consider themselves spiritual with or without a belief in God.
Does the absence of religion and prayer in secular Judaism preclude a
sense of spirituality? Or can the teachings and rituals of secular
Judaism promote a sense of spirituality? These and other questions will
be posed in what promises to be an enlightening discussion facilitated by
all-around no-goodnik Danny Adlerman and Jan
Gottlieb. 10:30 AM at Rutgers
Prep.
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30
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Friday - Sunday
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No School
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November
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6
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Sunday
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(Class 7)
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Adult Program: "One Soldier's Experiences in
the Israeli Defense Forces" - First Lt. Ofir
is the head of the anti-terrorism rappelling unit (known as “Monkeys”) at
Adam Base. Ofir is 23 years old and was raised
in the north of Israel. He drafted into the IDF in November of 2007, and
in November 2009 went to the officer training course. When he completed
the course, he returned to his unit to head the Monkeys, responsible for
development of the high ground combat capabilities of the unit. His area of expertise is in physical
training of anti-terror Special Forces units such as the Navy Seals, Sayeret-Matkal , the police anti-terror unit and more.
In addition
to training, Ofir also participates in combat
operations, usually initiated in order to test training methods and
equipment and also to hone his skills as a fighter and instructor. In
times of large scale operations or war, the Monkeys join the IDF’s SF
units as fighters. For example, during operation Cast Lead, Ofir joined the Givati
Brigades’ recon battalion and served as the team leader’s radio man.
Ofir will share his personal experiences in the IDF and
relate some of the more colorful stories from his service. He will also
answer questions. 10:30 AM at
Rutgers Prep.
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13
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Sunday
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(Class 8)
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Adult Program: “History of English Sephardic
Jews" - A video and PowerPoint presentation by Peretz Community
Member Jeff Misrahi. 10:30 AM at
Rutgers Prep.
Zumba Class from 9:30 to 10:15 AM at Rutger
Prep. Everyone is welcome - $10
donation to Peretz
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20
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Sunday
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(Class 9)
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Classroom
Visitation
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27
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Sunday
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No School – Thanksgiving break
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December
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2
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Friday evening
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Adult Program: "The Lost Decade" -
Poverty, Hunger, Unemployment, and Income Inequality
A
Presentation by Lisanne Finston
of Elijah’s Promise* and Peretz Member Allan Lichtenstein.
During the
first decade of the 21st century poverty has increased, median income has
declined, unemployment has risen and remains high although the Great
Recession has ended, and income inequality has reached levels last
recorded just prior to the Great Depression.
Although New
Jersey is the second most wealthy state in the
country, more than two million people have difficulty making ends. In New
Brunswick more than 50 percent of the population is considered food
insecure.
In the
context of "Occupy Wall Street" and the 99 percent movement, we
will discuss poverty, jobs and income inequality as well as get insight
on the actual experiences of people living in poverty.
8 PM at The
Reformed Church of Highland Park, 19-21 South 2nd Avenue
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4
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Sunday
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(Class 10)
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Adult Program: “Israeli and Palestinian Politics:
How Do We Talk About It?”
A community
discussion facilitated by Peretz Member and Sunday morning Program
Coordinator, Susan London.
Although
members of the Peretz Community support a peaceful resolution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, different members have different views on
the how to get there. Peretz as an organization has never taken an
organizational position on the most appropriate path to peace, but we
have had speakers who have taken controversial positions. The purpose of
this discussion is to gain feedback on how past programs about the
conflict have been received and whether there are suggestions for
adjustments to our future programming.
10:30 AM at Rutgers Prep.
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11
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Sunday
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(Class 11)
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Latke Making (coat drive)
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18
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Sunday
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(Class 12)
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Chanukah
Celebration
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23
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Friday evening
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12th Annual Chanukah Party for
the adult members of the entire Peretz Community – Call or email for info
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25
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Sunday
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No School – Winter break
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January
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1
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Sunday
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No School - Winter break
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8
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Sunday
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(Class 13)
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Adult Program: "Bar and Bat Mitzvah in a
Secular-Humanistic Community" - a presentation by Ira Mintz, I. L
Peretz President.
This annual
program will address the many options one has in celebrating this rite of
passage into young adulthood. A Bar or Bat Mitzvah can be a very special
opportunity to explore how to make our Jewishness
relevant to ourselves and our children.
10:30 AM at
Rutgers Prep.
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15
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Sunday
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(Class 14)
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Adult Program: Film and Discussion
in Honor of Dr. Martin Luther King
"Save Our History Voices of Civil Rights"
This Peabody Award Winning Documentary is the result of a mission
cosponsored by the AARP, the Leadership Council on Civil Rights, and the
Library of Congress, in the summer of 2004. A group of 70 journalists was
bussed around the United States collecting people's personal remembrances
of Jim Crow segregation and the Civil Rights Movement. Save Our History:
Voices of Civil Rights presents a cross section of those interviews,
along with period news footage.
10:30 AM at Rutgers Prep.
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20
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Friday evening
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Adult Program: “Lies as a Strategic Weapon: Israel
Under Attack by the International Community” - a presentation by Michael
Curtis
Michael Curtis
is professor emeritus of political science at Rutgers University and has
taught elsewhere, including Yale and Cornell universities. He has written
and edited more than 15 books, including several on Middle East affairs
and Jewish themes. He will talk about his latest book (in press), which
is a rebuttal of condemnations of Israel as racist, colonialist,
imperialist, occupiers, and as an apartheid state.
8 PM at The
Reformed Church of Highland Park, 19-21 South 2nd Avenue
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22
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Sunday
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(Class 15)
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Adult Program: “Mindfulness exercises: Yoga, Meditation and Visualization”
Spend the
morning focusing and centering your mind and body with Peretz members
Ruth Goldsmith and Mark Weiner.
They will practice gentle yoga poses and breathing exercises from
various traditions. Guided
visualization will complement the day.
Dress comfortably, bring a blanket to sit
on and/or a yoga mat, meditation cushions, etc.
10:30 AM at
Rutgers Prep.
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29
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Sunday
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(Class 16)
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Adult Program: "Environmental Issues, Policy,
and Advocacy in the Venerable State of New Jersey"
A
presentation by David Pringle, Campaign Director, New Jersey
Environmental Federation
For over 20
years, David has been one of the state's leading environmental advocates at
the local, state and federal level. He serves as NJEF's chief strategist,
media spokesperson, and lobbyist with a particular focus on Trenton and
electoral work on a very wide range of legislative and regulatory issues.
He has served on the Board of the NJ Highlands Coalition as Co-Chair of
its Policy Committee, as a Trustee of Consumers for Civil Justice, and as
the NJ Assembly Speaker's public health appointee to the Drinking Water
Quality Institute and chaired its Health Committee. A graduate of Princeton
University, David resides in Cranford, NJ with his wife and 3 school-aged
children.
10:30 AM at
Rutgers Prep.
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February
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5
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Sunday
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(Class 17)
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Tu B’Shevat Celebration
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10
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Friday evening
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Adult Program: A Presentation by Commodore Uriah
Phillips Levy, USN.
Captain Levy
is the first Hebrew (Jewish) officer in the United States Navy to achieve
the rank of Commodore. The
Commodore is a veteran of the War with Britain (1812-1815) and the Civil
War.
The Commodore
will briefly share his experiences with us and speak about the
experiences of Jews in the Early Nineteen Century US Navy. The Commodore will tell us about his
recent meeting with President Lincoln at the White House in Washington D.
C. After he speaks the Commodore will entertain questions from the
audience. He will also be available for photographs and autographs. He may bring with him a scale model of
the new ironclads defending our waters against the Rebel Navy.
Bruce Tucker
is a local historian and teacher (both adult education & religious
school) from East Brunswick NJ. He
is also a Civil War Naval re-enactor and living historian. Bruce has presented many living history
programs on various historical figures from American history & Jewish
American history to both adults and students at libraries, schools and
local organizations.
8 PM at The
Reformed Church of Highland Park, 19-21 South 2nd Avenue
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12
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Sunday
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(Class 18)
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Adult Program: Writing Your Jewish Past: A Poetry
Reading and Writing Workshop
Maxine Susman is a poet and English professor who has
published five poetry collections, including Gogama,
about her father, a young Jewish doctor in remote Northern Ontario during
the Great Depression; and Wartime Address, the story of a dear friend who
lived in Nazi-occupied Paris before escaping to Free France. Maxine will
share some of her poetry with us, and then conduct a workshop on how our
personal history can inspire us to write prose and poetry. There will be
some writing time and an opportunity to share your writing, so come with
paper and pen.
10:30 AM at
Rutgers Prep.
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19
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Sunday
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(Class 19)
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Adult Program: "Law, Culture and Ethics: How
Moral Vision Informs Social Meaning"
A
presentation by Rabbi Tsvi Blanchard from the
National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership (CLAL). (CLAL means
"inclusive" in Hebrew.)
To live
culturally is to actively engage with and creatively shape existing
social institutions and their meanings. Where do law and ethics fit into
this picture? Using clothing/dress as the primary example, this
presentation will focus on how moral vision sometimes plays a significant
role in shaping law and cultural meaning. Using a mix of anthropological
and social-theoretic approaches, we will work comparatively, examining
cases and texts from American, European, Jewish and Asian law.
10:30 AM at
Rutgers Prep.
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26
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Sunday
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(Class 20)
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A Trip to
Yiddishland
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March
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4
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Sunday
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(Class 21)
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Adult Program: "300 Ways to Ask the Four
Questions and Enhance Your Seder"
Dr. Murray
Spiegel and Rickey Stein present the fascinating and humorous account of
a 30+ year project to obtain translations of the Seder's Four Questions
from hundreds of people around the globe.
It is a fascinating, humorous and educational multimedia
presentation, with contributions for the Seder from hundreds of people
around the globe: Jews from Uganda to Uzbekistan, Eskimo bishops, as well
as world experts of ancient languages and sign languages. One gem is the actual Egyptian language
from the time of the Exodus. Have
a blast with Valley Girl, Rap, Reggae, Hebrew Semaphore and Na'vi. The
authors will feature the amazing Gilbert & Sullivan contribution from
IL Peretz's very own Karen Cantor.
The program
includes historical facts about the Seder, Jews around the world, as well
as demonstrating how to enliven your family seders. 10:30 AM at Rutgers Prep.
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9
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Friday evening
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Adult Program: "Back to Gombin"
by the filmmaker Minna Packer
Gombin was a shtetl near Warsaw
inhabited by Jews for centuries and with a Jewish population of about
1000 in 1900. There was a magnificent wooden synagogue. Now it is all
gone. About ten years ago, a dozen families returned to Gombin to see what was left and to restore the
synagogue. Minna Packer was a descendant of Gombiners and recorded the event in this film.
8:00 PM at
the Reformed Church of Highland Park. 19-21 S. 2nd Ave.
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11
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Sunday
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(Class 22)
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Purim
Carnival – Highland Park Food Pantry Food Drive
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18
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Sunday
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(Class 23)
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Adult Program: "Parents Promoting Peretz"
The I.L
Peretz Community Jewish School needs an influx of new students every year
to compensate for the departure of a graduating class and a small amount
of attrition. We all care about continuing the fine tradition of secular
Jewish education. But how do we find new families to join our treasured
school and community? What do you value most about the school and
community and how can that appreciation be shared with others to attract
them to join us? As a current parent, and also hearing from your child,
what kind of changes or additions do you feel are needed to make the
school more interesting for you, your child, and new families? Please come
to hear about our past efforts and plan for a future strategy. All
current school parents are asked to attend. All others are welcome.
10:30 AM at
Rutgers Prep.
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25
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Sunday
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(Class 24)
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Adult Program: "The Workmen's Circle's Vision for
Training the Next Generation of Jewish Activists"
A
presentation by Ann Toback, Executive Director, of the Workmen's Circle.
The Workmen's
Circle/Arbeter Ring's mission has been to
foster Jewish identity and participation in Jewish life through Jewish,
especially Yiddish culture and education, friendship, and the pursuit of
social and economic justice. In
2009, the Workmen's Circle took up the challenge of re-envisioning its
historic mission for the 21st century to become a force for education and
identity building for American Jews.
It is in the process of developing innovative education programs
to teach and inspire the next generation of Jewish activists and
leaders. This presentation will be
about the Workmen's Circle's plans for organizing lifelong learning
communities centered on Jewish literacy, participation in Jewish culture
and social justice activism. (The WC/AR founded our school in 1924)
10:30 AM at
Rutgers Prep.
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April
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1
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Sunday
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(Class 25)
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Regular Classes
AM, Community Passover Seder at 3 PM (Food Drive)
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8
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Sunday
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No School – Spring break
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15
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Sunday
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(Class 26)
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Yom HaShoah Ceremony
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22
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Sunday
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(Class 27)
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Membership Meeting – Nominations for
Next Year’s Peretz Board
10:30 AM at Rutgers Prep.
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29
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Sunday
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(Class 28)
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Adult Program: “Exploring the Bintel
Brief”
Peretz
Member, Sherry Meyer will guide us through an exploration of The Bintel Brief, a "Dear Abby" collection of
letters for American, Jewish, Yiddish speaking immigrants! The
translation in this collection brings to life a time gone by. We will
read in small groups through a selection of the letters and responses. As
the discussion evolves, you may find that the problems/answers touch you
in unexpected ways and challenge some of the stereotypes etched in your
mind's eye. These letters created a 2 way conversation which became the
underpinnings of a rich community of readers and continues to have
meaning to us today.
10:30 AM at
Rutgers Prep.
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May
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6
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Sunday
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(Class 29)
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Board Elections 10:30 AM
After the
elections, please join us for a thoughtful discussion about:
“The source
of Jewish ethics in a secular community”
Do secular
Jewish ethics come from our religious heritage and Jewish cultural
experiences over many generations or perhaps from the American or other
culture that we grew up with?
Did you
happen to see a column by Stanley Fish in the New York Times some time
ago that claims that ethics cannot derive from anything other than
religion?
This topic is
very broad and all of its aspects are open for discussion.
Right after
the election this Sunday at 10:30 AM
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13
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Sunday
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(Class 30)
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Closing
Ceremony - Graduation
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June
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July
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