Events

Opening Ceremony & Parent Orientation (Family Event, All Students & Parents, 9:30 am)

(Adult Education) Election 2016: Where We Are, Where We Are Headed (A presentation by Rutgers Professor and Peretz member Stuart Shapiro) Professor Shapiro will discuss the state of the presidential election in the wake of the debate this past Monday (9/26).  He will lead a discussion and provide his insights on where the race stands[...]

(Family Event)

(Board Meeting, 10:30 am)

(Teen Group Event) The IL Peretz Secular Jewish Community’s Teen Group is planning several gatherings his fall. We will plan and sponsor additional activities based on feedback we get from our teens at this Teen Group Social Action Planning Munch. Please RSVP by October 7 to give us time to plan food for this event.

(Family Event)

(Family Event, 11:00 am)

(Adult Education) The Life of Eli Wiesel (A video plus group discussion led by Debbie Silberstein) Eli Wiesel was an Auschwitz survivor, author, and a Nobel peace prize winner. A great man who not only bore witness to the atrocities of World War II, but also worked against injustices and intolerance against other people in[...]

(Adult Education) Jewish Adolescent Identity: The Role of the Family (A presentation by Professor Maurice J. Elias of Rutgers University) Adolescents are a source of many oys and joys for parents.  We will look at what Judaism contributes to the development of a healthy identity in Jewish teenagers—as well as younger children.  Drawing from The[...]

(Board Meeting, 10:30 am)

(Teen Group Event) Pizza & Salad at the Lancaster-Hartwicks followed by Jewish Film Festival Movie: On the Map The IL Peretz Secular Jewish Community’s Teen Group is planning several gatherings his fall. Meet at / Drop off your kids at 5:30 pm at the Lancaster-Hartwicks (home of Ben '16 and Noah '14), where we will[...]

(NJEA Weekend)

(Adult Education) Jewish Film Festival Movie: Sabena Hijacking: My Version followed by Dinner at Efes Grill Meet at Rutgers Business School for the 4:15 showing of Sabena Hijacking: My Version . This film is a powerful, suspenseful docu-drama based on previously undiscovered audio recordings of the former pilot, Captain Reginald Levy. The film will run[...]

(Teen Group Event) What Does Social Justice Activism Mean to Us? followed by Lunch at Ramen Nagomi The IL Peretz Secular Jewish Community’s Teen Group is planning several gatherings his fall. Meet at / Drop off your kids at 11:00 am at Rutgers Prep, where teens will participate in a discussion, led by peer educators[...]

(Adult Education) Judaism as Counterculture: How Jewish Thought Differs from the American Mainstream (A presentation by Lawrence Bush, author and editor of Jewish Currents) Lawrence Bush is the author of several books of Jewish fiction and non-fiction including Waiting for God: The Spiritual Explorations of a Reluctant Atheist and Bessie: A Novel of Love and[...]

(Board Meeting, 10:30 am)

(Family Event, 10:00 am)

(Teen Group Event) Chanukah Potluck & Social Action Video Screening The IL Peretz Secular Jewish Community’s Teen Group is planning several gatherings his fall. Meet at / Drop off your kids at 1:00 pm at the Pestkas (home of Robin '17 and Harry '16), where we will have a potluck lunch.  Don't forget to bring[...]

(Family Event, 11:00 am)

(Community Event) Adult Chanukah Party! for the adult members of the entire I. L. Peretz Secular Jewish Community (please renew your membership before the party if you haven't already done so) at the home of Tina Weishaus and Ira Mintz Please bring: a dessert, side, main dish, salad, or latkes; and one drink to share.[...]

(Board Meeting, 10:30 am)

(Adult Education) Trump's Traveler Ban: What Does It Mean? (A presentation & discussion led by Anne Gowen) Anne Gowen, a Peretz parent, will give a talk on the current situation after President Trump's January 27th executive order to ban travelers from 7 Muslim countries, ostensibly to reduce the risk of terrorism in the US. She[...]

(Family Event, 11:00 am)

(Presidents' Day Weekend)

(Board Meeting, 10:30 am)

(Adult Education) From Conflict to Communication (A presentation & workshop led by Jenny Psaki) Jenny Psaki, a Peretz parent, MSW, and Professional Family and Civil Court Mediator, will lead a presentation and run this workshop.  Effective communication can be rough, and conflict can be anxiety producing. Communicating with someone with whom you are in high[...]

(Teen Group Event) Duke Farms: Lunch and Social Action Planning The IL Peretz Secular Jewish Community’s Teen Group is planning several gatherings this spring.  Meet at / Drop off your kids at 12:30 pm at Rutgers Prep.  Following Sunday School, Teen Group leaders Deb Lancaster and Rob Pestka will take the kids to Duke Farms,[...]

(Family Event, 10:30 am)

(Adult Education) Political Standings of the American Working Class (A discussion led by Alex Jodidio) There was a very interesting and sad article in the New York Times recently about a resentment of the American working class against the poor and government programs that help them.  It  likely contributed mightily to the outcome of the[...]

(Adult Education) The American Labor Movement – Now and Then (A presentation by Ira Mintz, President Emeritus) Ira Mintz will show the one-hour award winning documentary entitled The Inheritance, which chronicles the growth of the labor movement from 1900 to 1964.  He will then discuss the serious current and future attacks on labor unions. Ira[...]

(Board Meeting, 10:30 am)

 (Regular Classes Meet Today)

(Family Event)

(Family Event, 11:30 am)

(Adult Education) A Presentation from and about the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom (A presentation by Lola Kamp and Meher Rafiq) Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom is an organization that grows relationships between Muslim and Jewish women to build bridges and fight hate, negative stereotyping and prejudice. They are changing the world, one Muslim and one Jewish[...]

(Board Meeting, 10:30 am)

(Adult Education) The Affordable Care Act (A presentation by Joel Cantor) Peretz member Joel Cantor will provide an update on the movement in Congress to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act, including discussing the implications of the American Health Care Act which was just passed by the House of Representatives.  Joel is a professor[...]

(Community Event) Environmental Service at the Plainsboro Preserve followed by Geocache Game & BYO Picnic Lunch Meet at the New Jersey Audobon's Plainsboro Preserve at 10:00 am to help remove non-native, invasive plants from the Preserve grounds.  Instructions and any required gardening tools will be provided.  A BYO (bring-your-own) picnic lunch will follow at an[...]

Sunday School Class; Closing Ceremony & Graduation (Family Event, 10:00)

(Community Event) Calling All Families!  Annual Potluck Summer Picnic Meet at Picnic Grove A at Bicentennial Park in East Brunswick for our Annual Potluck Picnic!  Individuals and families interested in joining our school or community are welcome.  Members should feel free to invite guests.  It's a great opportunity to share food and drink and to[...]

(Family Event) Klezmer & Knishes!!! Learn about our Jewish school and community while you nosh on knishes, make your own pickles, and dance and sing with our klezmer trio the Kvellers!  At the Bridgewater JCC.

Come Learn about Our School! The I.L. Peretz Community Jewish School, for children K through 7th grades, attracts families of diverse structures and backgrounds and meets on Sunday mornings from September through May. The curriculum emphasizes historical and cultural approaches to the study of our Jewishness. Our Jewishness is reflected in our commitment to each[...]

(Family Event)

Opening Ceremony & Parent Orientation (Family Event, All Students & Parents, 9:30 am)

(Family Event)

(Family Event, 11:00 am)

(Board Meeting, 10:30 am)

(Adult Education) Jewish Salonica: Between the Ottoman Empire and Modern Greece A presentation by Professor Devin Naar, University of Washington Sponsored by Rutgers University Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life The Mediterranean port city of Salonica (Thessaloniki) was once home to the largest Sephardic Jewish community in the world. The collapse of the[...]

(Adult Education) The Moravian Synagogues Project (Benjamin T. Berman, Tenor, and Paul Conrad, Piano) Ben is a young singer and conductor with an interest in Czech vocal music, and a special knowledge of Jewish music.  Recently, many Jewish sites in Moravia have been restored by grants from both the Czech government and the EU. As[...]

(Adult Education) The Devil's Arithmetic and Discussion The movie is based on Jane Yolen’s historical fiction novel of the same name. It won the National Jewish Book Award for Children’s Literature in 1989. Hannah Stern (Kirsten Dunst), an American-born Jewish adolescent, is uninterested in the culture, faith, and customs of her relatives; however, Hannah begins[...]

Dear Parents, This Saturday you have a rare opportunity to meet with a few other school families AND: -Participate in sharing some bits of Jewish culture together with your child(ren) -Share your thoughts with other parents about Jewish traditions and how Peretz school helps to meet them (or not as much as desired?) -Talk about[...]

(Board Meeting, 10:30 am) Daylight SavingsTime!  Don't forget to set your clocks back an hour!

(Adult Education) Rabbis for Human Rights: A Pluralistic Rabbinical Voice of Conscience in Israel (a presentation by Rabbi Idit Lev) Rabbi Idit Lev is the director of the social and economic justice program at Rabbis for Human Rights in Israel. She was active in the "tent protests" in Israel in 2011 and has worked on[...]

(Teen Group Event) Jewish Film Festival Movie: A Bag of Marbles followed by Dinner at the Skylark Diner The IL Peretz Secular Jewish Community’s Teen Group is planning several gatherings his fall. Meet at / Drop off your kids at 4:15 pm at the AMC Loews New Brunswick, where we screen of A Bag of Marbles,[...]

(Adult Education) Jewish Film Festival Movie: Ben Gurion: Epilogue followed by Dinner at the Omega Diner Dinner at the Omega Diner Meet at the AMC Loews Theater on Route 1 in New Brunswick for the 5:00 pm showing of Ben Gurion: Epilogue. In the depths of an archive in Jerusalem, six hours of interview footage[...]

(NJEA Weekend)

(Adult Education) Alternative Societies -- the Way We Live is Not the Only Way (A presentation by Lily Borodkin) We live in a very interesting time - not due to change and not due to diversity -- we always had that. We live in an interesting time because for the first time in thousands of[...]

(Adult Education) Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (A presentation by human rights activist Tzvia Thier) The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement is one of the most controversial and emotional issues facing American Jews. Come hear a presentation by human rights activist Tzvia Thier on why she supports BDS. Tzvia Thier was born in Romania during WW ll and[...]

(Adult Education) Jewish Film Festival Movie: Ben-Gurion Epilouge followed by Dinner at Omega Diner Meet at AMC Loews New Brunswick for the 5pm showing of Ben-Gurion Epilouge . Interview footage with Israel’s mythic founding father, David Ben-Gurion, were recently discovered and brought to light for the first time in this fascinating documentary. The film runs[...]

(Board Meeting, 10:30 am)

(Family Event, 10:00 am)

(Community Event) 17th Annual Adult Chanukah Party! for the adult members of the entire I. L. Peretz Secular Jewish Community (please renew your membership before the party if you haven't already done so) at the home of Tina Weishaus and Ira Mintz Please bring: a dessert, side, main dish, salad, or latkes; and one drink[...]

(Family Event, 11:00 am)

On Sunday, January 14, in celebration of Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday, we will be joining the Workmen’s Circle Midtown school for their day of education and Social Action. The MLKjr Day program will run from 10:30-1:00. It will begin with a full-group gathering for songs and intro, and then we'll split up by ages[...]

(Adult Education) Jews of the Arab Countries (A presentation by Joseph Levy) Mr. Levy - lawyer, teacher, author and speaker – emigrated to the U.S. in 1958 as a toddler with his largely Sephardic family from Cairo, Egypt in what he calls the Second Jewish Exodus from Egypt. He has done extensive research on the[...]

(Family Event) Yiddish Language  (A Presentation by Koyla Borodulin) A renowned Yiddish teacher from Workmen’s Circle, Kolya Borodulin, will be back this Sunday with an hour-long family program dealing with the Yiddish language. He will be accompanied by a WC new Yiddish teacher Eleonore. Kolya has already given Sunday morning talks at our school many[...]

Please join Workmen's Circle and join the Jewish contingent at the Women's March this Saturday. Gathering starts at noon at Central Park West and 86 St., and the march starts around 1PM. WC President, Ann Toback, is supposed to be one of the speakers. WC flier may be found here.

(Board Meeting, 10:30 am)

(Adult Education) "Not Normal, A Progressive's Diary of the Year Following Trump's Election" (A presentation by Peretz member and Rutgers Professor, Stuart Shapiro) Donald Trump's election to the presidency shocked observers across the political spectrum. But the shock was nothing compared to the tumult and chaos of the year that followed. Stuart, who has given[...]

(Adult Education) “Values, Conflict, and Communication” (a discussion led by Jeremy Freedman, school principal, and Peretz member Jenny Psaki) In today’s climate of extreme opinions, how do we navigate the currents and stay afloat? How can we understand how our privilege and experiences affect our values and cause unintended conflict? How can we communicate with[...]

(Adult Education) The Dead Sea Scrolls (A presentation by Professor Azzin Yadin-Israel) Our speaker Azzin Yadin-Israel is Director of Undergraduate Studies and Professor in the Department of Jewish Studies and Classics at Rutgers University. He teaches an undergraduate course on the Dead Sea Scrolls, which have profoundly enhanced our understanding of Jewish sects of the[...]

(Presidents' Day Weekend)