Events

We gather in our beautiful sanctuary every Saturday at 10:00 a.m. for Shabbat Morning Services which include prayers, songs, and discussion of the weekly Torah portion. After services there is a kiddush for meeting and greeting - and, of course, eating.

Please join us this week as we celebrate a Bar Mitzvah.

As part of Rabbi Elliott's Spring series, The Challenge of Prayer, a number of services will be dedicated to exploring alternative modes of prayer. All of our explorations will be related to the course readings and are intended to help bring some the theory down-to-earth. Hopefully they will be opportunities for us to explore different modes of prayer, some new and some very old, that will deepen our communities spiritual practice.

At our February meeting, we looked at the distribution of American Jews along denominational, age, marriage, educational, income and many other lines. This month we'll explore the over 70 nontraditional Jewish groups that currently are meeting for discussion, worship and other aspects of Jewish life. These, mostly young, adult groups involve a large number of Jews. They do not join any of the established denominations but still maintain Jewish community in a variety of ways. Join us to discuss this uniquely American phenomenon. For more information, or to be added to our e-mail list, contact the BK office.

For those with beginner's knowledge, this class will help you brush up on your reading skills and get more into vocabulary and meaning. 8-10 sessions; Tuesday nights, 7:30 PM at BK. Suggested donation: $50. Contact the BK office to enroll.

For parents and their infants, toddlers and/or preschoolers.
 
BK Play Group meets Thursdays, 9:30 - 11:00 AM. For more information, contact Naomi Cohen.

We will have guests from Adat Shalom, a Reconstructionist congregation in Bethesda, MD. They are taking a Reconstructionist Heritage Tour, first visiting the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and talking with President Dan Ehrenkrantz. They will join us for dinner and services. Jane Susswein and others will talk about the JRF. In the morning they will leave for New York, and services and a talk at the SAJ. $12 per person. RSVP to the BK office by Wednesday 3/5. All are invited.

A delegation of four Ugandan coffee farmers representing the interfaith Peace Kawomera Cooperative will share their story of building peace through fair trade. Joab ("JJ") Keki visited BK last year, leading us in Abayudayan (Ugandan Jewish) melodies of the tehilim that brought the room to a standstill. We are honored to have him join us again, this time with his fellow co-op members and partners from Thanksgiving Coffee. BK has been brewing Mirembe Kawomera Delicious Peace Kosher Fair Trade Certified Coffee for over a year. In stock and always fresh. Available through the BK office or contact Lori Ziliotto.

We gather in our beautiful sanctuary every Saturday at 10:00 a.m. for Shabbat Morning Services which include prayers, songs, and discussion of the weekly Torah portion. After services there is a kiddush for meeting and greeting - and, of course, eating.

Please join us this week as we celebrate a Bat Mitzvah.

10:00 AM - 10:30 AM  Tot Shabbat (0-4 years)
10:30 AM - 11:00 AM  Simchat Shabbat (K-2nd grade)
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM  Junior Congregation (3rd-6th grade)

Please join us at Bet Am Shalom Synagogue, 295 Soundview Avenue in White Plains, for bagels and lively conversation with Rabbi Lester Bronstein about Reconstructionist Judaism - all questions welcomed! Learn about the history of the movement and how the tenets of Reconstructionism influence the values, customs, and sense of community at Bet Am Shalom Synagogue. Members and non-members and their friends are invited to attend. Children are welcome; babysitting will be available for those who are interested. RSVPs appreciated by March 7. Please contact the synagogue office at (914) 946-8851 or betamshalom@betamshalom.org.

Martin Golan will read from and discuss his new book, Where Things Are When You Lose Them. His book, a collection of 12 short stories, delves into the nature of loss -- from the mundane, like misplacing your keys, to the heartbreaking, like losing your youth and the life you expected to have. Wine and cheese will be served, and copies of the book will be available for sale and signing. Further information about the book is available at www.martingolan.com.

Any resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must address the future of Jerusalem. Unfortunately, discussions about this reality often focus on simplistic and rhetorical notions of Jerusalem needing to be the eternal and undivided capital of the State of Israel. Come join us in a discussion that focuses instead on the current realities in Jerusalem, examines the ways in which the city is not currently unified, and discusses options for the future. Aaron Back is director of the Ford Foundation Israel Fund, a philanthropic partnership between the Ford Foundation and New Israel Fund to promote social justice and peace in Israel.

For parents and their infants, toddlers and/or preschoolers.
 
BK Play Group meets Thursdays, 9:30 - 11:00 AM. For more information, contact Naomi Cohen.

At Union Congregational Church United Church of Christ, 176 Cooper Avenue, Montclair. At Bnai Keshet, we have been experimenting with ways to extend our social action work to include a broader focus on social justice. For the past six months, Rabbi Elliott and a number of congregants have been speaking with organizers from the Industrial Areas Foundation, a congregation-based community organization, about ways to focus our activities on the Montclair Area. We believe that Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) has an approach that is applicable to the greater Montclair community and consistent with Bnai Keshet's values and philosophy. On March 13, Michael Gecan, the author of Going Pubic: An Organizer's Guide to Citizen Action and one of the leaders of the Industrial Areas Foundation, will meet with clergy and lay leaders of local synagogues, parishes, and congregations to explain IAF's approach. All are welcome. If you have any questions or concerns in advance of the meeting, please contact Rabbi Elliott.

We gather in our beautiful sanctuary every Saturday at 10:00 a.m. for Shabbat Morning Services which include prayers, songs, and discussion of the weekly Torah portion. After services there is a kiddush for meeting and greeting - and, of course, eating.

10:00 AM - 10:30 AM  Tot Shabbat (0-4 years)
10:30 AM - 11:00 AM  Simchat Shabbat (K-2nd grade)
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM  Junior Congregation (3rd-6th grade)

Time is tentative.

At St. Peter Claver Church, 56 Elmwood Avenue, Montclair. Please join us for an informational session on the benefits of buying and eating locally and organically grown food. Representatives from community supported agriculture groups, buying cooperatives and farmer John will discuss the importance of buying locally grown organic food, and you will be able to sign up for any of these groups. This will be a great opportunity to learn about the politics of food, and what you can do to support local farmers and to change your family's diet. Contact Kevin Fried for more information.

Jack, who has taught generations of BK bnai mitzvah and adults, will talk about and demonstrate trope (Torah chanting).

We gather in our beautiful sanctuary every Saturday at 10:00 a.m. for Shabbat Morning Services which include prayers, songs, and discussion of the weekly Torah portion. After services there is a kiddush for meeting and greeting - and, of course, eating.

Please join us this week as we celebrate a Bat Mitzvah.

Please join us as we welcome Rabbi Jeff Schein, Director of Jewish Education at Siegel College in Cleveland, Ohio, and an early contributor to the creation of Bnai Keshet's terrific Family Ed Program. The focus of the discussions will be the on-going challenges of Jewish living and learning in North America.

Ashrey Yoshvey Veytecha! - Happy are those who sit within your house! Looking for a midweek opportunity to recharge your spiritual battery? Looking for a few minutes of peace and quiet? Rabbi Elliott invites you to join him

Join your fellow congregants for a member-led discussion centered on a portion of Torah. The topic is Sipur Yetziat Mitzraim....telling the story of the going out from Egypt.

We gather in our beautiful sanctuary every Saturday at 10:00 a.m. for Shabbat Morning Services which include prayers, songs, and discussion of the weekly Torah portion. After services there is a kiddush for meeting and greeting - and, of course, eating.

Please join us this week as we celebrate a Bar Mitzvah.

On tour from Israel, Wassim Bashara, an Arab musician, and Pablo Ariel, a Jewish actor present Neighbors, a dramatic production which uses music, puppetry, humor and connection to present symbols of hope and co-existence between neighbors and friends. Tickets $10 (teenagers free)—includes refreshments. Followed by discussion with performers moderated by Dr. Lisa Brenner, Professor of Theatre, Drew University. For more information, contact the BK office.