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A group of poets, Israeli, Palestinian, and Americans with strong ties to the Middle East,  read their work and discuss the personal and political perspective from which they write. The poets share a deep passion for peace, an intricate historical perspective, and a love of the written word. The premise of the evening is that only when we understand the pain and longing of the "other," can we ever find peace. A discussion, with questions from the audience, will follow, moderated by Bnai Keshet member Martin Golan, a journalist and writer. Among those reading are:

Do you find the words in the prayerbook inspiring? Do they speak to you and help you open your heart? Or perhaps they are alienating, confusing, and results in your feeling closed down? Join Daria once a month for an exploration of some of the tefillot (prayers) that we use every Shabbat. Through text study, discussion, and song we will unpack some of the layers imbedded in these tefillot as well as learn new ways to possibly connect to them. No Hebrew skills are required. Please bring a willingness to open and a desire to learn.

Please join Marty Fellner as we relate stories of the Passover celebration from the Talmud, the Shtetl, the Holocaust and our own country. Please bring your own stories or Poems for us to consider as we celebrate our freedom Jewish style.

For the April BK Reads meeting, we won't be reading a book. Instead, we'll be reading a court decision, specifically a decision by the Israeli Supreme Court, the "Judgement on the Interrogation Methods  applied by the GSS," decided September 6, 1999. This case is the Israeli Supreme Court's effort to impose the rule of law in the interrogations of suspected terrorists, interrogations that are carried out by the General Security Service (GSS). The decision is only about 30 pages long, and not terribly technical, so please don't feel you need to be a lawyer or an expert on Israeli law to read it and join this session!

At Bnai Keshet.

Taught by Itzhak Benatar.

Please join us for a discussion of "hitbodedut" (literally "self-seclusion"), an unstructured, spontaneous and individualized form of prayer and meditation taught by Rebbe Nachman of Breslov. The goal of hitbodedut is to establish a close, personal relationship with God and a clearer understanding of one's personal motives and goals. (Wikipedia.org) One text we'll discuss is, Where Earth and Heaven Kiss: A Guide to Rebbe Nachman’s Path of Meditation, Ozer Bergman pp.27-28, 38-44 (available at the BK office).

Believe it or not, many of us go to Shul on Saturday morning and do things we don't agree with, in a language we don't understand, and say things we don't believe. A large number of us love the experience in spite of these seemingly contradictory factors. There are some, however, who object because they find the experience offends their sense of reason. At our first Latter Day Kaplanian discussion session we'll explore the roots of this conflicted view of Jewish ritual practice.

Taught by Itzhak Benatar

(21 and over only) Featuring the best Israeli and American Music with DJ Van Jee, celebrities from Radio City Music Hall, and many other surprises! JRF NY-NJ is a partner organization for this wonderful event, organized by Dor Chadash USA and their Program Coordinator, Rebecca Meyer, who grew up at Bnai Keshet. Regular Admission - $25 in advance and $35 at the door. VIP Admission - $75 in advance and $100 at the door (includes two drinks, dessert buffet, separate VIP room, VIP entrance and other surprises). Proceeds go to Israeli charities. For more information: http://dorchadash.ujcweb.org/page.html?ArticleID=170752. (The concert  at Radio City Music Hall is sold out.)

Poetry has the potential to reach us in a way that colloquial language often does not. Yehuda Amichai, referred to as the “National Poet” of Israel left a corpus of work that is deeply moving, provocative, and often touches on theological issues. Since one of the hallmarks of Reconstructionist ideology is that Judaism is a civilization, we are aware that our Jewish lives are informed by art, language and culture as well as by religious ideology and religious practice.

It seems particularly fitting on the historic occasion of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the modern day state of Israel that we have an opportunity to engage with our Reconstructionist roots and its emphasis on the revitalization of Jewish art, language and culture.