Shabbat Blast!!!

CLICK BELOW FOR MORE INFORMATION!

Hazak Activities

Midweek Meditation Last Chance!

Bereavement Support Group

August 20, Summer Blast Off/Open House

Erev Shabbat – August 18, 2017

8:00 pm: Kabbalat Shabbat and Ma'ariv Service

Candlelighting: 7:30 pm

Shabbat, August 19, 2017

Parshat Re'eh

Nosh and Drosh 9:00 am

Services 9:45 am

Sunday, August 20, 2017

SUMMER BLAST OFF-OPEN HOUSE

NEWS AND NOTES:

Coming Soon!!! The Congregation Beth Ohr High Holiday Mechina service! A New Idea for an Old Concept! The service is for families and learners where adults and kids will explore the High Holiday service in an accessible and meaningful way.  We are looking for input from all members.  Please contact the Rabbi at rabbi.bernstein@cbohr.org, the Cantor at cantor.myerson@cbohr.org, Mrs. O. at principal@cbohr.org, and Sheree Jarmol at 1froggy@optonline.net with any comments or concerns about this meaningful event.

Congregation Beth Ohr is creating a Caring Committee.  This group of individuals will be available to help with transportation to Doctors, Hospitals, or other Medical Visits.  If you are in need of a ride, or if you are available to help, please contact the office at 516-781-3072

Dear Congregation Beth Ohr,

Last week I was in Germany with Ilya for Yiddish Summer Weimar. YSW is a Yiddish cultural festival spanning around four weeks each summer, in Weimar (Germany). This is the festival where we met, and have both progressed from being students to faculty. 

This year's YSW festival theme was Other Israel: Seeing Unseen Diasporas, so in addition to Yiddish, we also focused on Israeli, Hasidic, and Arabic cultures. For the dance workshop, this meant that I (as one of the Yiddish dance teachers) had the privilege to work with internationally renowned experts in early Israeli, Hasidic and Arabic folk dance. 

Our Arabic dance teacher, a Syrian Druze refugee, focused on the stylistic intricacies and regional variations of Dabka. It was eye opening to learn authentic dabka from someone who grew up dancing in the community, who is also a professional dancer with an excellent pedagogic approach.

Our Israeli dance expert was the author of the comprehensive history text on Israeli folk dance. Her book is Seeing Israeli and Jewish Dance, and it includes interviews that she did with the generation that created the first Israeli dances. I was amazed to learn that most of the early Israeli dance creators were German émigrées! These women had studied dance in Germany and were looking to create a new form of egalitarian folk dance for the (so called) New Jews in pre-state Israel. To do so, they blended movement and gesture from various European and Middle Eastern communities into a new multicultural style. For example, the dance Zemer Atik is supposedly based on Modern Dance ideas about camel caravans, as well as Ukrainian and Yemenite elements. It was fascinating to compare early Israeli Arab-influenced "debkas" with today's Druze and Kurdish versions. 

Our Hasidic dance instructor also taught Hasidic "debkas" in addition to a variety of other social dances. In addition to being a part of the community, she has conducted extensive field research over the past 40 years, including videos from Hasidic weddings dating back to the 1970s. 

I look forward to sharing more of these exciting dance experiences with you at our CBO Israeli dance evening on October 28! Please contact Barbara Cohen for more information.

Looking forward to seeing you tonight and tomorrow for Shabbat services, as well as at the Open House on Sunday. Shabbat Shalom!

Cantor Sarah Myerson

Wednesday August 23rd- Midweek Meditation on the Beach 

HAZAK ACTIVITIES

Thurs. Aug. 22 – Vanderbilt Mansion and Planetarium – 9:45 AM departure

Although quite far off, put Wed. Nov. 8 on your calendars.  Rabbi Bernstein will be accompanying us on a visit to the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) for an interesting day – a tour of the facilities, some interaction with students, a visit to the rare books collection, some learning with one of Rabbi Bernstein’s teachers, and lunch at the Seminary.  Details about time and cost will be sent in a later mailing.

Game Days (all Mondays at 1:30 PM):  Aug. 21; Sep. 11, 25; Oct. 16, 30; Nov. 13, 27; Dec. 11

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For further details please refer to flyers in recent mailings and in lobby of synagogue. Or call Bill Berkowitz (516) 221-2056 or Lucy Safir at (516) 221-4107.

Pre-registration recommended for in-house-programs, and pre-payment for trips.

Congregation Beth Ohr, in conjunction with The Friedberg JCC, will be hosting a Bereavement Support Group for those who have lost a spouse in the last year.  Congregation Beth Oh will be hosting these meetings on Tuesdays, July 11 through August 29 at 11 AM.  If these times are not convenient or you would like more information, please see our Partners In Caring Page.

Thank you to Lauren Lefkowitz for building the lovely bin. Please use this for all of your donations!

Heading to Israel in 2018. Informational sessions have occurred. We have hit our Max! If you would like to get on the waitlist, contact the office. Click here for a detailed itinerary!

Rabbi's Bar/Bat Mitzvah Class! Mondays at 6PM, join the Rabbi for an informative class to learn all about the Torah/Haftorah Service, the prayers and tunes associated with it, and the history of the Bar/Bat Mitzvah service. This is geared toward those who do not have any background in the Torah Service. Flyer is available here.

Junior Congregation is done for the year. Watch for the dates for Next Year! Miss Rachel is looking forward to coming back and spending Shabbat with all of the students!!!