Events

Rev. David K. Brawley, Pastor Successor of St. Paul Community Baptist Church in Brooklyn, speaks Thursday 5/22, 7:30 - 9:30 PM at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation - Fletcher Hall, 67 Church Street, Montclair. St. Paul Community Baptist Church has been working with the IAF since 1978. Rev. David K. Brawley's organizing efforts play a dynamic role in the church's community development activities. Questions? Contact Daria Jacobs-Velde.

Join us for a weekend of fun, community, learning, singing, dancing, celebration and nature at camp JRF in the Poconos. Families, couples and singles of all ages are invited to come together to creatively explore the value of Hidur Mitzvah, the beautification of mitzvah (good deeds). For details about the retreat and the registration form, please see the attached brochure.  We welcome all synagogue members to attend the retreat if possible. If cost is a deterrent, please talk to Rabbi Elliott, Carol Rotman or Betsy Tessler. No one will be turned away!

Join us for a weekend of fun, community, learning, singing, dancing, celebration and nature at camp JRF in the Poconos. Families, couples and singles of all ages are invited to come together to creatively explore the value of Hidur Mitzvah, the beautification of mitzvah (good deeds). For details about the retreat and the registration form, please see the attached brochure.  We welcome all synagogue members to attend the retreat if possible. If cost is a deterrent, please talk to Rabbi Elliott, Carol Rotman or Betsy Tessler. No one will be turned away!

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.

Join us for a weekend of fun, community, learning, singing, dancing, celebration and nature at camp JRF in the Poconos. Families, couples and singles of all ages are invited to come together to creatively explore the value of Hidur Mitzvah, the beautification of mitzvah (good deeds). For details about the retreat and the registration form, please see the attached brochure.  We welcome all synagogue members to attend the retreat if possible. If cost is a deterrent, please talk to Rabbi Elliott, Carol Rotman or Betsy Tessler. No one will be turned away!

At The Gebroe & Hammer Families Conference Center, 901 Route 10 East, Whippany. Join us for a dynamic, cutting-edge workshop that will empower participants to build a Jewish community for all ages. Who should attend?

Rabbi Elliott will speak more specifically about the work and influence of the two 20th century Rabbis Mordachai Kaplan and Abraham Joshua Heschel. These two are arguably the most influential, non-orthodox, Rabbis in contemporary America. All are welcome. For more information, contact the BK office.

The Tikkun Olam Committee has invited Don Spector and Myrna Marcarian Mincey of the Conversations on Race program to join us at our May meeting. About 10 years ago, in an effort to foster community racial harmony,

Join us to experience Jewish traditions of chant and meditation.

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.

On Fifth Avenue, from 57th Street to 79th Street, NYC. The Salute To Israel Parade is the single largest gathering in the world in support of Israel. Join us as we walk in support of Israel with the Reconstructionist Movement,  "A voice for Jewish Pluralism."

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 for a short period of silent meditation on Wednesdays 12:30-1:00 PM. Each session will start promptly with a little singing, include about 18 minutes of quiet contemplation, and end with a kaddish if we have a minyan or more singing if we do not.

Please join the Bnai Keshet LGBT Community for a special celebration of National Gay Pride Month. Join us for Shabbat dinner and a Marriage Equality Pride Seder, inspired and led by children and their LGBT parents. A participatory Kabbalat Keshet service to follow at 7:45 PM. The entire BK community is welcome. The cost for the Shabbat dinner is $10 per adult or $25 per family. RSVP to the BK Office.

Rabbi Elliott’s spring class focuses on both the theology and the mechanics of prayer. The class is meant to be a spiritual exploration with the goal of deepening and expanding our prayer experience.

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.

For more information contact Education Director Amy SaNogueira or Rabbinic Intern Daria Jacobs-Velde

The Varieties of Jewish Spiritual Practice to be Explored at Community Shavuot Observance

Please plan to join us in what promises to be a remarkable evening of prayer, song, study, chanting, contemplation, camaraderie and Torah (and cheesecake, of course) as we explore the many paths to Jewish spirituality.

Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg, a founder of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality (IJS), poet, educator, nationally recognized pioneer in contemplative practice and author of prayers, poems and commentary for the Reconstructionist prayerbook, (and Student Intern Ezra Weinberg’s Mom!) will lead this year’s Tikkun Leyl Shavuot for Montclair-area synagogues. The night of study inaugurates the Festival of Shavuot.

The Varieties of Jewish Spiritual Practice to be Explored at Community Shavuot Observance

Please plan to join us in what promises to be a remarkable evening of prayer, song, study, chanting, contemplation, camaraderie and Torah (and cheesecake, of course) as we explore the many paths to Jewish spirituality.

Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg, a founder of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality (IJS), poet, educator, nationally recognized pioneer in contemplative practice and author of prayers, poems and commentary for the Reconstructionist prayerbook, (and Student Intern Ezra Weinberg’s Mom!) will lead this year’s Tikkun Leyl Shavuot for Montclair-area synagogues. The night of study inaugurates the Festival of Shavuot.

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 for a short period of silent meditation on Wednesdays 12:30-1:00 PM. Each session will start promptly with a little singing, include about 18 minutes of quiet contemplation, and end with a kaddish if we have a minyan or more singing if we do not.

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.

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 for a short period of silent meditation on Wednesdays 12:30-1:00 PM. Each session will start promptly with a little singing, include about 18 minutes of quiet contemplation, and end with a kaddish if we have a minyan or more singing if we do not.

Rabbi Elliott will be leading a workshop on conducting one-on-one, or relational, meetings. One-on-ones give us a way of getting to know each other better by hearing one another's stories--the experiences that have led each of us to value justice personally. This is an opportunity to become involved with the one-on-one campaign BK is launching as a way of building connections within the congregation and with other congregations in Montclair. As we become more closely connected, we build a trust and understanding that enable us to work together for social justice. And we start to identify and develop new leaders within our community. RSVP to the BK office if you plan to attend.

BK members and documentarians Ellen Friedland and Curt Fissel spend much of their time traveling to different cultures and recording stories that they weave into documentaries for PBS and other audiences with an overarching goal of increasing understanding and tolerance.

Come and experience a relaxing, quiet way to let go of the week and deeply enter the peace of Shabbat. This Kabbalat Keshet service will incorporate contemplative niggunim, traditional prayers, short meditations, and silence.

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 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.

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.

Our very own Martin Golan will lead the BK Reads June discussion on his latest book, Where Things Are When You Lose Them. This tightly written collection of twelve short stories by a veteran journalist confronts contemporary issues in relationships, and the nature of loss, with the keen eye of a reporter, a poet’s ear for language, and the insights of one who has “been there.” As Golan leads us through a landscape of loss, he doesn’t merely illuminate these moments but seems to celebrate them. “Loss,” he says, “comes with being human, with any life lived fully and well.”  – The Publisher

The book can be purchased at Watchung Books.

At Union Congregational Church. The Ridgewood Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Co. is performing Ruddigore (The Witch's Curse) to benefit the Interfaith Hospitality Network for the homeless families of Essex County. If you love opera or if you've never been introduced, this is an opportunity for you and members of your congregation to experience the opera and support IHN at the same time. Ruddigore is a ghost story but don't worry. It is funny and has a typical G and S happy ending. It features some of Gilbert's wittiest words and Sullivan's most beautiful music. It has charmed audiences around the world for over 100 years. Admission: $25 for adults, $15 for children under 12. Tickets: www.ihnessexnj.org or (973) 313-0011.