Shabbat

This week we read Pesach I / פֶּסַח א׳:: Exodus 12:21-51; Numbers 28:16-25

 

President's Message

Following our Seders last night and tonight, we will commemorate Passover this Friday with a potluck dinner at Sacred Heart. The evening will highlight many of your favorite Passover recipes.

 

Our festivities will incorporate a musical Shabbat service with Vance and a discussion of the meaning of Passover for Jews living in today’s turbulent world. It will be a time for fellowship, thought, and celebration.

 

If possible, RSVP to jeromemandel@yahoo.com . But even if you do not have a chance to RSVP, and you are able to come, please join us.

 

 

Israel and Palestine

The next talk in our series Explorations in Jewish Life and History will be given by Prof. Geoffrey Levin on Sunday afternoon, May 5, at 3:30 at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church. The talk is entitled “Strangers in the Land of Egypt or Subjects of King David.” It is based on his new book, Our Palestine Question: Israel and American Jewish Dissent, 1948 to 1978. The dilemma is posed by the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, an ethnocultural nation that its founders saw as a successor to the kingdoms of King David and the Maccabees, and the outlook of American Jews who saw themselves as a minority in a multicultural society. It will speak to the intersection of liberalism and Zionism 75 years ago, its possibilities and its difficulties, the dilemma of supporting both minority rights (Palestinians) and Israel. This is an issue that remains alive today. This talk is open to the public.

 

Prior to the talk, at 2 o’clock, you are invited to an hour-long discussion of the meaning of the conflict in Gaza as seen by a scholar of the Middle East. This talk is only open to BJC members and a group from St. Philip’s.  After he gives a background to the conflict and his sense of what is likely to happen in the next months, Prof. Levin will respond to questions. This is an extraordinary opportunity to examine a subject so close to us with a prominent Middle Eastern scholar. This talk will not be publicized outside the two communities. Refreshments will be served following this discussion and prior to the 3:30 talk.

 

Geoffrey Levin is Assistant Professor of Middle Eastern and Jewish Studies at Emory University and Director of Undergraduate Engagement at Emory’s Tam Institute for Jewish Studies. He was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard’s Center for Jewish Studies and holds a PhD in Hebrew and Judaic Study/History from NYU He has studied international relations at Michigan State University, the University of Haifa, and Johns Hopkins University.

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Personal Note

It is important for me to add something to the Passover message that I sent out Sunday:

 

It is impossible to celebrate Passover this year without thinking about the horrific events that have taken place in Israel and Gaza. Our hearts go out to the victims and survivors of the inhuman atrocity in southern Israel on October 7. And they go out to the over 100 hostages remaining in Gaza, undoubtedly living under terrible conditions. Finally, they go out to Palestinian civilians who have lost children, wives, husbands, and homes. These past six months have been difficult to live through. We can only hope that better days are before us.