Dear Friends:
Shabbat Shalom!
This Wednesday marks the Jewish holiday of Tu Bishvat, known as the New Year of the Trees and is celebrated as an ecological awareness day. The students at N.E. Miles Jewish Day School have been learning about the holiday and my kindergartener couldn’t wait to tell me about the amazing activities they’ve done at school to celebrate Tu Bishvat! I have to admit, it is fun for me to learn about all the holidays again through the eyes of my child and see how excited she and her friends are about being Jewish.
The N.E Miles Jewish Day School is one of the BJF’s beneficiary agencies and your support of the 2021 campaign is vital to its success. This academic year has been both demanding and rewarding for the NEMJDS. The safety guidelines that were implemented to minimize the risk of Covid when school started have been a real success. Thankfully, the NEMJDS has been able to offer in-school learning since August. The low student-to-teacher ratio and individualized instruction enables the students to feel safe, cared for, loved, and connected to one another.
The dual curriculum at the Day School provides students an excellent Judaic and Hebrew experience as well as a stellar General Studies education. In addition, the school offers varied classes such as Yoga and Mindfulness, Fine Arts, and Youth Philanthropy which help foster students’ creativity and leadership skills. Students develop a strong sense of confidence through collaborative and experiential learning while gaining knowledge on how to act ethically and practice Tikkun Olam. The BJF is delighted to partner with the N.E. Miles Jewish Day School for a Brighter Tomorrow. I encourage all parents of school aged children to call and set up a tour. You’ll be glad you did!
By now you should have received the invitation for the 2021 BJF Annual Campaign Family Kickoff and Volunteer Appreciation event at the Grand River Drive In on February 6th at 6:30 p.m. We hope to see families as well as the young and young at heart in attendance! If you haven’t registered please click here. Space is limited. More details on upcoming events such as a Community Conversation with the Son of Hamas will be in your mailboxes soon. We’ve tried to offer a little something for everyone, and hope to see you in the upcoming months at one of our campaign events.
As I close this week’s message, I also want to acknowledge International Holocaust Remembrance Day and pay tribute to those who perished. In 2005, the United Nations General Assembly designated January 27th as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. It was on that date in 1945, Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi concentration and death camp, was liberated. To commemorate this, the Birmingham Holocaust Education Center will be hosting a panel discussion on “Finding Matilda: Uncovering the Life & Death of a Jewish Lithuanian Poet. Register here.
Wishing you all a restful Shabbat and a week of peace.
Danny
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Stay tuned for more exciting details
Please click the registration buttons below to register
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Honor International
Holocaust Remembrance Day
"Finding Matilda: Uncovering the Life & Death of
a Jewish Lithuanian Poet"
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Wednesday, January 27 @ 6:00 pm
Location: ZOOM Online
International Holocaust Remembrance Day was designated by the UN General Assembly in 2005 as January 27, marking the date in 1945 when Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi concentration and death camp, was liberated. In commemoration of this date, the Vilna Shul and its partners will convene a panel to discuss the search for a little-known Holocaust victim, Matilda Olkin, and her extended family who were killed in an isolated location in northern Lithuania in the beginning of Holocaust in 1941.
The film, “Finding Matilda: The Anne Frank of Lithuania” by Kyle Conti, follows the search for the mass grave. Matilda Olkin was a wonderfully talented Jewish poet and a college student at the University of Vilnius. Like Anne Frank, she kept a diary that was discovered after her death. Matilda’s diary and poetry were hidden by a local priest under the main altar of his church and only recovered many years after the Holocaust. The poetry and diary, mainly written in Lithuanian, chronicle Matilda’s life just before her untimely murder at the hands of Nazi collaborators in her native Lithuania. Her poetry, in particular, has touched Lithuanians college students in an unanticipated way and a successful play was produced that highlighted her talent and the story of her death. The film traces the life and death of Matilda and her family through the lens of the scientists tasked to use testimonies and documents, historical photographs, and geoscience to find the isolated mass grave where they were placed after their brutal killing. The geoscience team is the same one working on the Great Synagogue and is another attempt to recover the lost histories of the Holocaust.
Join the science team, Dr. Richard Freund of Christopher Newport University, Dr. Phil Reeder of Duquesne University, and Dr. Harry Jol of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire to discover how and why they sought to reclaim Matilda’s story and discover her grave. The science team will be joined by Matthew Shaer, who wrote an extensive account of Matilda’s story for Smithsonian Magazine and Dr. Susan Cardillo, University of Hartford Director and Kyle Conti, Editor and Student Filmmaker.
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Sister Cities Cultural Exchange Series
January 31 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
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Welcoming the Stranger:
Local Response to the Global Migration Crisis
Thursday, January 28th at Noon
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Registration for the Spring Session of
Temple Circles is Open!
Join one of our sixteen Temple Circles - Small Groups - this Spring!
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Watch the video above to hear from our Temple Circle leaders and learn about our amazing small groups happening this Spring!
Our Spring Session circles are:
- Broadway Comes To Circles
- Cooking Together
- Discover A Park
- Drawing Together
- Focus & Click: Photography Group
- Friendly Fishing
- Haftarah Happy Hour
- Havdalah Under the Stars
- Hike & Schmooze
- Hunger Helpers
- Jewish Scouting
- Loving Our Interfaith Families
- Outwitting History: An in-depth look at a very special book!
- Stories, Music, & Laughter
- Travel Our World After 2020
- Where the WINDS Blow: A Fun MahJong Circle
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NEW PROGRAM!
Young Jewish Philanthropy
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Young Jewish Philanthropy (YJP) is a youth program designed to strengthen the bonds of our youth in the Birmingham Jewish community. Born out of The Birmingham Jewish Foundation's Teen Tzedakah program, this new program seeks to increase philanthropic activity and the giving of tzedakah.
YJP will provide learning tools to grow, understand and educate about philanthropy in Birmingham as well as enhance leadership skills.
Visit https://www.birminghamjewishfoundation.org/yjp
to start your fund today!
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On January 24 and 25, meet the world’s most influential female philanthropists. Join us for the 2021 International Lion of Judah Conference — a conference that’s virtual, and #VirtuallyLimitless.
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.“The New Jewish Canon”:
A Conversation about Contemporary Judaism
January 26 @ 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Temple Emanu-El
The late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries have been a period of mass production and proliferation of Jewish ideas, and have witnessed major changes in Jewish life and stimulated major debates. Join this class to talk about the book, “The New Jewish Canon,” which came out this year in July. This book offers a conceptual roadmap to make sense of some of this rapid change. The New Jewish Canon is an entry point for the Jewish intellectual and communal zeitgeist of the contemporary period and the recent past, canonizing our most important ideas and debates of the past two generations; and just as importantly, stimulating debate and scholarship about what is yet to come. Join Rebbetzin Bethany with your lunch on zoom to talk about some of these debates. Register here for the zoom link.
Introduction to Judaism with Rabbi Adam Wright
January 26 @ 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Temple Emanu-El
Join us for an engaging 12-session course for anyone interested in exploring Jewish life. Open to all, this course is perfect for interfaith couples, those rearing Jewish children, spiritual seekers, individuals considering a “return” – (conversion), and Jews who want a meaningful adult Jewish learning experience. Our programs welcome people from all backgrounds. Topics include holidays, life cycle celebrations, theology and core beliefs, prayer, Torah, history, antisemitism, and the Holocaust, Zionism, and Israel, the North American Jewish experience, and the tapestry of the Jewish people today. Register here.
JewCurious?
January 27 @ 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Temple Beth-El
Are you JewCurious? Have you heard that Judaism is about asking questions? Questions are the start of a great conversation. I would say, Judaism is about a great conversation. Come learn more about what that conversation sounds like by joining this JewCurious Class. This class is for everyone looking to get a broad overview of Judaism. This 101 class lasts for 20 weeks and is open to anyone who is curious. We’ll explore the major narratives, history, practices, theology and values of Judaism. You can expect that the learning will happen with curiosity and open-mindedness and respect for one another’s boundaries and beliefs. Taught by Bethany Slater from Temple Beth El. To register: Click here to register!
Finding Matilda: Uncovering the Life & Death of
a Jewish Lithuanian Poet
January 27 @ 6:00 PM- 7:00 PM
Birmingham Holocaust Education Center
The film, “Finding Matilda: The Anne Frank of Lithuania” by Kyle Conti, himself a college student, follows the search for the mass grave. Matilda Olkin was a wonderfully talented Jewish poet and a college student at the University of Vilnius. Like Anne Frank, she kept a diary that was discovered after her death. Matilda’s diary and poetry were hidden by a local priest under the main altar of his church and only recovered many years after the Holocaust. Join the science team, Dr. Richard Freund of Christopher Newport University, Dr. Phil Reeder of Duquesne University and Dr. Harry Jol of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire to discover how and why they sought to reclaim Matilda’s story and discover her grave. The science team will be joined by Matthew Shaer, who wrote an extensive account of Matilda’s story for Smithsonian Magazine and Dr. Susan Cardillo, University of Hartford Director and Kyle Conti, Editor and Student Filmmaker.
JCRC Lunch & Learn:
Alabama Interfaith Refugee Partnership
January 28 @ 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Jewish Community Relations Council
Lynda Wilson, President of the Alabama Interfaith Refugee Partnership, will talk about the founding and work of the AIRP, a 501C-3 charitable organization dedicated to supporting refugees and asylum-seekers locally and globally through direct assistance, education, and advocacy. Register here!
Podcast Dinner Club: “Resting the Land”
with Judaism Unbound
January 28 @ 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Temple Beth-El
Want to learn more about “earth-based Judaism?” Love book clubs, but don’t have time for them? Just us for the first iteration of our podcast dinner club—a chance for participants to virtually and easily come together for food, discussion and socializing. Our first session will focus on the Judaism Unbound episode “Resting the Land.” Judaism Unbound is a project of the Institute for the Next Jewish Future, and a weekly podcast focused on all of the innovative developments in American Judaism. Rather than ask participants to listen ahead of time, we’ll actually listen together, via Zoom — pausing for points of discussion.
from the Atomic Lounge!
Picnic on Highlands: Tu B’Shevat Edition
January 30 @ 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Temple Beth-El
Save the date for the Tu B’Shevat edition of Picnic on Highlands! Picnic on Highlands is a special series of outdoor gatherings with a focus on young families. Bring a lunch, a blanket or chairs, and, of course, your favorite face mask. We’ll provide warm treats and drinks, Tu B’Shevat snacks, Shabbat friendly activities and additional childcare, so that parents can socialize too. Picnic on Highlands takes place at Caldwell Park.
Tu B’Shevat with Social Action Committee
January 31 @ 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Temple Beth-El
For this holiday SAC is inviting TBE Family and Friends to join SAC in the lower parking lot of TBE on Sunday, January 31, 2021 at 1:00PM. There will be a farmer’s truck with 2/900 pound pallets of apples waiting for us. We will put these apples into 10 pound bags. It should take us about 1½ hours to complete. Then these bags will be picked up and delivered to various locations needing food to “end hunger”.
Come Together- B'Yachad
Tuesdays, February 9, 16, & 23 12 PM - 1 PM. EST
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
The JDC is the leading Jewish humanitarian organization, working in
70 countries to lift lives and strengthen communities.
Come together with JDC for a three-part virtual journey to Israel featuring stunning nature views, from the North to the Negev. Discover how JDC is helping Israel chart a new course for the most vulnerable — breaking down boundaries and increasing opportunities for all.
Join us on this powerful journey. All are welcome! Register here!
Financial Assistance Available
for Jewish Community Members
Thanks to a grant from the Greatest Needs Fund of the Birmingham Jewish Federation’s COVID Relief Campaign, Collat Jewish Family Services is offering financial assistance to Jewish community members who are facing financial insecurity because of job loss, caring for family or other issues. Confidential assistance is available to members of the Birmingham Jewish community who need help with rent or mortgage payments, utilities, prescription costs or other needs. To learn more, please email CJFS Clinical Director Marcy Morgenbesser LICSW, [email protected] or call 205.879.3438.
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The Birmingham Jewish Federation
@jewishbirmingham
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