Bring your little ones to welcome Shabbat in person with stories, songs, blessings, and challah! PJ Library's Outdoor Family Shabbats are free and open to the community. They will be held each Friday morning in October from 11 a.m. to noon at the Mandell JCC, 335 Bloomfield Avenue, West Hartford. For everyone’s safety, please bring your own blanket to promote social distancing — and don't forget your masks. All guests over age 12 will need to show proof of vaccination at the JCC security desk. To register, email the names of all family members planning to attend to Susan at [email protected]. Since these events are weather permitting, click here for regular updates on our Facebook page. We also invite you to enroll your children from birth to age 8 for free PJ Library books, and children from ages 9 to 12 for free PJ Our Way novels. Click here to enroll.

Please join the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford and Federations across North America for our annual General Assembly, to be held online on Sunday, October 3, from 2 to 3:30 p.m.! This year's GA is chaired by Greater Hartford's very own Ann and Jeremy Pava — and it will feature a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on issues of common concern to Jews everywhere. We'll also enjoy a performance by Eurovision star Eden Alene. The program is free; click here to register.

Whether born Jewish or not, we invite you to register for this course! It's designed for adults interested in learning more about Judaism’s ideas and practices. We'll explore the Jewish perspective on spirituality, values, and community in this eighteen-week course, offered by the Reform rabbis of Greater Hartford. Each class takes place in an informal atmosphere that encourages free and lively discussion. Beginning on October 6, classes will be held in person at Congregation Beth Israel, 701 Farmington Avenue, West Hartford, on Wednesdays from 7 to 9:30 p.m. For more information or to register, contact Wendy Berg at 860.233.8215 or [email protected].

Join the Jewish Book Council and Federation National Women's Philanthropy for the second season of our monthly book and author series! Our first book, "Lilyville: Mother, Daughter, and Other Roles I've Played," is a heartwarming and funny memoir by beloved actress Tovah Feldshuh that reflects on her relationship with her mother over several decades as the world's expectations of women continued to shift. This month's chat will take place online on Wednesday, October 6 at 8 p.m. Feel free to tune in even if you haven't read the book yet; your friends and family are welcome to join too. You can register here, and click here to order the book.

On Sunday, September 26, the Friendship Circle hosted a Wild West-themed Sukkot celebration outside the Chabad House of Greater Hartford in West Hartford. More than 100 participants of all abilities got an unforgettable taste of the American frontier: brushing a real horse, learning how to lasso, throwing horseshoes, meeting a sheriff and even mining for gold! The real prize, however, seemed to be the smiles worn and connections made. Friendship Circle, a project of Chabad of Greater Hartford, pairs teen volunteers with participants possessing a wide variety of abilities for fun, immersive activities. Our year-round programming includes arts, sports, weekly hang-outs known as Friends at Home, and Jewish holiday events. To keep up with FC’s ongoing happenings, follow us on Instagram or Facebook. Or, for more information, email [email protected] or call 860.833.4035.

Embark on an amazing experience and make friends forever! Camp Laurelwood, Connecticut's premier Jewish co-ed overnight summer camp, is accepting registration for the 2022 season. First-time camper discounts and tuition assistance are available. Click here to learn more and here to enroll. For questions or to schedule a personal tour, contact us at 203.421.3736 or [email protected].

Gishrei Shalom Jewish Congregation invites you to an in-person Shabbat morning service led by Rabbi Alana Wasserman on Saturday, October 16 at 10 a.m. Morning service will be held at our Meetinghouse, located at the First Congregational Church, 37 Main Street, Southington. Rabbi Wasserman will also lead an in-person service at the same location on Friday, October 29 at 7 p.m. For more information, click here or call 860.276.9113.

"Embracing Judaism," an introduction to Judaism program for adults of all faiths (or none) is now enrolling students for our 5782/2022 season. Our instructors are Conservative rabbis from the Greater Hartford area, and our program is conducted in partnership with the Miller Introduction to Judaism Program at the American Jewish University. This course is especially recommended for Jews and non-Jews in interfaith relationships. The 2022 program will begin via Zoom on Thursday, January 6, 2022. To learn more, visit our website or contact Rabbi Richard Plavin at [email protected] or 860.573.4503.

Federation invites all Jewish kids in Kindergarten through grade 2 to join us online for "Mazel Makers: In the Same Boat," a free, virtual program co-sponsored by nearly all the synagogues in Greater Hartford! (You don't need to belong to a synagogue to participate.) It takes place over Zoom on Sunday, October 17 from 9:15 - 10:45 a.m. Together, we'll "visit" the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem and craft our own 3-D Ark models using the story of Noah as a guide. Materials are provided; we encourage you to "bring" an adult family member. To register, contact Deb Howson at [email protected] or your local synagogue school director by October 4. Support for the Mazel Makers series is provided by The Deborah & Morton Mitnick Jewish Education Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Hartford.

The new Jewish year of 5782 is a shmita/Sabbatical year! If you were an ancient Jewish farmer, you'd let your land lie fallow every seven years and all debts would be cancelled. How might we reimagine shmita/Sabbatical for our own time and place? B'nai Tikvoh-Sholom invites you to join us virtually on Sunday, October 17 at 11 a.m. as we reflect on a brief Jewish teaching and relate it to the challenges, uncertainties, and opportunities of our own time. After a discussion with Rabbi Debra Cantor and Melinda Wright, we'll do some reflective writing and expressive art with items easily found around the house. Please have a pencil or pen and any kind of paper on hand, as well as any art supplies you may own... colored pencils, crayons, watercolors, etc. (Just pencil and paper is okay, too.) Absolutely no experience needed! This online event is free and open to all. Click here to register.

Temple Beth Hillel's Adult Education Committee invites you to a virtual presentation of author Daphne Geismar's work, "Invisible Years: A Family’s Collected Account of Separation and Survival During the Holocaust in the Netherlands." Geismar will be joined by co-presenter Sharon Strauss for this online event to be held on Sunday, October 17 at 1 p.m. To get the Zoom link, call the Temple office at 860.282.8466.  

Join Voices of Hope, Speak Up Storytelling, and ADL for our first showcase featuring survivors and descendants from the Holocaust, Rwanda, and Bosnia. This virtual event will feature stories from four descendants of Holocaust survivors; Linda Grosser, Sally Rosenberg, Rachel Rosenblatt, and Hannah Zweibel; as well as Bekir Hodzic, a descendant of a Bosnian survivor; and Consolee Nishimwe, a survivor from Rwanda. The showcase will be held on Sunday, October 17 at 2 p.m. and is free to all. Click here to register and receive a Zoom link or contact Kathy Fishman with any questions at [email protected]. 

The Beth El Temple Men's Club invites you to attend the Annual Distinguished Service Award Banquet on Sunday, October 17 at 5:30 p.m. This in-person event will be held at 2626 Albany Avenue, West Hartford. We'll honor Barbara and David Klau for their many years of devoted service to Beth El Temple, the Men’s Club, and the community at large. Our guest speaker is Pat Speer, a mentoring organizer with the Greater Hartford Interfaith Action Alliance who has 50+ years of experience in public life; Naomi Cohen will serve as our master of ceremonies. Click here for registration and further details. 

The Jewish Leadership Academy and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Hartford are launching a new series to help our community combat all forms of hate, including racism and antisemitism. The first program, "Check Your Bias at the Door," is a facilitated workshop led by Rav Tiferet Berenbaum, Rabbi of Congregational Learning and Programming at Temple Beth Zion in Brookline, Massachusetts. It will take place online on Tuesday, October 19 from 6:30 to 7:45 p.m. Together we'll explore unconscious biases in a safe space, learn language and techniques we can use to combat hate as individuals, and develop skills to lead change in our community and its institutions. Click here to register by Friday, October 15; advance registration is required. The entire series is supported by a generous grant from Liberty Bank.

Hoffman SummerWood Senior Living Community invites you to celebrate Jewish Mother's Day on Wednesday, October 20 at 160 Simsbury Road, West Hartford. In recognition of the yahrzeit of the Biblical matriarch Rachel, we will host a two-part celebration of mothers — including an educational and celebratory meet-up at 2:30 p.m. in our Community Center, and a Jewish Mother's Day dinner and live music from 7 to 8 p.m. in the Hoffman SummerWood dining room. For more details and to RSVP, contact Rabbi Lawrence Jaffee at [email protected].

The Emanuel Synagogue’s new cantor, Hazzan Daniella Risman, will headline a concert on Wednesday, October 20 at 7:30 p.m. The concert, to be held at 160 Mohegan Drive, West Hartford, will feature the music of Felix Mendelssohn and explore the question, What is Jewish music? through the works of Mendelssohn and his contemporaries. This concert is a lead-up to Ben Engel’s new play, “Havdalah,” which premieres at The Emanuel on Sunday, November 7 — details to follow. Our October 20 concert is free and open to the public, but please click here to register. Tickets for “Havdalah” will be available at the same link.

JTConnect engages teens from across the Greater Hartford community in fun, interactive, and thought-provoking educational and social experiences grounded in Jewish learning and values. Together, teens examine religion, history, and traditions through hands-on programming that includes classroom study, volunteer projects, and special events. Our programming is available to all teens in grades 8 through 12. Click here to find out what's happening this fall in our Program & Classes Guide.

Hazon: the Jewish lab for sustainability invites you to attend the 2021 Hazon Seal Summit. This virtual conference will be held via Zoom on Thursday, October 21 from 12:30 to 5:15 p.m. and will explore how we can take care of our Earth as well as our mental and physical well-being. The program is designed to empower you with tools and information to further your organization’s — and your own — environmental stewardship journey. You can register individually or as a community. Click here to register and receive the Zoom link.

Join the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Hartford, Federation's Emerging Leadership Division, University of Hartford Hillel, and UConn Hillel for a BYO Zoom brunch & learn with the young Israeli and Palestinian leaders of Tech2Peace on Sunday, October 24 from noon to 1:15 p.m. Tech2Peace leverages Israel’s impressive high-tech ecosystem to build a cross-border network of young leaders who are working together toward a more peaceful future. Together, they participate in intensive high-tech and entrepreneurship training, dialogue, joint start-ups, and an active alumni community. In this interactive program — the first in a new series on Israel's shared society — you’ll meet staff and alumni and hear their perspectives and what they’ve learned by working together. Click here to register by October 21; advance registration is required.

Imagine a school in which students learn and are challenged based on their learning styles and strengths — not just by what grade they are in. The Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Hartford’s multi-age classrooms provide students with more one-on-one support from teachers, use curricula tailored to students’ specific needs, and foster deeper social connections. This year, we are ramping up our multi-age program to encompass all academic subjects. Students are assessed before each unit to determine the skills they need to develop; then they work in groups tailored to their own ability, readiness, and interest. Each multi-age class may include up to four groups at a time to best fit each child’s strengths. To find out more about our school (located in West Hartford) and our innovative educational philosophy, click here or contact Karen at [email protected].

Israel went from being the world’s poster child in its rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination to having the highest number of cases per capita. How and why did this happen, and what can be expected going forward? The UConn Center for Judaic Studies will host a virtual panel discussion on Wednesday, October 27 at 12:30 p.m. featuring experts from the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies, an independent think tank based in Jerusalem. Our panelists will provide an inside look at the impact of the pandemic on Israel’s diverse society. Click here to register and receive the Zoom link. 

Join ADL Connecticut for a three-day virtual gathering of experts, students, and community leaders to listen, learn, and act. We'll be tackling crucial conversations about hate and bigotry in today's world — and together we'll discover what each of us can do to combat antisemitism and bias in all its forms. Our Never Is Now Annual Summit will be held online from Sunday, November 7 to Tuesday, November 9, with special programming for high school students and an opportunity for attorneys to earn CLE credits. Click here to register for free, or contact Lisa Ratcliff with any questions at l[email protected].