Come spend Shabbat learning, davening, eating and singing together with your Beth Sholom family. Choose from approximately 25 different learning sessions, all taught by Beth Sholom members and friends. This year’s overall theme will be “Between People – How We Treat Each Other: Bein Adam L’havero.” The Shabbaton also includes performances by Tavim, Tzipporei Shalom and the Russian Club Choir.
** Registration for the Shabbaton is now open. Click here to register online. **
Click here to download a copy of the Shabbaton Brochure.
Shabbaton 2012 Program Schedule
Friday, January 27
5 p.m.: Kabbalat Shabbat
6 p.m.: Dinner with performance by the Russian Chorus
7:30 p.m.: SESSION ALEPH
8:45 p.m.: Oneg Shabbat
Saturday, January 28
9 a.m.: Shaharit/End of Services – Tzipporei Shalom
Noon: Lunch – with performance by Tavim
1:30 p.m.: SESSION BET
2:45 p.m.: Dessert
3 p.m.: Minhah
3:45 p.m.: SESSION GIMMEL
5 p.m.: CLOSING SESSION, followed by Ma’ariv and Havdalah
Program Information
The costs have been kept as low as possible. There is a maximum cost of $145 per family for meals and childcare. If your total exceeds this, please write $145 on the form.
Early Registration Discount
We will waive the $10 registration fee for all forms received by Wednesday, January 18.
Childcare
Childcare will be available Friday, January 27 after dinner (during Session Aleph) and Saturday, January 28 after lunch (during Session Bet). If the need is great enough, childcare will be extended later in the day on Saturday. Please incidate the names and ages of children who need childcare on the registration form.
Volunteers
The success of Congregation Beth Sholom’s Shabbaton depends upon the active participation of our members in all of the activities. Please circle a time on the registration form when you can volunteer. Thank you.
Subsidies
Please don’t let program costs keep you and your family from attending the Shabbaton. We want every member of our congregational family to participate. Please contact Rabbi Pitkowsky for subsidy information.
Sponsorships
Please consider making a special gift in order to support Shabbaton 2012 and to honor some of the most important leaders and scholars of the Conservative Movement (listed in chronological order).
Zecharia Frankel: $18
Solomon Schechter: $36
Mathilde Roth Schechter: $54
Henrietta Szold: $72
Louis Finkelstein: $120
Nechama Liebowitz: $180
Shabbaton 2012 Schedule of Sessions
Session Aleph | Friday, Jan. 27 | 7:30 – 8:45 p.m.
A. The Role of Empathy in Art and Social Relations | Reuben M. Baron
At a recent symposium on DeKooning at MOMA, it was suggested that Chaim Soutine’s women differed from Willem DeKooning’s women by virtue of expressing greater empathy. The relevance of empathy for art and for social relations including Israel and Arab relations will be discussed in light of different views of empathy.
B. Mitigating Infinity: How Barchu Works | Rabbi David Bockman
Barchu, the “call to prayer,” comes midway through davening. It seems opaque, even non-sensical. Rabbinic texts, river flow patterns and mobius strips will define a class of phenomena to include this two-line prayer, and we’ll see this call “bein adam lechavero” as a solution to a specific human problem.
C. Coveting or Cooperating? The Role of the Tenth Commandment in Shaping our Individual and Communal Values | Rabbi Eliezer Diamond
The prohibition against coveting is without doubt the least understood of the Ten Commandments, yet it is in some respects the most fundamental one. We’ll study the halakhic parameters of this commandment and its theological and sociological significance, focusing on how it affects the way we think about consumerism and environmental degradation.
D. Do Movies Trivialize the Holocaust? A Discussion | Eric Goldman
To be released this month, Agnleszka Holland’s In Darkness depicts Jews fleeing the ghetto to the sewers during the Shoah. Do so many films about the Holocaust trivialize or do we need more? Recent films such as Sarah’s Key, Defiance, The Reader, as well as classics such as Schindler’s List and The Pianist, will be reviewed. Seeing In Darkness prior to the session is recommended but not required.
E. Acquire Yourself a Friend | Jay Greenspan
“One should get a companion whom to eat, drink, study Torah, study Mishnah, and to reveal the mysteries of the Torah, and the secrets of the world.” Avot d’Rabbi Natan 8:3
“Love Your Neighbor as Yourself.” Leviticus 19:18
“Greet every person with a cheerful countenance.” Pirkei Avot 1:15
F. Four Lawyers Walk into a Shabbaton: Jewish Perspectives on the Practice of Law | Barry Lichtenberg, Rabbi Bruce Dickstein, Harman Grossman, and Sidney Vidaver
What’s it like to sit opposite Muammar Gaddafi and negotiate an oil deal? To criminally prosecute a rabbi for sexual misconduct? With text, tradition and anecdote, these and other issues will be explored by our panel of four attorneys. No charge for initial consultation.
G. Wearing a Kippah in a Bare-Headed World: Maintaining Your Jewish Identity as a Student While Participating In The World Around You | Rabbi Joel Pitkowsky
Join Rabbi Pitkowsky for a thoughtful discussion about your Jewish identity; the challenges of maintaining your Jewish identity in a country where 98% of the population is not Jewish? What are your choices as you proceed from high school to college that will impact your identity? How can you learn more about your identity and beliefs in a country with so many different kinds of people?
H. Lessons about Jewish Life | Maria Gertsenshteyn & the Russian Jewish Club
The session will look at the book Hobbs’ Hunt and will include a discussion about Jewish life with its author Leonid Rivkin. This session will be conducted in Russian.
I. “What’s So Funny?”: New trends in Jewish humor | Andrew Silow-Carroll
Look for vital signs in American Jewish humor, and you’ll find a widening gap between the largely ethnic, secular content and strategies that defined such humor before, say, 1981, and the increasingly religious, ritual content of much of the Jewish humor produced since. In other words, it’s a long way from Mickey Katz to The Simpsons.
J. Shabbat Melody Workshop | Adam Wall, Ronit Hanan, and others
Bein adam l’haveiro and bein adam laMakom (between an individual and God) are uniquely linked through Tefillah. Our davening is elevated when we pray together as a kahal (congregation), minyan (prayer group) or havurah (gathering of friends). Join us to learn several new and beautiful Shabbat melodies that can be used at any of our minyanim, including children’s services.
Session Bet | Saturday, Jan. 28 | 1:30-2:45 p.m.
From 1:30 – 2:30 p.m.
CH-1. Story & Fun Time (Ages 2-4) | Hillary Kessler-Godin
CH-2. Everyone is Special (Grades K-1) | Sarah Monchar
Stories and games that illustrate relationships between friends and family and how we treat each other.
CH-3. It Doesn’t Matter If you Win or Lose … Let’s Have Fun Playing Together (Grades 2-4) | Ilana Picker
Come join us on a journey of charades and games with each other – remember, it’s not if you win or lose… But how you play the game! Oh, and some exciting TREATS too – yes, the way you TREAT me, and I you.
CH-4. Lunch ‘n Layn (Grade 5) | Adina Avery-Grossman and Ronit Hanan
CH-5. “Jews’ Line is it Anyway?” (Grades 6-8) | Ilana Sidorsky
Was Abraham the greatest improv actor to have ever lived? Master the art of improvisation, with a Jewish twist! All 6th-8th graders welcome. Comfy clothes preferred.
K. Process, Discourse, Revelation: A Session with the Artists’ Beit Midrash | Carol Weinstein Karlin and Harriett Finck
Come inside a class of the award-winning Artists’ Beit Midrash. The members of this year’s program, “Tackling Job: A Learning Circle,” will discuss our work in progress, the impact of the Book of Job on our art, how we critique our work, and the encouragement we receive as we produce midrashim.
L. How We Tweet Each Other – The Ethics of Social Media | Rabbi Amy Bolton
How has social media redefined our understanding of kehillah (community)? What happens when lines of personal boundaries and privacy are blurred? We will explore the benefits and pitfalls of social media through a Jewish lens and how halachic and Jewish values and concepts can inform and guide our Tweeting and Facebooking.
M. End-of-Life Issues under Jewish and Jersey Law | Rabbi Bruce Dickstein
God arranged in advance of Jacob’s death for Joseph to close his father’s eyes upon his death. If God plans, then so should we. This session will examine various end-of-life issues, how we can formulate our own attitudes and wishes and what can be done to make sure they are honored.
N. Teaneck Then and Now: the Jewish Connection
Moderator: Jackie Kates
Panel Members: Ruth Cowan, Arline Duker, and Bruce Prince
In 1948, the Township of Teaneck was designated a “model community” by the United States Army, and in 1964 became the first municipality in the nation to voluntarily integrate its school system. We will explore the pivotal role played by Teaneck’s Jewish population in building an inclusive, welcoming community as well as current challenges facing a diverse community.
O. Collective Responsibility and Its Discontents | Dennis Klein and Rabbi Elliot Schoenberg
One source of Judaism’s inspiration is our collective responsibility for the behavior of our fellow Jews – the pride or shame we feel at the behavior of one, as if each of us participated in the behavior. However, we reject the claim of external detractors that all Jews are responsible for the transgression of one, a claim prevalent during the Holocaust era. How do we reconcile this inconsistency?
P. The Evil Tongue Kills Three: Lashon Hara in Halakhah and Aggadah | Rabbi Joyce Newmark
In American law, a defamatory statement’s truth is a complete defense against a charge of slander. In Halakhah, the prohibition of lashon hara often prevents us from speaking the truth. What rules apply here and why is lashon hara such a great evil? We will study ancient and modern texts to better understand the phenomenon of the evil tongue.
Q. Pushing the Borders | Rabbi Rebecca Sirbu
There is greater permeability between religious, ethnic and racial groups in American society than ever before and for the first time, people from other traditions want to learn about Judaism, marry Jews and participate in Jewish life. We have, historically, established boundaries to keep Jews “in” and others “out.” What if this changed and we allowed others to access our wisdom and traditions?
Session Gimmel | Saturday, Jan. 28 | 3:30-4:45 p.m.
R. Arab Spring, Israeli Winter? | Stephen P. Cohen
2011 has seen what might be called the second Arab Awakening. The “Arab Spring” emphasizes transformation in each Arab society, with the common themes of the end of dictators, popular political participation and the hope for democracy. What will be the consequences for the United States and for Israel?
S. A Woman’s Journey Back To Poland: A Broken Chain Partially Repaired | Sara Kaplan
Sara Kaplan traveled to Poland to find her parents’ home and grandfather’s grave and traced her roots back to 1730, exploring her Polish-Jewish heritage, contemporary Poland and the Krakow Jewish Cultural Festival. “I was hoping to find information about my parents and grandparents and I discovered my real heritage.”
T. Reimagining Jewish Education: The Funders’ Perspective
Facilitator: Eillene Leistner
Panel Members: Lyn Light Geller (UJA-Federation of New York), Joni-Sue Levine (Covenant Foundation), Leah Meir (AVI CHAI Foundation)
Representatives of three leading Jewish funding organizations will present their perspectives on trends, challenges, and opportunities in the field of Jewish education.
U. Reflections on the Mystical Humanistic Theology of Art Green | Rabbi Aryeh Meir
Arthur Green, Rabbi and scholar of Jewish mysticism, has written a groundbreaking book, Radical Judaism: Rethinking God and Tradition. We will explore several of the books major themes: “God and Being” and “A Jewish history of God.” Suggested (but not required) reading the first two sections of the book.
V. Maimonides and the Golden Mean | Rabbi Elliot Schoenberg
An in depth exploration of the Maimonidean theory of the middle way. What is it? And does it remain a viable theory of human relationship today? Does it translate into a contemporary approach to religion and God?
Closing Session | Saturday, Jan. 28 | 5-6 p.m.
W. Perspectives on Civil Discourse and Dialogue in Our Time
Moderator: Rabbi Joel Pitkowsky
Panel Members: Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster, Rabbi Noam Marans, Andrew Silow-Carroll
Our discussants will share their perspectives on civil discourse and dialogue in order that we may continue our conversations, both locally and globally, and further define our vision of ourselves and our community.
