Registration for the following programs will open approximately one month before each event.
Jewish Author Series
Brought to you in partnership with
Ambassador Wendy Sherman, "Not for the Faint of Heart: Lessons in Courage, Power, and Persistence"
In Not for the Faint of Heart, Ambassador Sherman combines personal storytelling and expert insight to bring readers inside the world of international diplomacy and into the mind of one of our most effective diplomatic negotiators, revealing that success takes courage, the ability to forge common ground, and an understanding of the nature and use of power.
Sunday, October 14 | 2 PM
JCC of Greater New Haven
M: $5 | C: $10
Dan Oren, "The Wedding Photo"
A visit to an abandoned Polish Jewish cemetery in 1993 launches Dan Oren's twenty-year search to solve the mystery of "Who is buried in Sarah's tomb?" A visit with a cousin unearths a breathtaking photograph of a Berlin family wedding from 1926 and leads to discovering their unimaginable post-wedding lives. An archivist in Prague discovers a secret uncle whose celebrity-filled life takes the reader from the halls of the Metropolitan Museum of Art to the treasures of the Vatican. Finding and linking hitherto unknown family--from as ordinary any of us to as internationally-recognized as Philip Roth--this collection of gripping investigative accounts transforms genealogy into a world of exciting historical adventures. When a bishop, a minister, and a rabbi meet in a cemetery, it is not the set-up for a joke. Rather, The Wedding Photo becomes a dramatic and meaningful encounter of Christians and Jews with the darkest and the brightest sides of humanity.
Thursday, November 8 | 7 PM
JCC of Greater New Haven
M: $5 | C: $10
Registration opening soon.
Justin David, "Longing: Jewish Meditations on a Hidden God" at A Taste of Honey
Justin David has been the Rabbi of Congregation B'nai Israel in Northampton since 2002. During that time, he has helped the community grow through his commitment to social justice, inclusion, innovation in worship, Jewish education and interfaith work.
“Longing: Jewish Meditations on a Hidden God” weaves together personal narrative, Jewish mysticism, biblical stories and a range of Jewish thinkers to reflect on the hidden God at the heart of Jewish tradition. It elicits the universal experience of yearning for closeness to someone or some being that we feel we need, but are never sure exists. Along the way, the book takes us on a journey that has us think about our relationships to our parents, to those whom we love, to the sources of Judaism, to God, and ultimately to the "Nothingness" that is, in fact, everything.
Saturday, November 17 | 7 PM
JCC of Greater New Haven
M: $12 | C: $18
Registration opening soon.
Fran Hawthorne, "The Heirs"
After a serious injury, Eleanor Ritter’s mother, Rose, begins divulging secrets she has held for fifty years about her tumultuous childhood in Poland. Eleanor becomes obsessed with her mother’s past, only growing stronger when she meets her son’s soccer teammate’s Catholic family from Poland. The quest for answers to questions such as: how many generations does guilt carry on? What did your grandparents do to mine? , leads Eleanor into an unexpected friendship, strains her relationship with her mother, and puts her struggling marriage with a Y2K fearing IT technician at further risk.
“This is the story of immigrants — Jews, Catholics and all of us — whose children and grandchildren remain tied to the suffering and struggles which brought them to America.” -- Joel Levy, longtime New York regional director of the Anti-Defamation League and former president of the Center for Jewish History
Sunday, November 18 | 12 PM
JCC of Greater New Haven
M: $5 | C: $10
Registration opening soon.
Mike Reiss, "Springfield Confidential: Jokes, Secrets, and Outright Lies from a Lifetime Writing for The Simpsons"
In celebration of The Simpsons' thirtieth anniversary, four-time Emmy winner Mike Reiss, who has worked on The Simpsons continuously since episode one in 1989, shares stories, scandals, and gossip about working with America's most iconic cartoon family ever. Reiss explains how the episodes are created, and provides an inside look at the show's writers, animators, actors and celebrity guests. He answers a range of questions from Simpsons fans and die-hards, and reminisces about the making of perennially favorite episodes.
Co-sponsored by NextDor of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven
Thursday, November 29 | 7 PM
Location TBD
M: $5 | C: $10
Registration opening soon.
Amalia Hoffman, "Dreidel Day" with PJ Library at JCC Craft and Gift Fair
Dreidel Day is a 9 word board book for babies and toddlers. When Cat spins 1 dreidel on the first day of Chanukah, she embarks on an amusing 8 days adventure. Cat and Dreidels interact by spinning, bouncing, tumbling, hopping, balancing, hiding, resting and finally, lighting the menorah with another cat friend. Turn the pages and see how much fun counting from 1 to 8 can be as more dreidels appear on each additional day.
Sunday, December 2 | 10:30 AM
JCC of Greater New Haven
FREE
Registration opening soon.
Film: "Dreaming of a Jewish Christmas"
White Christmas," "Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer," and "Do you Hear What I Hear," these popular holiday songs and many others have created the essential music to modern Christmas. Many of them were also created by predominately Jewish composers like Irving Berlin, cultural outsiders in a Western culture who sought to make a living by writing to appeal to the majority audience that too often not accepted them. This film explores the lives of these creative masters, their creations and the culture they shared with dramatized musical performances at a Chinese restaurant with a Jewish clientele on Christmas Day. Thus illustrated, a story is told of how these musical outsiders created in song a secular conception of a Christian holiday that could welcome all peoples by celebrating values and hope far beyond religious differences.