Home About Upcoming Events Previous Events Discussion Groups Community Calendar Family Histories Events Mailing List Links Contact Us E-Mail   Wednesday Night Coffee We continue a storied Jewish tradition of discussing and debating complex, philosophical issues...over coffee and (good) cake. We start our discussions by telling stories, guided by a set topic and then open the floor up to whatever we feel like. We introduced our Wednesday Night Coffee series in January 2007. Past Topics: * Sharing our family stories * How does our being so connected to the Holocaust affect our Jewishness? Does it make us feel more Jewish or uniquely Jewish? Has it made us feel special generally? Has it led us to a more religious or less religious lifestyle? What were our experiences growing up that make us address these questions now? * How has our connection to the Holocaust informed our commitment to social justice? * Do we, as primarily the last generation to know Holocaust survivors, have a responsibility to carry on the legacy? What is that legacy? And what does it mean for those of us whose grandparents passed away never having told their story? * A disconnection between our heritage and our belief system. How are they similar? Did our families lose faith after the Holocaust? How do we view G-d's presence in times of crisis? Reflections on how the story of Purim is relevant today. * Some of us have grandparents that rejected their Judaism after surviving, while other families embraced it. For some, an event like the Holocaust proves that there can't be a G-d. Yet some say the fact that Jewish people live today is evidence of G-d's existence. Stories about faith after the Holocaust. * Has our connection to the Holocaust compelled us to be more aware of anti-Semitism? What about other forms of bigotry? How has this connection, and the subject of anti-Semitism, influenced our identity as Jews? * Has Israel influenced our identity as Jews? * We invited members of Action Reconciliation Service for Peace (ARSP), a German peace and volunteer service organization, to join us. Among issues discussed: What does reconciliation mean from a German perspective? How is the Holocaust dealt with in German society? What are the nuances of Holocaust education there? Is the collective German view of Israel and the conflict changing? What role can Germans play in helping us better understand our legacy and pass it on? Are there other questions that we'd like to ask Germans our age? What would they like to ask us? The theme of the story circle was a personal story about how you remember perceiving the "other". * Is Israel the story of our time? * Do we know enough about the Arab-Israeli conflict? Is it imortant to know what's being said about it? What is the spectrum of American-Jewish thought on Israel and the conflict? * G-d and the Holocaust: Personal Reflections with Rabbi Jonathan Feldman, Associate Director of Manhattan Jewish Experience Future Topics: * How is the Holocaust Misused? The following assertions were recently featured in news analyses in prominent newspapers... ...In The Jerusalem Post from April 19, 2007: Holocaust remembrance in America "has turned into almost a form of necrophilia". In Jewish America, "we measure our worthiness in our ability to claim victim status." ...In Ha'aretz from December 22, 2006: "The Holocaust is continuing more than 60 years later to provide Israel with an alibi for the deviancy of its political choices." Are the writers bravely confronting sacred cows, or are they guilty of the same Holocaust misuse as they lament, or are they simply mishugge? Whatever the case, that these loaded statements are appearing in the mainstream, with more frequency, begs us to analyze them and consider what effects they may have on the public. Date, Time & Venue: TBD |Home| |About| |Upcoming Events| |Previous Events| |Discussion Groups| |Community Calendar| |Family Histories| |Events Mailing List| |Links| |Contact Us|