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Message from the Board - Welcoming The Jewish State Newspaper to Hudson County
Dear Friends,
HudsonJewish is pleased to announce another tangible accomplishment of our all-volunteer effort to connect our community: we have arranged for a Jewish newspaper to begin widespread distribution throughout Hudson County. For free.
The Jewish State, a bi-weekly paper which already covers Middlesex, Monmouth, Mercer, Somerset, Hunterdon, Ocean and parts of Union counties, is an independent Jewish paper published by Elias ("Elly") Ezra, a Bombay-born entrepreneur with deep roots in the New Jersey Jewish community. "Ever since The Jewish State began publication in 1996, our mission has been to seek out common ground among all Jews in our area, rather than divide them by geography, religious observance or affiliation," said Ezra. "HudsonJewish demonstrates these same values."
Managing Editor Seth Mandel echoed the sentiment: "Like HudsonJewish, The Jewish State is an independent voice that serves as a forum for all members of the community. We deliver a newspaper that is informative, provocative, dynamic and -- most importantly -- useful. These are precisely the qualities that we observe in the HudsonJewish volunteers, who on a shoe-string budget have created an informative community-wide website, a provocative electronic newsletter, a dynamic outreach campaign and a useful forum for connecting people in the local Jewish community. We are delighted that HudsonJewish is introducing The Jewish State to readers in Hudson County and we look forward to covering developments there as we do across New Jersey."
The Jewish State will carry news and information, opinion, interviews and other items of interest to the community. Representatives of The Jewish State inform HudsonJewish that distribution will begin on November 13, with the delivery of hundreds of copies to synagogues, the Bayonne Jewish Community Center, supermarkets, restaurants, mass transit locations and other public places. Free trial subscriptions are also available for home delivery.
For specific story ideas contact HudsonJewish Vice Chairman Dr. Neil Davis: Neil@HudsonJewish.org.
To propose a drop-off location, subscribe for home delivery, or advertise in The Jewish State, contact HudsonJewish Board Secretary, Michelle Levine: Secretary@HudsonJewish.org.
HudsonJewish welcomes The Jewish State because a Jewish newspaper will help knit together disparate segments of the Jewish population while raising the Jewish consciousness of newcomers to our area. We hope that you will concur. Please spread the word about this important development in the life of our community and look for The Jewish State in the coming weeks!
Shalom!
The Trustees of HudsonJewish
Adam Weiss, Chairman (Jersey City Heights); Dr. Neil Davis, Vice Chairman (Jersey City/Journal Square); Michelle Levine, Secretary (Bayonne); Yael Israel, Treasurer (Jersey City/West Side); Raylie Dunkel, Trustee (Jersey City/Downtown); Honorary Trustees Larry Gutterman (Bayonne), Matt Meistrich (Hoboken), Annett Hassell (North Bergen), Alan & Jessica Lemmon (Jersey City/West Side), Jeffrey Bernstein, Esq. (North Bergen), Joshua Parkhurst (Jersey City/Downtown), John Kristal (Jersey City Heights)
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HudsonJewish Board of Trustees Elections
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The second annual elections for the Board of Trustees of Hudson Jewish Community Forum, A New Jersey Nonprofit Corporation ("HudsonJewish") will be held at the November 17 Board of Trustees meeting. If you or someone you know would like to have a say on the policies and management of HudsonJewish, consider making a nomination for Trustee. The staggered terms are for two years.
Trusteeship requires real work, and we are eager to expand the Board. There are currently 5 voting Trustees; our by-laws provide for up to 15. In addition to managing HudsonJewish operations and setting policy, Trustees are currently expected to contribute a minimum of $500 to help defray expenses, a requirement which can be waived or modified in case of hardship. (Contribution of effort is as important as contribution of funds).
The HudsonJewish by-laws also provide for up to 30 non-voting Honorary Trustees. Eight of the 30 possible Honorary Trustee seats are currently filled, mostly by members of the initial HudsonJewish working group that established the organization during 2007. Honorary Trustees advise the Trustees (and each other) on decisions and conditions throughout the community. The Board's key goals in electing Honorary Trustees are to: (1) involve all segments of the local Jewish community in HudsonJewish decisions; and (2) encourage communication among the institutions and individuals who make up our community. Local Jewish organizations are specifically requested to nominate Honorary Trustees to represent their interests at meetings of the HudsonJewish Board. Regardless of membership in any of the listed organizations, all members of the community are eligible for nomination. (For a list of invited organizations see, HudsonJewish Bylaws, Article VIII, Section B).
The HudsonJewish by-laws are posted on the "About" section of the HudsonJewish website; we encourage all organizations to adopt similarly transparent governance practices.
Please direct nominations to Michelle Levine, Secretary of the Board of Trustees: Secretary@HudsonJewish.org.
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Holocaust Education in Jersey City Public Schools
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Local Students to Report on Trip to Germany & Eastern Europe
On Wednesday, December 3, at 7:00 PM, Jersey City School District Language and Arts supervisor June Chang led several (non-Jewish) Jersey City Middle School students on a trip to Germany, Poland
and the Czech Republic earlier this year. Mr.
Chang and his students will present a film that they made about that
experience.
HudsonJewish recommends this program as an important
opportunity to build understanding among Jews and non-Jews throughout our
diverse region. If you or someone you know has World War II experiences, or parents or grandparents who survived the atrocities in Europe, this is a great opportunity to share those experiences with the students.
The film and discussion will take place at the Jersey City Middle School,
107 Bright Street
between Jersey and Montgomery
Avenues. Attendees are encouraged to arrive early. For more information contact HudsonJewish Trustee Raylie Dunkel, who is helping raise awareness of this important event in the Jewish and non-Jewish community. Raylie@HudsonJewish.org. |
| Follow-up on Recent Community Events |
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USH Restoration Kick-off Celebration, September 14th
At a ceremony on September 14, United Synagogue of Hoboken kicked off its long-awaited restoration project, expected to last into 2009. Attendees included US Senator Robert Menendez (pictured below, addressing the congregation), Hoboken Mayor David Roberts, Freeholder
Maurice Fitzgibbons, Freeholder-Elect Anthony Romano, and Hoboken City Council Members Theresa Castellano, Peter
Cammarrano, Peter Cunningham, Elizabeth Mason, Michael Russo, and Dawn
Zimmer. (Mason and Zimmer are members of the synagogue). A full account of the celebration, including video, is posted on the USH website. To USH members who recall the days when they shared the pews with overflowing buckets of rainwater, the synagogue's revival is proof that two decades of tireless work and constant outreach have paid off. USH's Star of Israel Building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was padlocked several decades ago, and  came close to being sold in the 1970s, before urban revitalization along the Hudson River waterfront yielded a bumper crop of local Jewish newcomers. Today, USH serves over 250 member households, making it the largest Conservative congregation in Hudson County.
Because Hoboken was the first Hudson County town to benefit from urban revitalization, it is not surprising that its synagogue was the first to benefit from the increase in Jewish population.
When HudsonJewish was organized 18 months ago, many community leaders opined that Hoboken's experience was unique. Today, however, other area synagogues, such as Congregation Mount Sinai of Jersey City Heights and Temple Beth-El of Jersey City, appear to be new attracting attendees, members and volunteers. HudsonJewish is pleased to play a role in this revival by performing the active outreach and publicity that many venerable local institutions are still learning how to accomplish. HudsonJewish invites the support of all local Jewish institutions and maintains an informative website on which they are invited to post their events: www.HudsonJewish.org. If HudsonJewish helps you find your way to a synagogue or other organization, please let its members know!
Bayonne JCC Honors Mona Paul
On Sunday, October 25th, the Bayonne JCC honored long-time volunteer Mona Paul at its annual gala dinner. A Bayonne resident for many decades (we won't say how many), Mona was recognized for her many years of service, both on the JCC Board and on its many committees. She was also among the 38 community-minded people who gathered at the historic meeting on April 17, 2007 to discuss the future of Jewish life in Hudson County -- a conversation that led to the creation of HudsonJewish. HudsonJewish extends a hearty "Mazal Tov" to Mona Paul and to her family. We are all inspired by her example as a community volunteer. |
"Hanukkah on the Hudson!" December 28 at BJCC
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Second Annual All-Community Celebration
Last year's
community-wide Hanukkah on the Hudson drew 300
people from every corner of the region and proved conclusively that a new
generation of Jewish people has discovered Hudson County. The event introduced (mostly younger) newcomers from the waterfront areas of Hoboken and downtown Jersey City, to the (mostly older) long-time residents of Bayonne, Jersey City's West Side, and other neighborhoods. By all accounts (including a delightful article by Father Alex Santora in the Jersey Journal), the event was a smash worthy of repetition. Especially popular was the musical entertainment provided by Hoboken's klezmer-inflected band, The Gordys.
Rabbi Gordon Gladstone and Soloist Joyce Nestle (Temple Beth Am, Bayonne) were among honorees from 8 synagogues who kindled the communal Hanukkah lights at HudsonJewish's first annual Hanukkah on the Hudson, held at the Bayonne JCC on December 11, 2007.
Please ask your organization's
leadership to consider the benefit of an inclusive, well-attended, heavily-promoted
community-wide celebration in addition to (or in lieu of) separate
Hanukkah events that tend to fragment participation and disguise the growing size of the local Jewish population.
A committee is now organizing the 2008 Hanukkah on the Hudson!. (First committee meeting to be held at Bayonne JCC on November 6 at 8PM). If you would like to participate, please contact Board Secretary Michelle Levine: Secretary@HudsonJewish.org.
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November - Early December Events
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To post your own organization's events to the HudsonJewish community calendar, email Honorary Trustee Jessica Lemmon (Jessica@HudsonJewish.org) for a username and password. Posting events is the best way to avoid scheduling conflicts and broadcast your events (and existence) to the community. Dates/times/locations may change, so check the online calendar for updates. Post by the 25th of the prior month for inclusion. We try to include selected events for the six weeks following publication, on or around the first of each month.
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Saturday, November 1: JYAH Pot Luck Dinner.
Saturday evening, November 1: United Synagogue of Hoboken "My Jewish Neighborhood Havdalah in Hoboken."
Sunday, November 3: Sunday brunch at United Synagogue of Hoboken. Rabbi Melissa Weintraub, founder of
Encounter, a group that encourages grassroots between Jewish and Palestinian
leaders. Rabbi Weintraub is the rabbinic
intern at USH.
Tuesday, November 4, 7-9PM: Ohav Zedek and Bayonne JCC Rosh Chodesh Program in Bayonne.
Thursday, November 6, 8PM: Planning meeting for "Hanukkah on the Hudson! -- 2008" (to be held at Bayonne JCC December 28).
To participate in planning this signature HudsonJewish event, contact
Board Secretary Michelle Levine: Secretary@HudsonJewish.org.
Friday, November 7, 8-9PM: Congregation B'nai Jacob Musical Shabbat.
Saturday night, November 8, 7:30-10PM: United Synagogue of Hoboken Film Series: "The Counterfeiters." Award-winning German drama about Jewish
prisoners put to work counterfeiting Allied currency during World War II.
Tuesday, November 11, 7-9PM: "God on Trial: Kristallnacht 70th Anniversary." Temple Israel Community Center/Congregation Heichal Yisrael of Cliffside Park. Riveting 90-minute
BBC drama about prisoners in Auschwitz who put
God on trial for breaking his covenant with the Jewish people. "['God on
Trial'] is a very powerful and unsettling piece," says Sir Antony Sher, an
Olivier Award winning stage actor who plays Akiva, a Polish rabbi who is the
final "witness" to give evidence. "Each of the characters'
speeches is so convincing," he says. "I think the viewers are going
to find themselves swinging back and forth between the different
arguments." God On Trial was
written by one of Britain's
most versatile and prolific screenwriters, Frank Cottrell Boyce. In addition to
Sher, it stars some of Britain's
finest actors, including Rupert Graves, Jack Shepherd, Dominic Cooper and Eddie
Marsan. Also in the cast is the celebrated Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgard. Brief memorial service followed by film,
which is also being broadcast locally on WNET
Channel 13 on Sunday, November 9, 9PM.
Rabbi Shammai Engelmayer will lead a discussion following the film.
Tuesday, November 11,
8PM: "Jewish
Young Adults of Hoboken Bowling Night" at Leisure Time Bowling in Hoboken. For more information contact HobokenJYAH@Yahoo.com.
Thursday, November 13, 7PM: "Live from 1050" Coffee House at Bayonne JCC. Sue Miller, coordinator of the
coffeehouse, says, "We're looking for the finest in area talent. We encourage
first-time and seasoned performers to join us." Performance slots are limited.
Interested to perform? Contact Sue at
(201) 232-7212 or e-mail coffeehouse1050@yahoo.com.
Monday, November 17, 7:30-9PM: HudsonJewish Board of Trustees Meeting. Contact Board
Secretary Michelle Levine for further information: Secretary@HudsonJewish.org.
Tuesday, November 18, 7-9PM: Hadassah focus group.
Hadassah, The Women's Zionist Organization of America and sponsor of the
world-renowned Hadassah Medical Center
in Jerusalem, is sponsoring a focus group in Hoboken. Location:
South Independence Conference Room at 2 Twelfth Street and Shipyard Lane in Hoboken.
For more information contact Joyce at the Northern NJ Region of
Hadassah, 973-472-1401 or NNJRegion@Hadassah.org. Make sure to let her know that you found the event through HudsonJewish!
Friday/Saturday, November 21-2, 2008: Musical Shabbat and 50th Anniversary Gala at Congregation B'nai Jacob.
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Friday, November 28, 7:30PM: Congregation Mount Sinai of Jersey City Heights Kabbalat Shabbat Dinner. Thanksgiving-style dinner. Join the ecletic -- some might say "offbeat" -- Mount Sinai community for a family-style dinner
following Kabbalat Shabbat services. If you are exploring synagogue options and
would like to meet the diverse new members who are reviving this venerable
100-year-old congregation, the monthy Shabbat dinners are an ideal occasion to do
so. For more information contact HudsonJewish Vice Chairman Dr. Neil Davis: Neil@HudsonJewish.org.
Tuesday, December 2, 7-9PM: Ohav Zedek & Bayonne JCC Rosh Chodesh Program.
Wednesday, December 3, 7-9PM. Holocaust education program sponsored by Jersey City Public Schools. As reported in The Jewish
Standard, Jersey City School District Language and Arts supervisor June Chang
led several (non-Jewish) Jersey City Middle School students on a trip to Germany, Poland
and the Czech Republic earlier this year. Mr.
Chang and his students will present a film that they made about that
experience. See above for further information on this event and why it could be an important opportunity to build inter-community understanding in our area. (Location: Jersey City Middle School,
107 Bright Street
between Jersey and Montgomery
Avenues). Contact HudsonJewish Trustee Raylie Dunkel: Raylie@HudsonJewish.org.
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Thank you to Gutterman Bros. Funeral Directors
Toll free (any time of day or night): 866-473-3700
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Since 1892 the Gutterman family has served the Jewish community with dignity and respect. Gutterman Bros. Funeral Directors has supported HudsonJewish since our inception in 2007. |
| Contact Lawrence P. Gutterman, NJ License 4507. |
| Recognizing Our Generous Contributors |
Founded in 2007, HudsonJewish is a grass-roots, volunteer effort to nurture and support Jewish life in the Hudson County area by connecting Jewish people with each other and with the institutions that serve the community. A list of contributors is published on the HudsonJewish website at: HudsonJewish - Donors. Add your name to the list of community supporters by contributing online or by check to:HudsonJewish, PO Box 225, Jersey City, NJ 07303
Contributions may be made in honor (or in memory) of loved ones, friends, or special occasions. Contributions will be acknowledged on the website; indicate whether you prefer to donate anonymously.
100% of Donations Support Local Jewish Programs
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PJ Library for Children 6 Months Through 7 Years
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Free Jewish books, delivered monthly to families with young children
"The PJ
Library" is a treasury of Jewish
Books for families with young children.
Thanks to generosity of
Diane Wohl and the resourcefulness of volunteers at United Synagogue of
Hoboken, families with young children can receive a monthly gift of a high-quality, age-appropriate
Jewish book or CD, as well as a reading guide, from the PJ Library. This program is for children ages 6 months
through 7 years.
The PJ Library is available for free to the first 200 children to
register in the Hoboken/ Hudson County
area. For more information contact
Joanna Weintraub: Preschool@hobokensynagogue.org or 201-653-8666. Further information at: www.PJLibrary.org.
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Special from The Jewish State
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A Perfect Synagogue In A Perfect World Is . . .
. . . Perfectly Absurd
By Judy Walters
Re-Printed with Permission of The Jewish State
I've been picturing the perfect
synagogue, the one everyone would want to join.
First of all, it would be home
to the world's greatest Hebrew
School. The teachers
would always be engaged in sharing their love of Hebrew and all things Jewish.
The kids would never be bored. In fact, they would cheer as we dropped them off
for class! The best part about this fictional Hebrew School?
You get to choose your own schedule. Want to go one day a week? No problem. Two
days? No problem. Three days? No problem! Start at 4 p.m.? Great! Start at 5
p.m.? Great! Start at 6 p.m.? Great! Hebrew
School is open Saturdays
as well as Sundays, so just pick your day. Don't want to go on a weekend at
all? No problem. Just skip them altogether.
Services would always be at
your preferred time. The Rabbi would start at 7 p.m. He would start at 7:30
p.m. Then he would start at 8 p.m. On Saturdays, she would begin at 9 a.m., and
then at 10 a.m., and finally at 11 a.m. Services would be no more than an hour,
or, of course, over an hour, if that's what you prefer.
In the perfect synagogue, the
building and the grounds would never need updating, so guess what! No building
fund.
In the perfect synagogue,
everyone would get along. The perfect synagogue includes a multitude of
dedicated volunteers who work alongside each other in perfect harmony. No one
would dare criticize another volunteer's ideas. And you'd never have to
scramble to find someone to chair the Purim Carnival or the Dinner Dance or
even, believe it or not, the Hebrew School Model Seder, which, of course,
includes the cheerful task of roasting hundreds of boiled eggs.
In the perfect synagogue, the
programming would satisfy everyone. There'd be programming for the young, for
the old, for families, for singles. There would be programs on Torah, programs
on Israel,
programs on social justice. There would be programs for teens, who would beg
their parents, "Just bring me to Temple,
would you already?!?" (And all program fees would be included in your dues!)
We'd match make our children in
our perfect synagogue and they wouldn't get mad at us for the matchmaking
either. "Oh, Mother," my daughter would cry gratefully, "You've chosen the
perfect man for me!"
In the perfect synagogue, we'd
all find comfortable seats at the High Holidays, and we'd all go to weekly
services, too, where the perfect melodies, the ones that never change, would
ring peacefully in our ears before we'd all wish each other a Good Shabbos.
Then we'd go to our perfect Oneg Shabbat, where any sweet you could ever
imagine would be waiting for you. (In my case, they'd be all chocolate, but I'm
sure in the perfect synagogue, they'd make sure to have nonchocolate items,
too, to accommodate the anti-chocolate among us.)
Maybe in the end, the goal
should not be perfection. Maybe it should be to find a synagogue that makes
your family feel warm and cared for and relaxed and comfortable. Maybe it should
be a place that feels like a second home. When those feelings come, the rest
won't matter.
Judy
Walters is a freelance writer who lives in Kendall Park, New Jersey. She is also a regular blogger at
parentjuice.com, with the user name "Judy226". She can be reached at: JWRWAND2@aol.com.
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The Hudson Jewish Community Forum ("HudsonJewish") is a New Jersey Nonprofit Corporation. Our mission is to nurture and support Jewish life in Hudson County, New Jersey.
HudsonJewish: Connecting Our Community
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