Klezmer Concert This Sunday, April 3 at 2pm! 

Temple Beth El of North Bergen, NJ will present a concert by the acclaimed Columbia University Klezmer Band this Sunday, April 3, 2011, at 2PM.  Ticket are $15 for the general public, $10 for members of Temple Beth El.

The Columbia University Klezmer Band comprises talented students from Columbia University, Barnard College and the Jewish Theological Seminary, who bring with them a variety of musical backgrounds.  The klezmer musical style, which has made an enormous comeback in the past 25 years, is Jewish folk/dance music whose roots lie in Eastern Europe, with influences as diverse as Balkan folk songs, Gypsy melodies and American jazz. The Columbia University Klezmer Band has performed all over the tri-state area, including at the Liberty Science Center, the Stanton Street Synagogue, and the Town and Village Synagogue on 14th Street in New York City, as well as at other leading American universities.  The Band has recorded several albums, including "Hyperklezmia" and "Thank you Mr. Belf", which features Temple Beth El's Rabbi Ilan Glazer on percussion.  Rabbi Glazer was a founding member of the Band, which first performed in 2000.  Musical clips can be heard at: http://columbia.klezmer.org/repetroire.htm.

Tickets can be purchased by calling the Temple Beth El office at: 201-869-9149 or at the door.  The synagogue is located at 300 75th Street  (Corner of 75th & Hudson Streets) in North Bergen.  The Temple's website is: www.templebethelofnorthbergen.org.  The Columbia University Klezmer Band's website is: http://columbia.klezmer.org/.

About Temple Beth El of North Bergen:  Temple Beth El is an egalitarian Conservative synagogue, which has served Northern Hudson County for more than 80 years.  The synagogue strives to reflect and address the needs of the diverse local Jewish community, evolving with the neighborhoods that it serves.  With services and a variety of religious and cultural activities throughout the year, the Temple aims to offer ways for people to connect with their Jewish roots, regardless of their background, place of origin, or level of observance.  Ilan Glazer is the spiritual leader of Temple Beth El and leads all services and ritual observances.

  Moishe House Hoboken News 

On Monday, March 7, representatives of HudsonJewish met with the leadership of Moishe House Hoboken including regional Moishe House Director, Jeremy Moskowitz, to learn about the 5-year-old organization and discuss avenues of cooperation.  Leaders from Congregation B'nai Jacob (Jersey City) and United Synagogue of Hoboken also attended. 

Moishe House Hoboken Leaders Meet Hudson Jewish Community Leaders, March 7, 2011.  Pictured, (l to r):  front:  Lisa Radding, Shira Huberman, Jessica Stolow; rear: Jeremy Moskowitz, Matt Meistrich, David Rosenberg, Cantor Marsha Dubrow, David Rosen, Joshua Einstein, Jane Canter, Sid Canter

There are now 33 Moishe Houses in 13 countries, serving as gathering places for young Jewish adults in their 20s and 30s.  Moishe House Hoboken sponsors numerous educational and social events each month including popular Friday night dinners.  Their primary means of communication is via Facebook.  For more information about Moishe House, contact house leader Joshua Einstein at smarshal57@aol.com.  See below for upcoming Moishe House Hoboken events. 

  Jewish Summer Camp Stipends Available  

UJA Federation of Northern New Jersey, in partnership with the Foundation for Jewish Camp, is offering $1,000 incentive One Happy Camper grants to first-time campers at Jewish overnight camps.

Attending an overnight Jewish camp is one of the most powerful ways to build Jewish identity and commitment in young people.  At camp, Jewish values, connection to Israel, and the culture of Judaism are incorporated into every aspect of daily activity in a warm, fun, and nurturing environment.

Eligibility: students who will be enrolled in a minimum three-week overnight camp run by a not-for-profit Jewish organization are eligible.  Only students who attend public or secular private schools are eligible. If a camper was previously enrolled in a Jewish overnight camp of less than three weeks or went to a non-Jewish camp, s/he is still eligible.

Additional information and online application are available at www.onehappycamper.org.

Synagogue Spotlight:  Congregation Mount Sinai of Jersey City Heights  

Congregation Mount Sinai of Jersey City is a traditional synagogue located at 128 Sherman Avenue in the Heights section of town, just west of Hoboken on the Palisade cliffs overlooking the Hudson River.  Once the seat of a thriving Jewish community, Congregation Mount Sinai's fortunes have followed the vicissitudes of regional demographics, including the recent rediscovery of the neighborhood by young Jewish singles, couples and families with children.  Rabbi Shlomo Marks, his wife Rebbetizin Barbara Marks, and the rest of the welcoming congregation invite you to discover them on any Shabbat morning! 

Members of Congregation Mount Sinai of Jersey City Heights enjoy the festival of Purim, March 20, 2011

Two New Local Kosher/Vegetarian Options 

Two new kosher/vegetarian restaurants have opened in the area, Maoz Vegetarian in Hoboken and Sapthagiri Taste of India in Jersey City.

Maoz Vegetarian is located at 315 Washington Street, close to the PATH station.  Customers can eat in or take out.  Delivery is also available.  Maoz is under the hashgacha (kosher supervision) of Rabbi Israel Mayer Steinberg.  Maoz is part of a chain of over 25 vegetarian restaurants located throughout the eastern US and Western Europe.

Sapthagiri Taste of India is located at 804 Newark Avenue in the Little India section of Jersey City, and is under the hashgacha of Rabbi Shlomo Marks of Congregation Mount Sinai of Jersey City.

Links to both restaurants' websites are available on the HudsonJewish website, under the "Cuisine" section of the "Directory" tab.  

April 2011 Events 

To post your own organization's events to the HudsonJewish  community calendar, email 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.  More information is often available on the HudosnJewish website at www.HudsonJewish.org.

Sunday, April 3, 11:15am - 1:00pm: Temples Emanu-El & Beth Am Spring Film Festival.  Join the Bayonne Jewish community for a screening of this month's featured film: "The Year My Parents Went on Vacation." Storyline:  when his parents' political leanings force his family to flee Brazil in haste, 12-year-old Mauro (Michel Joelsas) is left behind to live with his grandfather on the outskirts of Sao Paulo in the city's Jewish community.  But what his parents didn't realize is that Mauro's grandfather has recently died, and the only person left to care for the boy is his grandfather's next-door neighbor, Shlomo (Germano Haiut).  Location: Temple Emanu-El, 735 Kennedy Blvd., Bayonne. Contact temple office: 201-436-4499 or Andy Platizky, 201-437-7926.

Sunday, April 3, 1:30pm - 6:00pm:  Jewish Young Adults of Hoboken (JYAH) Brewery Tour and Bowling.  Join young Jewish adults (20's and 30's-ish) for a free tour of the Brooklyn Brewery followed by bowling at Brooklyn Bowl next door.  If you want to travel with the group, meet at the Hoboken PATH entrance directly across from Texas Arizona at 12:30pm.  If not coming with the group, meet at the brewery, 79 North 11^th Street in Brooklyn near the Bedford Avenue Stop on the L train.  The plan is to take the 2PM tour.  For further information and RSVP, contact Brett Levy, 917-623-9540.  (Also, don't forget to join the JYAH group on Facebook).

Sunday, April 3, 2:00pm - 4:00pm: Columbia University Klezmer Band Live at Temple Beth El of North Bergen. The fantastic Columbia University Klezmer band will be performing at Temple Beth El of North Bergen.  Tickets are $15. RSVP by calling the temple office at 201-869-9149 or by email at office@templebethelofnorthbergen.org. Location: Temple Beth El of North Bergen, 300 75th Street North Bergen.

Friday, April 8, 8:30pm - 11:30pm:  Moishe House Hoboken Superhero Shabbat.  Jewish adults in their 20's and 30's are invited to join Moishe House Hoboken for a Shabbat dinner at 1313 Grand Street, Apt. 306 in Hoboken.  Costumes welcome but not required.  For more information consult the Moishe House Hoboken Facebook page.

Sunday, April 10, 9:00am - 11:00am: Career Transition Workshop; Find the Right Career for You.  Considering a career change, starting a business or re-entering the workforce in search of a more flexible, meaningful or financially rewarding career? Join United Synagogue of Hoboken member Susan Kaplan, Career Coach, for a hands-on workshop to learn career transition strategies and to clarify your career priorities.  Admission: $20 in advance; RSVP by April 7th to susan@kaplanconsultingcoaching or 917-405-8362. Learn more at www.kaplanconsultingcoaching.com.  Location: United Synagogue of Hoboken, 115 Park Avenue, Hoboken.

Sunday, April 10, 10am:  Lox 'N' Learning:  The Art of Jewish Papercutting at Congregation B'nai Jacob of Jersey City.  Join award-winning artist Deborah Ugoretz for a unique hands-on workshop in the Art of Jewish Papercutting.  This ancient Jewish art has been practiced for centuries in Israel and across the Diaspora.  Join Deborah as she offers a unique slide presentation about the history of the art followed by a hands-on workshop.  Suggested donation of $5 to cover breakfast plus $5 for materials.  Plenty of parking available in the synagogue's capacious lot.  For more information contact the synagogue office, 201-435-5725.  Congregation B'nai Jacob is located at 176 West Side Avenue in Jersey City.

Sunday, April 10, 10:00am - 5:00pm: CARE LINK Passover Food/Visit Program. Jewish Family and Counseling Service will once again be sponsoring the annual CARE LINK Passover Food/Visit Program. Meet at the Bayonne JCC (1050 Kennedy Blvd.) at 10am. Volunteers will help to assemble Kosher for Passover food packages and then deliver and visit with JFS clients in the community.  To register as a volunteer, please contact Liz Levy at the JFS office (973-765-9050, ext. 1715) or by email to llevy@jfsmetrowest.org.

Sunday, April 10, 3:00pm - 6:00pm: "The Last Night at Ballyhoo." Join a group from United Synagogue of Hoboken going to see the Hudson Theater Ensemble's production of "The Last Night at Ballyhoo," a play about the Jewish community of Atlanta, followed by a discussion moderated by Rabbi Scheinberg about the various Jewish issues raised by the play.  See www.hudsontheatreensemble.com for all the other dates/times; reserve at 201-377-7014 or reservations@hudsontheatreensemble.com. $18; students/seniors $15.

Location: Hudson School Performance Space, 601 Park Avenue, Hoboken.

Monday, April 18, 8:00pm: Congregation Mount Sinai Community Seder. Congregation Mount Sinai will hold a Pesach Community Seder Monday April 18 at 8pm at the shul, led by the Britannic Rabbi Shlomo Marks.  RSVP to Rabbi Marks at RavShlomo.MtSinai@gmail.com.  Location:Congregation Mount Sinai, 128 Sherman Avenue, Jersey City (in Jersey City Heights).

Monday and Tuesday, April 18 & 19, Times TBD.  Chabad of Hoboken Community Seders - First and Second nights. Chabad of Hoboken will host seders on both nights.  Details will be posted later; consult the HudsonJewish calendar for further information or contact the inimitable Rabbi Moshe Schapiro, 201-386-5222 or Rabbi@ChabadHoboken.com. 

Tuesday, April 19, 6:30pm: United Synagogue of Hoboken (USH) Congregational Seder.  Sign-up sheet will be on the USH website.  Location: United Synagogue of Hoboken, 115 Park Avenue.  Seder will be led by energetic Rabbi Robert Scheinberg.  For more information/contacts, see www.HobokenSynagogue.org.

Tuesday, April 19, 6:30pm: Temple Beth Am Second Night Seder. Seder will be conducted by the lively Rabbi Gordon Gladstone, with a sumptuous Passover feast by Lox, Stock and Deli. $55.00 for adults; $20.00 for children ages 5-13. No charge for children under 5.  Please have payment accompany reservations by April 13. For your convenience, you may use the reservation form available here or call the temple office at 201-858-2020 or email TempleBethAm@OptOnline.net.  Location: Temple Beth Am, 111 Avenue B, Bayonne.

Tuesday, April 19, 6:30pm: Community Seder at Temple Beth El of North Bergen.  Seder will be conducted by the kinetic Rabbi Ilan Glezer.  $40 for synagogue members, $45 for non-members, children free. All are welcome. RSVP by April 10th by calling Temple Beth El at 201-869-9149 or at office@templebethelofnorthbergen.org.

Location: Temple Beth El of North Bergen 300 75th Street, North Bergen.

Tuesday, April 19, 7:30pm: Temple Israel Community Center | Congregation Heichal Yisrael Second Night Seder.  Seder to be conducted by the vivacious Rabbi Shammai Engelmayer, using a specially-created "scripted hagadah" that allows all who want to participate to do so.  For more information, and to make reservations, RSVP to Goldy in the temple office, 201-945-7310 by April 4.  (Leave a message if the office is not open).  Visa & MC accepted.  Parking available on side streets and in the municipal lot behind the synagogue.  Location:  207 Edgewater Road, between Palisade and Anderson Avenues in Cliffside Park.

Thursday, April 28, 7:30pm - 9:00pm: Class with USH Rabbinic Intern Annie Lewis.  (Also meets Thursday, May 5).  United Synagogue of Hoboken Rabbinic Intern Annie Lewis leads a class on Megillat Haatzmaut (Israel's Declaration of Independence). As we gear up to celebrate the 63rd birthday of the State of Israel, we will study the text upon which the state was founded. Join us to explore this document's connections to Jewish history, literature and Zionist thought and talk about what these words mean for Israel today.  Location: United Synagogue of Hoboken, 115 Park Avenue.  RSVP at www.hobokensynagogue.org or call 201-659-4000.

Sunday, May 1, 1pm:  Community-wide Yom HaShoah Observance at Congregation B'nai Jacob:   For the 46th consecutive year, Congregation B'nai Jacob of Jersey City, Temple Beth-El of Jersey City and United Synagogue of Hoboken will mark Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) with a joint community observance, to take place at Congregation B'nai Jacob on Sunday, May 1, at 1PM.

The commemoration will include the presentation of an extraordinary, award-winning documentary entitled, "Loboml" which documents through the first-person testimony of almost a dozen survivors and superlative photographs, the story of a Jewish town in Poland, one of thousands annihilated by the Germans during the Holocaust. The film provides a unique window into Jewish life in Europe before the Holocaust and offers an opportunity to view firsthand Jewish life as it was before the Shoah through extensive first-person testimony. The afternoon will also include a musical program featuring the USH Choir, as well as prayers and remarks by Rabbi Ken Brickman, Rabbi Robert Scheinberg and Cantor Marsha Dubrow, spiritual leaders of the three hosting congregations. A ritual memorial candle lighting for the six million who perished will conclude the program. The entire community is welcome.  Ample off-street parking is available.  A reception will follow the program.

Thursday, May 12, 8pm: Israeli Folk/Rock Band, "The Shuk" to Perform in Hoboken.  The Shuk, an Israeli Folk/Rock Band will perform to celebrate Israel's birthday. Young adults in their 20s and 30s are invited to attend. The event will be held at Maxwell's, 1039 Washington Street, in Hoboken, NJ. Doors open at 7:30pm, the show starts at 8:00pm.

The Shuk has been called "a rock group that will get you on your feet," by Hoboken resident and organizer Allison Halpern. The event is the first of its kind; a collaboration between local Hoboken Jewish organizations and the community at-large to create an Israel Independence Day rock music mega-event.

Joshua Einstein, resident of Moishe House Hoboken said, "This is a great venue, a great band, a great collaborative effort, and a great reason to celebrate." He continued, "it is after all Israel's birthday bash! It's going to be a huge celebration and the music is going to be great."

The Hoboken Israel Independence Day Bash was initiated by New Jersey's community shlichim (emissaries from Israel) in cooperation with local and area partners including Moishe House Hoboken, Hoboken Hadassah, United Synagogue of Hoboken, Jewish Young Adults of Hoboken, Jersey Tribe, the Israeli Consulate of NYC, United Jewish Communities of MetroWest, UJA Federation of Northern New Jersey, Nefesh B'Nefesh, MASA Israel, and Birthright NEXT.

To buy tickets online visit: www.hobokenisraelparty.com  

HudsonJewish is a 100% volunteer effort and relies on the community for support.  While donations are always appreciated, the most important thing we need is people to help with specific tasks.  In particular, if you have skills in publicity or website development, contact us at info@HudsonJewish.org.   You will be joining a dedicated and capable group of volunteers to serve a growing community that depends on HudsonJewish for information and connection to other Jews in the vicinity.

If you agree that HudsonJewish is doing good work for the community, you are also invited to make a donation either by PayPal on our website, or by check to:  HudsonJewish, PO Box 225, Jersey City, NJ 07303.

HudsonJewish is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation.