Greetings!
The only way Faith House can continue to take risks, make a difference, and develop is through the contributions of people like you.
Last week, I told one of our most enthusiastic friends that in order to survive as an organization this next year we needed financial support from people like him. His reply - "I admire what you do, but I had no idea you were struggling financially. You have such a strong online presence" - made me wonder how many of our other supporters may have this perception.
We can not go on. Not without you.
If we do not reach our year-end fundraising goal and move this ticker into the 40s or 50s, we will need to severely cut back our operation, at a time when we are growing and meeting the urgent needs of our time. This next year we will be getting our own independent 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status from the IRS and can finally start raising institutional funds in 2012 and beyond. But this year is critical in terms of support from the people who believe in us.
Please make a contribution today, in proportion to your own convictions about the ideas and values we constantly explore and seek to put into practice.
In Faith,
Samir Selmanovic
Founder and President of the Board
P.S. All of our spring 2011 Living Room dates and some of the hosts and topics are listed below, so mark your calendars and consider Sponsoring or Co-Sponsoring a Living Room, especially if there is a certain evening that calls out to you, reminds you of someone special, or relates to your passions and work. |
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LIVING ROOM GATHERING
More to Food than Feeding
 Wednesday, January 12, 2010 6 pm Doors, 7 pm Program Intersections, 274 5th Ave Btwn 29th and 30th Sts
Food has an important role in every religion. It connects us with God, the earth, our bodies, and each other. Cooking integrates the five senses. Eating stands at the connecting point of science, art, and economy.
Yet, we are part of the culture that promotes feeding instead of having a meal. Come and slow down with us. There will be no lectures. Our founder Samir Selmanovic will share his experience of growing up in a Croatian atheist family where the sacred was communicated through food. Come for stories, tasting, and friends. We will also hear food blessings from different religious traditions as included in 100 Graces: Mealtime Blessings, by Marcia and Jack Kelly, friends of Faith House Manhattan.
We are looking for 4-8 people to bring their sacred dishes, share a personal story related to the dish, and the recipe! Please email samir@faithhousemanhattan.org if you would like to present and share.
RSVPs and donations welcome (but not required) on Eventbrite
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LIVING ROOM GATHERING
A Tu BeShevat Seder:
The Feast of Fruits from the Tree of Life
 Wednesday, January 26, 2011 6 pm Doors, 7 pm Program Intersections, 274 5th Ave Btwn 29th and 30th Sts
With mystic Maggid
Yitzhak Buxbaum and Carole Forman
Suggested Donation of $10-15 for food and drink during Seder
Tu BeShvat is the only Jewish holiday ordained by the kabbalists. At the seder we taste many fruits, drink fruit of the vine, hear mystical teachings, and meditate to soul-stirring melodies. The seder anticipates the redemption of all humanity and our return to the Garden of Eden, when we will eat fruit from the Tree of Life. This celebration of God's creation is about the redemption of the whole planet-- including animals, plants, and Nature itself. Tu BeShvat is mystical, inclusive, and "green." Its theme is One God, one humanity, one planet. On Tu BeShvat, the Jewish people hosts the whole world. And you're invited!
Yitzhak Buxbaum is a maggid (inspirational speaker and storyteller), who specializes in mysticism and hasidic tales. He teaches at synagogues and Jewish institutions throughout the U.S. and Canada, and also at churches, ashrams, mosques, temples and interfaith venues. Yitzhak founded and directs the Jewish Spirit Maggid Training Program, and is the author of ten books, including The Light and Fire of the Baal Shem Tov, Jewish Tales of Holy Women, and A Person is Like a Tree: A Source Book for Tu BeShvat.
Carole Forman is a baal mesapair ruchani- a master spiritual storyteller; a graduate of the Jewish Spirit Maggid Training Program. She has thrilled audiences of adults and of children around the U.S. and Canada. Her Soul Motion - TenuYah! workshops in creative movement bring body and spirit together. Carole is a long-time yoga teacher and a Guidess at Life Works Inc. A professional actress, she currently plays Miriam in the five-woman play In the Voices of Our Mothers.
RSVPs and donations welcome (but not required) on Eventbrite
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Mark Your Calendar
| | February - June 2011 Living Rooms |
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Sponsor a
Living Room | 
| We are thankful to our 2010 Living Room Sponsors!
Music's Lessons for Mystics: Three songs and a talk on secular transcendence with Austin Dacey, May 2010 Co-Sponsored by the Center for Inquiry NYC
Light, Color & the Sacred: Holiday Craft Night with Andy Padre, December 8, 2010 Co-Sponsored and lovingly dedicated to the memory of Lora Padre by Andy Padre, Russell Chin and friends
Sponsor a 2011 Living Room event for $500 or Co-Sponsor for $250. To find out more, Email us or visit our Donations page.
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New Year's Eve Concert for Peace
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Friday, December 31 7 PM - FREECathedral of St. John the Divine1047 Amsterdam Ave. The Cathedral marks the New Year with the annual New Years Eve Concert for Peace, conceived by Leonard Bernstein. Guests this year include Judy Collins, Harry Smith, and the Ubuntu-Shruti Orchestra under Conductor George Mathew, performing music of all the Abrahamic faiths: Franz Josef Haydn's Mass in Time of War, a Cello Concerto on Jewish Themes, and a Sufi Call to Worship by Juliet Rabia Gentile.
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