Or Chadash gratefully acknowledges the generous donations to the 25th Anniversary Fund received to date from:

Larry & Beatrice Abrams

Steve & Susan Albert

Kurt & Susan Blaicher

Tim & Miriam Blanke

Ira & Estelle Breines

Jeff & Christine Berg  

Jeffrey D. Charney  

Brian & Carol Coriell

George Eckelmann & Jane Engel

Rabbi Joseph M. Forman

Harvey Gold

Evelyne Hersch

Mark & Jessica Hodkinson

Estelle Katcher

Robert & Shirl Levy

Darren & Elizabeth Loew

Stephen & Diana Propper

Rick & Jill Rosenthal

Joseph & Carolyn Sansevere

John & Toby Sarinick

Robert & Alice Schwade

John Graybeal & Laura Senator

Stephen Sinoway & Beth Golden

Louis & Caryn Speizer

Gerald & Ronda Starr

Ross & Susan Weinick 

Gary & Deb Weiss
Richard Willey & Meridith Sigel-Willey

Mark & Kristina Witzling

Bruce & Betsy Zalaznick
Eric & Naomi Zwerling

If I'm wearing my professional fundraiser hat, I will tell you that fundraising is just what non-profits do to support their mission and to connect them with their supporters.  In our case that mission is to offer a caring and inclusive congregation that shares the celebration of life cycle events, provides education for all ages, worships and builds Jewish community through acts of Tikkun Olam. Fundraising allows us to do more programming, maintain and improve our building, provide opportunities to share Jewish experiences and continue to grow and flourish.  While it is entirely true that we pay dues and tuition, those funds only pay for some of our fantastic programming and operational costs.   From a purely financial perspective, we need ongoing financial support of our congregation.  Every nonprofit I've worked with relies heavily on support from its members to continue its mission.    

As your board president, I believe fundraising is critical to our ongoing success.  Supporting Or Chadash ties you more closely to our Jewish community and helps us build a strong financial foundation that will let us plant our roots more deeply in Hunterdon County.  Since, like many  non-profits, we don't receive tax dollars, government or federal money, additional fundraising becomes even more important. A strong financial base helps us meet the diverse needs of our members, maintain our building, provide our children a strong Jewish education and continue to attract new members.   

As the secular year winds down, I ask you to consider an end of year financial gift to Or Chadash.  If you were not able to support our High Holy Days Appeal, or even if you were, now is a great time to extend your financial support of our Jewish community. With this in mind, please consider your best gift, whether it is $18, $118 or more, your support is deeply appreciated.  You can make your donation via mail to the synagogue or through our website, http://www.orchadash-nj.org.    
 

Or Chadash also believes in supporting our community.  Each year on the sixth night of Hanukkah, the Or Chadash community shares in the tradition of Ner Shel Tzedakah, or  the "candle of righteousness" when families donate the value of the gifts that would otherwise be exchanged on that night to organizations that assist the poor. 

We will once again be supporting the residents the Sand Hill Boys Home with gifts for this year's holiday season.   Last year we were able to provide each boy with a gift-card and hoodie of their choosing.  We hope to once again make their holiday memorable.  Look for details soon about how to contribute.

I hope to see many of you at our wine tasting on November 23rd.  You can purchase tickets on the front page of our website.  Held at Old York Wine Cellars, from 6-10 pm, it should be a wonderful fundraiser for Or Chadash and a fun night out with friends.   

Click here to RSVP and purchase tickets.
Special reception featuring classic appetizers ...
with thanks to Mark Drabich and Metropolitan Seafood.

A special program featuring

Meg Wiviott, author of 

Benno and the Night of Broken Glass

Friday, November 15th 7:00 PM

Meg Wiviott, author of Benno and the Night of Broken Glass, will join Or Chadash on Friday, November 15th at 7PM.  Everyone is welcome to attend.

 

Benno and the Night of Broken Glass is a gentle introduction to the beginning of the Holocaust. Through the eyes of an orange and white neighborhood cat named Benno, we learn of the astute observations and changes in German and Jewish families in Benno's town during the time leading up to Kristallnacht, known as the Night of Broken Glass. Benno receives fresh milk each day from Hans the Hausmeister, he finds a sunny spot to nap at Mitzi Stein's dress shop, and he walks to school with Inge and Sophie.  Benno spends Friday nights with the Adler family as they light the Sabbath candles, and on Sundays after church he visits the Schmidt's for lunch.

 

But gradually things change. People are not so friendly.  "Men in brown uniforms" build bonfires to burn books.  Some people cheer.  Benno notices the girls no longer play or walk to school together.  The tension builds until "a night like no other" -- Kristallnacht.  The Adler's apartment is destroyed while the Schmidt's remain untouched.  Hans still leaves milk for Benno, but life for Benno has forever changed.

 

Meg Wiviott's choice to tell this story from the perspective of a cat is a unique way to introduce young children to one of history's darkest times. 

This is not a watered down view of the Night of Broken Glass but rather an alternate, impartial view, similar to what a child or innocent observer might have seen and felt. The images and attention to detail demonstrate the research that has gone into the creation of this book. Useful for introducing Kristallnacht, prejudice, and racism, the author has also presented an example of narrative through the eyes of another whom one might not normally expect to hear or see. 

 

The illustrator, Josee Bisaillon, provides cut paper and mixed media illustrations to enrich the text with her striking multimedia artwork composed of paper, fabric, and drawn images in hues of olive, brown, and red. The spreads depict a normal city neighborhood from a cat's-eye view, which is eventually upended by dark shadowy figures with big black boots. Wiviott has included a bibliography and afterword with further information about Kristallnacht.

___ 

 

In addition to reading her book on Friday, November 15 at 7PM, Meg Wiviott will talk about the process of creating a character and developing a story to publication.  Everyone will have the opportunity to create an individual or collective art project using Josee Bisaillon's techniques.  

 

Or Chadash welcomes the entire community to this program.  Meg Wiviott's presentation will follow an abbreviated Shabbat service to which the entire community is welcome.  The evening will conclude with a reception.  Books will be available for purchase and signing.

 

Death and dying is a difficult topic for most of us. Or Chadash wants to help ease the challenges of those inevitable moments by preparing us with information and resources.

This fall we will have two important programs I strongly encourage you to attend.

 

November 14 7PM- 8PM - What Does Judaism Say about Death and Dying? Jewish burial practices have provided comfort to the bereaved for centuries.  Other cultures' practices are sometimes different.  Why do we do what we do and what DO we do?  Funeral Director Bob Smilk from Goldsteins, Rosenberg, Raphael and Sacks, will join Rabbi Forman in this informative conversation.  Everyone is welcome to attend. 

  

December 8  10:30AM- 12PM - The Conversation Project at Or Chadash. 

It's time to transform our culture so we shift from not talking about dying to talking about it. It's time to share the way we want to live at the end of our lives. And it's time to communicate about the kind of care we want and don't want for ourselves. The place for this to begin is at the kitchen table-not in the intensive care unit-with the people we love, before it's too late.

We can make these difficult conversations easier. We can make sure that our own wishes and those of our loved ones are expressed and respected.

 

Featuring Santiago Cohen, 

artist, author and illustrator.

Sunday, November 24th 9:00 AM

 

 

On Sunday, November 24 everyone is invited to the Hunterdon Art Museum at 9 AM for a very special presentation and discussion by the featured artist, author and illustrator Santiago Cohen and the Museum Educator.  This program will take place before the museum opens to the public.    
Following the program at the museum, Santiago Cohen will be joining us at Or Chadash where he will continue his presentation, read several of his books and help participants create their own illustrated stories.

 

____

 

Santiago Cohen: Ex-Vida Project 

In 2006, when Santiago Cohen wanted to tell his two children the story of his life - as a Jew growing up in Mexico, and as a Mexican starting a career and family in New York - he decided to paint it.  When finished, he had 1,150 oil paintings completed in ex-voto style: a narrative form of painting, usually featuring religious imagery, found by the thousands throughout Mexico. Roughly half of the paintings spanning Cohen's life fill the first-floor gallery of the Hunterdon Art Museum.

"People who emigrate from one country to another carry the roots of their origin while trying to build new experiences in their adopted homeland," Cohen said.  "In a way I have to explain to my children that half of my life was created in a different reality. They already heard a lot of stories, and they had to deal with funny accents and costumes. I wanted to explain to them what made their mom and me decide to leave everything behind to start a different life here. They live in a new world, but their parents had to live in both."

The "Ex-Vida Project" is divided into several sections of vignettes, collectively illustrating Cohen's journey through life. Sections detail Cohen's family life in Mexico, his decision to move to the United States and find work as an artist in New York, and having and raising children. The stories are sometimes funny, sometimes sad, sometimes controversial. Cohen moves through these illustrations trying to understand the world around him and his place in it.

Cohen doesn't shy away from difficult subjects. He shares the trauma of coping with his father's fatal car accident following an acrimonious parting from Mexico. He deals with the horror of robbers attacking him and his wife while camping on a beach one night, the husband and wife sprinting across the sand to elude further harm.  "As I was painting frame by frame I started to remember the details of what happened," Cohen said.

This happened on several occasions: While painting, forgotten details from his past would spring to life.
"Sometimes when I was painting my siblings, I would remember their clothes and other things like that. When you're trying to put it in a painting, you have to think of these things, but normally you don't need to remember. Why do you need to remember visual details from your life? It's . . . it's a crazy project."

So how -- and when -- does it all end?

"Recently I thought that's it," Cohen said. "I have to finish. I can't go on forever."
Cohen reaches for one of his ubiquitous stacks of paintings, shuffling through it until he finds a specific section. "These are the last paintings I did, and they're all silent (without written descriptions). There are about 20 of them."

"I decided to stop at the point when my kids had a conscience because I don't want to impose my memories into their lives," Cohen said. "They should know what I think of my life, but I should not get into their own lives and memories because they have to build their own."

Cohen's career highlights include working for several major newspapers, designing Christmas cards for the Museum of Modern Art and illustrating children's books. He has also worked in television creating animation for 24 Troubles the Cat shorts produced by the Cartoon Network and the Children's Television Workshop. He has received numerous awards, including an Emmy for How Do You Spell God? and Emmy and Peabody awards for his work on the HBO special Goodnight Moon and Other Sleepytime Tales.  

 

Jewish LIFE (Learning Is For Everyone), our community wide adult education program, has an exciting new season of programs and special events planned for the coming year.  A great lineup of special events are scheduled in addition to a wide variety of classes  and films offered at our participating synagogues.  The complete 2013-2014 Jewish LIFE brochure will be available on line at www.ssbjcc.org.  Printed copies will be available at the Shimon and Sara Birnbaum JCC in Bridgewater.

 

Below is a rundown of  the special events coming up this Fall.  We are pleased to also offer two new exciting opportunities for adult learning, The Melton School and iEngage.

• NEW!!! Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning (A project of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem).   The Melton School will be offered at the Shimon and Sarah Birnbaum JCC in Bridgewater on Tuesdays, 9:30-11:30am, from October 2013  through June 2014.  Registration Fee:  Register by September 10:  $650/person; Register after September 10: $700/person.   

• NEW!!! iEngage:  Engaging Israel:  Foundations for a New Relationship
  Sundays, 9-10:30 AM: 12/15, 1/26, 2/23, 3/23, 4/6, 5/4 (Hosted at Or Chadash, Flemington). Please join me for this remarkable program. Cost for iEngage is $50/person.  Members of Or Chadash are $36. 

• Thurs., Nov. 14, 7pm: Dr. Joel M. Hoffman, Author of And God Said:  How Translations Conceal the Bible's Original Meaning (Hosted by the JCC)

• Sun., Nov. 17, 10:30am:  Mark Russ Federman, Author of Russ & Daughters:  Reflections & Recipes from the Hour that Herring Built (Hosted by Or Chadash, Flemington).

• Wed., Dec. 4, 12 Noon:  Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Author of How to Be a Friend to a Friend Who's Sick.  Program & Luncheon (Hosted by the JCC).

• Thurs., Dec. 12, 6:30pm:  Irma Horowitz Film Series Featuring Falafel & Films.  The Breakfast Parliament, The Ranch, The Rabbi's Daughter (Hosted by the JCC). 

Please refer to the Jewish LIFE brochure for program fees and additional information.  To register for programs hosted at the JCC, please call 908-725-6994 x201.  To register for programs at other locations, please contact the hosting synagogue or agency.