Please Join Your JCOGS Community
  • Your input is needed! by TOMORROW, this Thursday, Jan. 17
  • Friday, Jan. 18, 6 p.m. - Reform-style Musical Shabbat services honoring the life and legacy of Debbie Friedman z”l + catered oneg
  • Saturday, Jan. 19, 10 a.m. - Torah Study with Rabbi David
  • Sunday, Jan. 20, 6 p.m. - The Greater Stowe Interfaith Coalition presents: "Reducing Gun Violence in VT" at Stowe Community Church
  • Saturday, Jan. 26, 10 a.m. - Shacharit Morning Service + Solomon Kalichstein's Bar Mitzvah
  • Saturday, Jan. 26, 4:15-5:15 p.m. - Yoga
  • Saturday, Jan. 26, 5:30 p.m. - Havdallah
  • Sunday, Jan. 27, 4 p.m. - International Holocaust Remembrance Day screening of documentary, Who Will Write Our History
  • Lamoille Community House - Seeking Volunteers
  • Sunday, February 17, 12-4 p.m. - Save the date: ALICE training
  • January youth winter clothing drive at JCOGS for VT elementary school children
  • Other Area Events
Please scroll down for more details about these programs
Quicklinks
Please complete the survey by TOMORROW , this Thursday, Jan. 17
JCOGS is working on a strategic plan for the coming years, and we need your feedback. Whether you came to one of our in-person sessions or not, please take a few minutes to fill out this survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/T7JZGWY . Your input is critical to moving JCOGS forward and helping our community continue to thrive. All participants will get one free class at the Yoga Barn. We thank the Yoga Barn for this generous donation! The deadline for filling out the survey is tomorrow, Thurs., Jan. 17.
Pluralism sometimes means embracing our differences, rather than attempting to find a common denominator. Last Friday, we enjoyed a Conservative-style service. This Friday, January 18, join Rabbi David and JCOGS musicians for a Musical Shabbat in Reform-style prayer, with lots of singing, English, and joy. We will honor the music of Debbie Friedman z”l, the songstress of Reform.
For our catered oneg, we will be enjoying delicious homemade soups and assorted breads from The Secret BakeHouse including tomato bisque, carrot ginger (vegan), and ratatouille (vegan).
Childminding will be provided for young children.
Please RSVP HERE for this delicious oneg.
Torah Study with Rabbi David
Saturday, January 19, 10 a.m.
Come participate in this lively, meaningful discussion as we look deeply into the age-old source of our tradition’s wisdom.
The Greater Stowe Interfaith Coalition presents:
"Reducing Gun Violence in VT" at Stowe Community Church
Sunday, January 20, 6 p.m.
The Greater Stowe Interfaith Coalition, of which JCOGS is a part, is sponsoring their 10th annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. commemorative program set for January 20 at 6 p.m. at Stowe Community Church: “Reducing Gun Violence in Vermont.” Dr. King worked throughout his life to promote nonviolence and the Interfaith Coalition is honoring him with this event. Clai Lasher-Sommers, Executive Director of GunSense VT will join other panelists to inform and educate regarding reducing gun violence in Vermont and to enable those in attendance to learn how they may become more involved. For this event, no weapons will be allowed.  
Shacharit Morning Service + Solomon Kalichstein's Bar Mitzvah
Saturday, January 26, 10 a.m.
Join us for a Shabbat morning service in honor of Solomon's Bar Mitzvah.

Solomon is in seventh grade at Stanford Online High School. He plays piano, tennis, and soccer. He sails and loves backcountry skiing and mountain biking with his father. He is the seventh grade class representative to his school's student government, participates in jazz band, loves coding, and is working on developing an adventure computer game.
He has been working hard under the tutelage of Amy Holloway to prepare, and his mitzvah project is in collaboration with the Innocence Project .

Please join the family for his bar mitzvah and luncheon celebration at JCOGS.
Après Ski Yoga
Saturday, January 26, 4:15 - 5:15 p.m.
meditation_pose_silhouette.jpg
Each week, Marlena Fishman leads us in gentle stretching, the perfect way to end a day on the slopes while closing out Shabbat.  On January 26, the regular après yoga class will have a special session, open to all teens and adults. Why is the 1/26 class special? Two reasons:
1. Those attending yoga usually make a donation to JCOGS in appreciation of Marlena's time. And all donations made for the January 26 class will be doubled by a generous anonymous donor in appreciation of...
2. ...Claudia Woodward, who is leading Havdallah services that evening. 

Come for yoga, stay for Havdallah, or just come for one. Whatever your schedule allows, don't miss this special evening at JCOGS. 

(Yoga will not meet on January 19.)
Havdallah
Saturday, January 26, 5:30 p.m.
Claudia Woodward will lead us in this short, beautiful service to close Shabbat. Do you have a hard time bringing young children to our 6:00 services on Friday? Do you struggle to get to JCOGS on Friday night? Or do you come on Fridays and want to bookend your Shabbat with a Havdallah service? Whatever your reason, please join us for a fragrant, musical, spiritual 20 minute service.
International Holocaust Remembrance Day featuring the documentary, Who Will Write Our History
Sunday, January 27, 4:00 p.m.
Vermont Holocaust Memorial and JCOGS invite you to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Gather as we join with others around the world for 
the global screening of the documentary: 
Who Will Write Our History.
This special, worldwide, one-day screening event will be followed by a recorded panel moderated by Stephen Smith, Executive Director of the USC Shoah Foundation in discussion with the film’s author, historian Professor Samuel Kassow, Executive Producer Nancy Spielberg, and Director Roberta Grossman.
Led by historian Emanuel Ringelblum and known by the code name Oyneg Shabes, a clandestine group of journalists, scholars, and community leaders in the Warsaw Ghetto vowed to defeat Nazi lies and propaganda not with guns or fists but with pen and paper. Now, for the first time, their story is told in the documentary featuring the voices of three-time Academy Award® nominee Joan Allen and Academy Award® winner Adrien Brody.
Refreshments will be served. 
For more details on this global event please visit: https://online.flowpaper.com/7b450788/WhoWillWriteOurHistory/#page=1
To learn more about Vermont Holocaust Memorial, see: www.holocaustmemorial-vt.org
Lamoille Community House: Volunteers Requested
The Lamoille Community House serves adults experiencing homelessness. We are presently at capacity with 12 guests at our temporary site at the Plaza Hotel at the Northgate
Plaza in Morrisville. A shelter needs to be a safe harbor from the storm of homelessness. Our objective is to connect all of our guests with the Lamoille Housing Team, as well as to form alliances between guests and service providers. Our staff is working with guests to create a safe communal living space.

Volunteers are needed to bring in dinner, and to assist staff and guests daily 5:00-7:00pm.

Please visit our website:  https://lamoillecommunityhouse.weebly.com  to volunteer (click on CORE volunteer and view calendar openings). Please contact Jacquie Mauer at  jmauer@goodsamaritanhaven.org  if you have any questions or need additional information.
Save The Date: ALICE Training
Sunday, February 17, 12-4 p.m.
ALICE training is used in schools across the state and the country, and the Stowe Police Department will be doing a site-specific training here at JCOGS for our adult members. More details will follow.
Youth Winter Clothing Drive at JCOGS through January
donations_box.jpg
Please donate new or used sneakers, winter hats, winter gloves, sweatpants, socks, snow pants, and winter jackets for Vermont elementary school children. Sizes should be in children's sizes or adult small. Only waterproof gloves please. Drop off is available in the JCOGS lobby.
Other Area Events
Kids' Music Program for Jewish Families with Young Children
with Andrea Soberman of Musical Munchkins
Jan. 27, 10:30-12 Senior Center |58 Barre Street | Montpelier
Learn some Jewish songs and get your wiggles out! Followed by snacks.
Contact Leah at leahfdk@gmail.com for more information.
Header photo courtesy of Dan Lax