SHABBAT SHALOM, GESHER SHALOM!

November 13th, 2020 Candle Lighting 4:21pm

Mi SheBayrach We make special prayers for those who are ill at every Shabbat Morning service and during our Monday & Thursday Minyanim. Since the onset of the pandemic, we have been adding a special Mi SheBayrach for those who have contracted the coronavirus. You can add a name (traditionally: Hebrew/Yiddish name and mother’s Hebrew/Yiddish name, but we’ll take English names and the names of those who are not Members of our Tribe) by calling or emailing me. Or better yet: why not join us for the 9:00am weekday morning minyan, and read the Psalm (in English) just before we include the name of your family member, friend or acquaintance in the Mi SheBayrach

Torah Reading  HAYYEI SARAH Sarah dies at the age of one hundred twenty-seven. Abraham purchases the Cave of Machpelah as a burial site for her, courteously refusing the offer of the Hittite population to provide a fitting-resting place as a gift.   Abraham sends a trusted servant to the city of Haran with the purpose of finding a wife for Isaac. The servant encounters a considerate, compassionate girl at the city’s well. She is Rebecca, granddaughter of Nahor, Abraham’s brother. Betuel, Rebecca’s father, and Laban, Rebecca’s brother, welcome the servant hospitably. He tells them of his mission and presents them with many gifts. They consent to the marriage of Rebecca to Isaac.   We are informed of the marriage of Abraham to Ketura, with whom he had many sons and through whom he became the father to many Arab tribes. To make it perfectly clear that Isaac is Abraham’s only heir, Abraham sends these sons away laden with gifts, leaving Isaac as sole possessor of his property and spiritual heritage.   Abraham dies at the age of one hundred seventy-five; Isaac and Ishmael bury him in the Cave of Machpelah.

ALL our Synagogue Prayer Services and Programs are conducted over ZOOM You can participate in one of two ways  Dialing in - or -  Using internet access and a smartphone, tablet or computer   Do You Need to Obtain a Siddur? Please call or email me for details. kas   Do you need a CROSS-REFERENCE GUIDE to pages in the old Sim Shalom (Blue cover) for Shabbat and Holidays (when we are using Lev Shalem)?... Or to the Weekday Services in Lev Shalem (when we are using the burgundy weekday Sim Shalom)? Call me or email me for the GUIDE PRAYER SERVICES ZOOM INFORMATION Fort Lee Virtual Shul Prayer Services CLICK HERE TO ATTEND Participant ID/Passcode: 585121 (if required) Dial in: 929 205 6099     Meeting ID: 894 4624 7890 Our Shabbat Services Friday evenings at 7:00 pm Shabbat Mornings at 10:30 am Havdalah at 5:30 pm     HELP! We had a bit of difficulty securing a minyan last Saturday night. It may have been a miscommunication; it may have been an aberration; it may mean nothing…but if you are free, please join us. The service will only take 25 minutes. The Shabbat Project-Partners in Torah This came to me by way of a JTA “promotion”. I cannot penetrate who is behind it, either in terms of funding or its orientation. Is it modern orthodox?, AISH?, or Chabad-Lubavich?, or ______? (The first would be fine with me, but not the others). Even the endorsement of the “normal-looking” Chief Rabbi of South Africa does not allay my concerns. The opacity makes me rather suspicious, but given that most of us are shut indoors, I bring it to you, but only with great hesitation. Click Here. Shabbat and Meditation: Just Be It How mindfulness can deepen your Shabbat experience — and vice versa

This Week's Yahrzeit Observances We hope that our weekly listing of yahrzeit observances will serve 2 purposes: 1)   To remind those who have the yahrzeit for a second time, much closer to the date of the actual observance 2)   To alert friends and acquaintances that someone they know is observing a yahrzeit. We hope that you will show them your support by joining them at our (virtual) minyanim, and helping to assure that Kaddish can be recited with a minyan Marjorie Berger will be observing yahrzeit for her grandson, Joshua Jona on Saturday evenimg, November 14th Marilyn Saposh will be observing yahrzeit for her husband, Hyman Saposh on Saturday evening, November 14th Craig Barnett will be observing yahrzeit for his aunt, Jennifer Turovski on Saturday evening, November 14th Ronald Mayer will be observing yahrzeit for his father-in-law, Maurice Yarkow on Saturday evening, November 14th Vida Elette Story will be observing yahrzeit for her grandfather, Sam Schwartz on Sunday evening, November 15th Lore Benario will be observing yahrzeit for her sister, Herta Jackel on Sunday evening, November 15th Ethel Chesen will be observing yahrzeit for her husband, David Chesen on Monday evening, November 16th Terry Plawker will be observing yahrzeit for her father-in-law, Norman Plawker on Monday evening, November 16th Ethel Chesen will be observing yahrzeit for her father, Leo Winterfield on Monday evening, November 16th We mourn the passing of Freda Gordon, sister of Hilda Reisner The Synagogue has been informed of the recent death of Rita Frazer, past president of our Sisterhood. (Her late husband, Jesse, was a past president of the Congregation) Birthdays & Anniversaries Abraham Ravid Hilda Reisner Carol Tycko Samuel Pitchkhadze  Joan Alter Esther Eisdorfer Iris Coleman Franco Aguilar Marvin Chertkoff Kathy & Solomon Grazian

OUR WEEKDAY MINYANIM PRAYER SERVICES ZOOM INFORMATION Fort Lee Virtual Shul Prayer Services CLICK HERE TO ATTEND Participant ID/Passcode: 585121 (if required) Dial in: 929 205 6099     Meeting ID: 894 4624 7890 Sunday - Friday Mornings at 9:00 am  Sunday - Thursday Evenings at 7:00 pm   Special Request: if you purchased or downloaded Siddur Lev Shalem (Shabbat and Holidays) and/or Siddur Sim Shalom (Weekdays), please let Rabbi Stern know. (Please call him or email him). Our Weekly Programming   Fort Lee Virtual Shul Classes/Programming CLICK HERE TO ATTEND Participant ID/Passcode: 144384 (if required) Dial in: 929 205 6099      Meeting ID: 822 9648 6657 Mondays at 8:00pm Jewish Film Festival November 9, 16, 23   Wednesdays at Noon Coffee Talk  (BYO coffee, lunch, etc.) Thursdays at 11:00 Legends of the Bible   Fridays at 11:30 Bible as Literature Class

EVENING PROGRAMMING:

Please call me for your free access code if you would like to participate Our Congregation is a sponsor of ScholarStream Series Following on the success of our direct-to-public programming for Tikkun Leil Shavuot and Selihot, and in a continuing effort to help our rabbis and congregations during these trying times, the RA, USCJ, JTS and Ziegler are excited to announce a joint initiative to offer high quality adult education opportunities to all those interested in participating. ScholarStream is a four part series which will give communities the opportunity to learn from some of the world’s leading scholars and engage deeply with our texts and traditions.   The first two series will be offered on the following dates and times, meeting for one hour each week.   Hidden Histories and Untold Stories Tuesdays at 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT Join JTS scholars as they uncover the hidden context around biblical figures and important eras in Jewish history. 11/17: Dr. Alan Cooper on why we stopped caring about Moses’s descendants 12/1: Dr. Sarah Wolf on how foreign the beit midrash would feel to the early Rabbis 12/8: Dr. Amy Kalmanofsky on what the Bible really had against Jezebel   Equity, Forgiveness and Intersectionality Wednesdays at 10 PM ET / 7 PM PT Join Ziegler faculty as they explore issues related to race, gender equality, intersectionality, and building a democracy of the future. Download the full descriptions for each Ziegler session here. 11/18: Rabbi Dr. Elliot Dorff will explore the concept of communal forgiveness 12/2: Rabbi Dr. Gail Labovitz on what Exodus has to teach us about intersectionality 12/9: Rabbi Dr. Aryeh Cohen on building a multiracial democracy Because our congregation is a sponsor you are eligible for free access to this series. Any questions email Max Arad at marad@rabbinicalassembly.org.

Our Weekly Programming   Fort Lee Virtual Shul Classes/Programming CLICK HERE TO ATTEND Participant ID/Passcode: 144384 (if required) Dial in: 929 205 6099      Meeting ID: 822 9648 6657 LINDA RICHMAN is looking for VOLUNTEERS to share their passion or expertise with the COFFEE TALK crowd…. Your profession Your avocation Your hobby Your expertise  Your life experiences Your travels Please be in touch with the Rabbi to volunteer or to make suggestions for programming… FUTURE COFFEE TALKS

Coffee Talk—November 18 (using the new Zoom Login/Dial-In) Join us for a program of Jewish/Yiddish Music and Show Tunes Presented by Rockleigh resident Charlotte Poole, violinist 

Please note this Special Day and Date for this COFFEE TALK: TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24 at Noon RESERVATIONS REQUIRED  (please email me to secure your seat in the Knesset) A Visit to the Knesset with Masorti Israel The program, under the auspices of Masorti’s Jewish Pluralism Watch, will include a virtual tour of the Knesset and a conversation with Knesset Member,  TELHILA FRIEDMAN, who was featured in my Kol Nidre sermon. Reservations are required. Please email me to secure your seat in the Knesset. Click here for the Times of Israel article on Tehila Friedman's speech. Tehila Friedman is also the chief sponsor of this newly proposed legislation: Israeli Knesset Members Propose Giving Diaspora Jews a Formal Role in Israeli Affairs

Thursdays at 11am: Re-Inventing the Bible The Rabbis were both close readers of the text, sensitive to every nuance, and, it turns out, also great fiction writers and spinners of yarn. They weren’t just legal scholars! Using Louis Ginzberg’s masterful narrative compiling these legends, The Legends of the Bible, we will continue our exploration of these tales, known as Midrash Aggada. Available for cheap on Amazon!

Fridays at 11:30 am (using the new Zoom logins)

Important/Interesting Reads How Can I Pray If I Don’t Believe The Words?   Prayer is not a statement of belief, but a literary creation -- with all the power, nuance and complexity of literary creations. THE ELECTION In keeping with my fairly consistent and decades’-long policy of not getting into US politics, I will try not to share my personal views with you, except to say that at some point (which we have already passed), the moral obligation to uphold God’s Seal, TRUTH, must not be sacrificed in the name of non-partisanship or to partisan politics. So the TRUTH is that Joe Biden has won; there is no path for Donald Trump to serve a second term…unless he steals the election.   Some of what is written below echoes my remarks on Shabbat—that the delay in resolving the election’s outcome may have been a blessing in disguise, tamping down violence and confrontation in the country. I tied the painstaking vote tabulation to the 3-day peaceful and yet tension-filled journey that Abraham and Isaac undertook to Mount Moriah: Officials Predicted Violence Due to the Election. It Hasn’t Happened — Yet  On Israel, Biden Is Not Just Another Version of Obama by Brigadier General Michael Herzog Biden and Harris on Anti-Semitism and BDS Earlier this year, Vice President Biden said: “Criticism of Israel’s policy is not Anti-Semitism. But too often that criticism…morphs into Anti-Semitism.” Referring to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, Biden said in 2016: “It’s wrong, because as the Jewish people know better than any other people, any action that marginalizes one ethnic and religious group imperils us all.” Senator Harris told an AIPAC audience in 2017: “The first resolution I co-sponsored as a…senator was to combat anti-Israel bias at the United Nations,” and: “We cannot stand by while Anti-Semitism…is on the rise.” Biden's WH Chief of Staff Ron Klain Compared COVID to a Passover Plague          Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks Some of you may be expecting more from me in the way of articles to mark his passing…He was a brilliant man, a keen analyst, and most importantly, from my point of view, a well-respected spokesman for Jews and Judaism, and against Anti-Semitism. But as the Chief Rabbi of Britain’s United Synagogue (an Orthodox institution, and not an umbrella organization for Jews of all stripes), he was not quite the tolerant figure that one would imagine. Rabbi Sacks’ Daughter, Gilah, Eulogizes her Father   Rural Jews Need More Support    Stop telling rural Jews to move to the city, and start supporting us where we are.   A Final Push to Free Yemen’s Remaining Jews  Their plight is clear. Who will help them? One of the Last Jews in Yemen is a Prisoner. The U.S. is Trying to Get Him Released.  A New Front Opens in the Russia-Ukraine Conflict: Borscht                                          “A lot of things were taken away from Ukraine, but they will not take our borscht,” said a chef who is leading a drive to recognize the soup as a Ukrainian cultural heritage.

Israel As Mike Pompeo Notifies Congress that US Will Sell Over $23 Billion of Arms to the UAE, Senate Warns About Israel’s ‘Military Edge’     In a First for a Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo Will Visit an Israeli Settlement in the West Bank Israeli Minister Urges Dialogue So Biden Won't Rejoin Iran Deal without Changes    Biden’s Win Means a Demotion for Netanyahu and Less Focus on Israel  The election of Joe Biden will only invigorate the protests urging Bibi to resign, or as the signs read, simply:

Lech, Go (and many Israelis have incorporated this logo into their FaceBook photo) But first… How Trump’s Defeat Could Mean More Policy Favors for Israel   Netanyahu has a wish list for the lame-duck president while Trump has a score to settle with Biden.              New Congressional Makeup Bodes Well for Bipartisan Support for Israel        Not that the anti-Bibi proponents in Israel need any help, but… Facebook Uncovers Iranian Operation Supporting Anti-Netanyahu Protests in Israel               Senior Religious-Zionist Rabbis Denounce Contact with Reform Leaders      Rabbi Eliezer Melamed participated in panel discussion with Reform rabbis evoking ire of the chief rabbi and most recently leading rabbinical figures in the religious-Zionist community    Energean Announces Increase of Israeli Gas and Oil Reserves    Israeli Judoka, Inbar Lanir, Wins Gold Medal in European Championship

Israeli Locust Fighters Task Force Arrives in Ethiopia      Video: Pelicans in Flight Over Eretz Yisrael (courtesy SPNI)

BDS / Anti-Semitism / anti-Zionism European Synagogues Kept Their Lights On to Mark 1938 Kristallnacht Pogroms  Greek Newspaper Likens Pfizer’s Jewish CEO with the Nazi Doctor Josef Mengele in Front-Page Photo     World Jewish Congress Honors UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres for Efforts to End Anti-Israel Bias   Anti-Semitism in America   The new AJC report shows growing and broadening anti-Semitism, but also broad recognition of the trend  A Proud Boys Leader is Trying to Rebrand the Group—Proud Goys—As Explicitly White Supremacist and Anti-Semitic  Dutch Senate Calls to Reject UN Resolutions Denying Jewish Ties to Temple Mount in Jerusalem

Iran / Syria / Hezbollah IAEA Rejects Iran's Explanations for Nuclear Material at Site Flagged by Israel                                      Iran’s Enriched Uranium Stockpile Is 12 Times Nuclear Accord’s Cap, U.N. Agency Says The one thing I feel certain of is that unlike the last time (under Obama), Israel will not be frozen out, but will be consulted and have Biden’s ear: Biden Team Begins to Formulate Strategy for Iran Negotiations  Iran Says It Will Not Reopen Iran Deal Discussions                         Tehran Says Biden Must Compensate for U.S. Wrongdoings  Biden Wants to Reenter a Modified Iran Nuclear Deal  Iran Unveils New Ballistic Missile System     Iran Facing Ban from International Chess Federation for Refusing to Play Against Israel   U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Lebanese Politician Allied With Hezbollah     IDF Downs Hizbullah Drone in Israeli Airspace

The Palestinians PA Employs Former Prisoners to Bypass Israeli Sanctions on Payments to Terrorists Abbas Wants Biden to Revoke American Recognition of Jerusalem, Move Embassy Back to Tel Aviv    Guardian Story on Evicted Bedouins Omits Key Information  Now read the Guardian version of the story: Israeli Forces Leave 41 Children Homeless After Razing Palestinian Village, UN Says  Tzipi Livni speaks of him more affectionately than Hanan Ashrawi! Saeb Erekat, Palestinian Chief Negotiator Amid Turmoil, Dies at 65  What Saeb Erekat’s Death Means for Palestinians of My Generation            We worked hard for a state of our own but may not live to see it. Israel Arrests Two West Bank Palestinians Recruited by Hamas

The Gulf /Arab States ‘It’s Like Falling in Love’: Israeli Entrepreneurs Welcomed in Dubai A high-profile delegation of Israeli innovators visited the United Arab Emirates soon after moves to normalize relations.   Arab World Sends Israel Messages of Support after Peace Deals      Arab Normalization and Palestinian Radicalization: The Tug of War over the Middle East Peace Process     UAE AI University, Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science Sign Cooperation Accord The agreement is the first of its kind to be signed between two higher education institutes from the UAE and Israel, after the two countries said they would normalize ties a month ago First Tourist Flight from Israel Arrives in Dubai on Sunday       Israel Awaits Influx of Muslim Tourists     Saudi Prince Turki: Biden Likely to Keep Trump's Pro-Israel Decisions

Hi-Tech The most sensational thing about this article is that it was published in Sputnik! How Israeli Innovation and Technology Is Saving Lives in Africa  Laser Weapons to Play Major Role in Future Israeli Missile Defense      The U.S. Deploys Israel's Iron Dome Missile Defense System Recent Ransomware Wave Targeting Israel Linked to Iran   Iranian Islamic Scholar: We Carried Out Cyber Attacks Against Israeli Desalination Plants, Power Plants

Pop Culture 6 Films that Predicted the 2020 Election    Creators of the Anonymous RogueShul Twitter Account Reveal Their Identities  Meet Maria Bakalova, the Breakout Star of the ‘Borat’ Sequel HBO Adapts ‘Oslo,’ Tony Award-Winning Play About Peace Accords, into Original Film  So How Did Israel Get this Iraqi MIG???? An Iraqi Air Force pilot flew it to Israel when he defected in 1966! (Israel subsequently smuggled the pilot’s entire family out of Iraq) You’ll Love This Jewish Historical Romance Series                                     'The Couriers' series by Nita Abrams, set in Regency England, is the first romance series I ever read with Jewish characters at the center.                                                            Watching Alex Trebek Was My Jewish Family’s Nightly Ritual As the host of Jeopardy!, Alex Trebek represented a fundamentally Jewish value: intellectual curiosity.    As We Mourn Alex Trebek, We Honor the Jewish History of ‘Jeopardy’     Learning Life’s Hardest Lessons—in the Form of a Question When my life-long dream of being a contestant on ‘Jeopardy!’ became a reality, things quickly went south. Then, “Rabbi” Alex Trebek picked me right up.

What We Will Become: A Discussion on Transgender Youth  Monday, November 16, 2020 8 - 9 p.m. ET In What We Will Become: A Mother, a Son, and a Journey of Transformation, author and activist Mimi Lemay, raised in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish family, chronicles her transgender child’s odyssey and her own personal journey navigating her culture and background to forge an authentic life for both of them. Publishers Weekly praised, “Engrossing and compassionate . . . This fascinating, heart-wrenching memoir offers invaluable insights into issues of gender identity.”   Lemay will engage in a candid online conversation with Lisa Hostein, Executive Editor of Hadassah Magazine. They will be joined by Dr. Norman Spack, a noted pediatric endocrinologist who pioneered medical treatment of transgender teens and is the co-founder of Boston Children’s Hospital’s Gender Management Service clinic. This program is FREE and open to all.  Register This program is presented by Hadassah, the largest Jewish women’s organization in the US. Hadassah has been building a community that advocates for women’s health and empowerment, and for Israel, for over 100 years. Today, Hadassah is building a movement for the future. Find your purpose and your power at hadassah.org/HadassahIsHere Questions? Contact engagement@hadassah.org.

ScholarStream Please call me for your free access code if you would like to participate Sponsor the ScholarStream Series Following on the success of our direct-to-public programming for Tikkun Leil Shavuot and Selihot, and in a continuing effort to help our rabbis and congregations during these trying times, the RA, USCJ, JTS and Ziegler are excited to announce a joint initiative to offer high quality adult education opportunities to all those interested in participating. ScholarStream is a four part series which will give communities the opportunity to learn from some of the world’s leading scholars and engage deeply with our texts and traditions.   The first two series will be offered on the following dates and times, meeting for one hour each week.   Hidden Histories and Untold Stories Tuesdays at 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT Join JTS scholars as they uncover the hidden context around biblical figures and important eras in Jewish history. 11/17: Dr. Alan Cooper on why we stopped caring about Moses’s descendants 12/1: Dr. Sarah Wolf on how foreign the beit midrash would feel to the early Rabbis 12/8: Dr. Amy Kalmanofsky on what the Bible really had against Jezebel   Equity, Forgiveness and Intersectionality Wednesdays at 10 PM ET / 7 PM PT Join Ziegler faculty as they explore issues related to race, gender equality, intersectionality, and building a democracy of the future. Download the full descriptions for each Ziegler session here. 11/18: Rabbi Dr. Elliot Dorff will explore the concept of communal forgiveness 12/2: Rabbi Dr. Gail Labovitz on what Exodus has to teach us about intersectionality 12/9: Rabbi Dr. Aryeh Cohen on building a multiracial democracy

Episode 3: Radio and Reconstruction   In our third episode, we will consider how radio has been used to fuel genocide, but also how the same medium was used in the aftermath of atrocity crimes, to assist with the reconstitution and tracing of families.    In the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, the International Red Cross, the International Tracing Service and radio stations such as the BBC, broadcast lists of names of survivors in the hope that families would be reunited. 49-years after the end of the Second World War and three months after the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda had ended, the BBC began a radio project to support the people of Rwanda. The first service, BBC Gahuzamiryango – “the unifier of families” broadcast the names of children who were looking for their parents and collected messages from refugees living in camps in Tanzania, DRC and Burundi who were trying to trace their loved ones.     Beyond the long shadow: engaging with difficult histories is organized together with the Outreach Programmes on the transatlantic slave trade, and the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. The aim of the collaborative series is to develop a deeper understanding of the legacies of these painful histories – and through examining the past, consider how best to build a world that is just, where all can live in dignity and peace.    Date: Wednesday, 18 November 2020 Time: 9:30 a.m. EST  Register here

WELCOME TO THE MID-FALL SESSION OF  ONLINE CLASSES The Whizin Center for Continuing Education is pleased to present our mid-fall lineup of classes and learning opportunities, delivered in an ONLINE format. We wish continued good health and safety to the entire community. We will be updating our offerings and classes on an ongoing basis. Be sure to visit our website to learn more: www.aju.edu/whizin.

Social Chutzpah: How Three Jewish Social Media Mavens are Standing Up to Antisemitism. Panelists: Whitney Fisch, Peter Fox, and Ariel Scheer Stein   November 17, 2020 7:00 pm Register Here Whitney Fisch, Peter Fox, and Ariel Scheer Stein have a combined following of over 40,000 individuals. In 2020, social media and journalism are two of the most effective ways to reach large audiences. Join us as we hear from them about how they use their platforms to fight antisemitism. Whitney is the Creator of and Blogger for Jewhungry and the Executive Director of the Hillel at Miami University in Oxford, OH. When not dealing with the holy work of Hillel, Whitney is at home dealing with the trials and tribulations of her 3 young children as well as cooking... a lot. She blogs about all things food and life on her blog, http://jewhungrytheblog.com/. Peter is an advertising and media professional in New York. He's a past Fellow at the LGBTQ pro-Israel group A Wider Bridge. His writing has been featured in The Forward, Tablet Magazine, The Jerusalem Post, and The Advocate. You can find him on Twitter @thatpeterfox where he tweets to an audience of over 15,000 followers. Ariel, a New Jersey native, launched her blog ‘Ariel Loves,’ in 2016 where she shares her motherhood journey, Jewish living, home decor, and travel. Ariel’s work has been featured on Red Tricycle, The Bump, Mindr, Ellie Parents, and offMetro. You can keep up with Ariel on instagram @Ariel.Loves or her blog ArielLoves.com. To find out more about this event, call Dena Dubofsky at (973)379-8327 or dubofskyd@ajc.org

25 years ago today, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated because he was building a world where the Jewish State and her neighbors could live side-by-side in peace.  Especially in these fraught times, the Z3 Project honors his memory by continuing to fight for the cause: not just for peace between Israel and her neighbors, but also peace between ourselves. Let’s come together now — left and right, Orthodox and secular, West Bank settler and Berkeley student—to embrace our shared legacy and a common destiny. Be a part of The Z3 Project, a virtual experience during the week of Hanukkah, Dec. 10-17, 2020. Join artists, performers, speakers, and regular folks from around the world as we reimagine Diaspora-Israel relations in an online communal experience like none other.  Register The 2020 gathering will be 100% online, during the eight days of Hanukkah, from December 10 through December 17, 2020. On each day, we will premiere exclusive Main Stage conversations, alongside feature articles and educational videos. In addition, there will be local conversations hosted by JCCs from around the globe. Keep your eyes on the program for up to date information. Register The $36 registration fee gives you an all-access pass to every aspect of the global Z3 Experience, including voting rights in the Z3 Giving Circle. Proceeds from ticket sales will support seven programs at partner JCCs worldwide, based on votes by ticket holders, with final results revealed during the closing session. This is Z3's new spin on Hanukkah - until the very end of this eight-day virtual experience, you have a stake and a say in our future: your money, your vote, and your voice.

Other Israel Film Festival                          SAUL AND RUBY'S HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR BAND                                             Two Holocaust survivors in South Florida form a klezmer band. Watch the trailer here. Streaming through Nov 20 | Rent the film here: Q+A Tue, Nov 17, 7:30 pm | For tickets to the Q & A, click here:

Israeli Culture in North America Friday, November 13, 2020 Film Making The Garden Left Behind | Nov 18, 1:00pm ET Join us to watch and discuss this remarkable portrait of a trans woman struggling to build a life for herself as an undocumented immigrant in New York City. 150 first registrants watch the film for free! Presented by The Office of Cultural Affairs, Consulate General of Israel in New York and NYC Pride. Dance YAG The Movie | Nov 21, 9pm ET YAG is Naharin's first production adapted for the screen. Video artist Roee Shalti filmed and edited the piece with Naharin. The bare space of the cinematic frame is the setting for refined movement. YAG was filmed at Batsheva's studio in Tel Aviv. Film NYU Israeli Film Series: In Between | Nov 15, 1:30pm ET Maysaloun Hamoud’s 2016 drama tells the story of Laila, Salma and Nour, three Palestinian women sharing an apartment in Tel Aviv. Watch the film and join the online discussion. Co-hosted by The Office of Cultural Affairs, Consulate General of Israel in New York. Literature Eshkol Nevo’s The Last Interview: A Novel | Nov 19, 4pm ET Eshkol Nevo, internationally best-selling author of Three Floors Up, presents his latest novel The Last Interview, a literary page-turner that delves into the deepening cracks in a carefully constructed public persona.  Art PHOTO IS:RAEL International Photography Festival | Through Nov 21 Israel’s largest photography event will be taking place this year for the 8th time. This year’s festival will present exhibitions, performances, video art, music events and more, including a rich online program. Music 92Y: The Emerson String Quartet and Yefim Bronfman | Nov 19, 7:30pm ET Emerson String Quartet and Yefim Bronfman perform a sublime concert. The Quartet perform two movements from Schumann’s A-Major Quartet before Bronfman joins for Brahms’ Piano Quintet in F Minor. Film Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival | Through Nov 21 GPJFF is beyond excited to celebrate its 40th year this season with its annual Fall Festival. Two weeks of the best in Jewish international cinema on our new virtual platform. Use discount code 40GPJewish#yisrael for $3 off any of our Israeli films. Music Tributes to Beethoven | Nov 19, 1pm ET A Tribute recital to Beethoven with pianist Nikolay Khozyainov, winner of the first prize at the Dublin Competition, dedicated entirely to works written by Liszt, Schumann, Chopin and Mendelssohn in Beethoven's memory.

The JCC of Fort Lee/Congregation Gesher Shalom geshershalom.org

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