This week, as we have done for thousands of years, we celebrate Passover, the holiday where we celebrate that we were freed from being slaves in the land of Egypt. The holiday of Yom Hasho’ah or Holocaust Remembrance Day always comes soon after. On this day we remember the horrific murder of six million Jews as well as millions of Romas, homosexuals, and those with disabilities.
As a child, I wondered why spring was chosen for Yom Hasho’ah. Typically, we think of spring as a time of birth and rebirth, not a time of death. I thought that winter, a time when it is dark and cold, when the trees are bare of leaves, was a more appropriate time for this remembrance. But I was wrong. While it is true that we are commemorating the harshness and death of the Holocaust, we are also commemorating the bravery of those who fought so that they and others could survive. And, in fact, the Warsaw ghetto uprising happened at the start of Passover, 1943. So this is actually a perfect time for Holocaust Remembrance.
On Wednesday, April 7th, at 7pm, the Madison Jewish community will celebrate Yom Hasho’ah. We are very grateful to Rabbi Andrea Steinberger and Livia Asher for their huge efforts for the second year in pulling together this event virtually. The Yom Hasho’ah event is sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Madison and co-sponsored by Beth Israel Centre, Congregation Shaarei Shamayim, Temple Beth El, and UW-Madison Hillel. We invite you to register here.
Dawn Berney, Executive Director
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TO JOIN ZOOM PROGRAMS: Watch out for an email, or go to www.jssmadison.org/calendar and choose a program by date. Click on the event title to open up a new window that will have details and a zoom link for that program. We send out email notices with links for Monday Yoga and End of Week Zoom Programs every Monday and Wednesday or Thursday. If you are not on that email list, but wish to be – please let us know.
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Join JSS on Mondays for Schmoozing at 11am and
Yoga From A Chair at 11:30am
With Betsy Haimson
Meeting ID: 406 575 567
Join by phone: (312) 626-6799, 406 575 567#
For questions about Zoom programs, call Paul Borowsky at (608) 442-4083.
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The Arab Spring: Ten Years Later
Friday, April 9 from 10-11 am
Ten years since a Tunisian street vendor set himself aflame and lit the sparks of revolution across North Africa and the Middle East, what has changed and what remains the same? Long civil wars, coupled with the reemergence of authoritarian regimes, have fed a narrative of "the failure of the Arab Spring." Yet new popular uprisings have come to the fore, such as in Lebanon. This talk will survey Middle East politics ten years since the Arab Spring. Although the high hopes of 2011 have been dashed in many places, the events of that year remain transformative.
Daniel Stolz is an Assistant Professor of History at UW-Madison. He specializes in the late Ottoman Empire, with a focus on science, technology, and expertise in Middle East society in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. His first book, The Lighthouse and the Observatory: Islam, Science, and Empire in Late Ottoman Egypt, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2018. He is currently working on a book on the late Ottoman state bankruptcy as part of the history of public finance. Daniel has a PhD in Near Eastern Studies from Princeton University.
Meeting ID: 864 5919 2763
Passcode: 741173
By phone: 312 626 6799
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Torah Study with Rabbi Renee Bauer
Fasting: A spiritual practice or a religious obligation?
Thursday, April 15 from 3:30 – 4:30 pm
This week the holy month of Ramadan begins. In solidarity with our Muslim brothers and sisters, who will be fasting this month, we will look at the Jewish fast days. Most of us know about the fast on Yom Kippur but what about the other Jewish fast days? In this class we will look at all of them, their origins and purposes. We will take time to share our experiences and explore the spiritual underpinnings of fasting in Judaism and other religious traditions.
Meeting ID: 862 1810 7308
By phone: (312) 626-6799
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A Note from JSS’ Immigration Legal Services (ILS) Director Carrie Fox-Kline
After compiling my 2020 year-end report for the County, I wanted to share some nice data on our immigrant-serving programs:
JSS's Immigration Legal Services program provided consultations and legal advice to 55 clients, and of those, we represented 42 clients submitting immigration applications. We gave 33 of these clients fee reductions or fee waivers. We submitted 30 immigration legal applications, and as a result of our work, USCIS approved 19 refugee green cards, meaning that we have helped 19 people to become lawful permanent residents of the United States. This is important because it means our clients can work and reside permanently in the US, apply for US citizenship after five years, sponsor certain family members, and travel in and out of the US more easily.
Our refugee social service programs served 130 immigrant clients! While we received only 18 new refugees in 2020 due to COVID-19, our refugee resettlement team has been busy making sure that all of our refugee clients, old and new, have the support they need during a very challenging year. We provided case management services, information, and referrals to all clients, and additionally furnished 75 clients with interpretation and translation services.
Our Case Management program provided long-term case management services to 16 immigrant clients, from a diverse set of countries including Ukraine, Russia, Nigeria, Mexico, Liberia, Haiti, and Dominica!
Carrie Fox-Kline, MSW, DOJ Accredited Representative
Immigration Legal Services and Quality Assurance Director
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Recordings of our Zoom presentations and programs are available to view on JSS' YouTube channel.
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Transportation Program for Older Adults:
Significantly subsidized private rides
JSS is excited to have received a grant from Bader Philanthropies of Milwaukee to allow JSS to provide additional transportation support to ALL older adults throughout Dane County, specifically focusing on those with fewer resources. When JSS cannot find a volunteer driver, trips to and from medical appointments, grocery stores, and similar necessities will be made available for a maximum of $8.00, round trip, with fee waivers available.
If you know anyone who may benefit from this program, please let us know. We have it for our community. For transportation assistance, please contact us at (608) 442-4081 or office@jssmadison.org. We will connect you with one of our social workers who will be happy to help you access this service. We thank Bader Philanthropies for their interest in our community.
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Volunteer Opportunities
As COVID restrictions continue and vaccines and protocols evolve, we want to thank all our volunteers for staying involved via telephone, internet and expanded holiday gift giving and deliveries. If you are interested in volunteering, opportunities may include no-contact delivery of groceries and other essentials, phone contact, tech support, and other tasks and projects.
For further information on programs or volunteering contact me anytime: Paul Borowsky, paul@jssmadison.org, 608-442-4083.
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Download or read online our paper Connections newsletter. It has different stories and photos than you see in our electronic newsletter.
To reach our office, call (608) 442-4081*
*Please leave a message, we check the voicemail frequently, even when the building is closed.
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Do you have a car you would like to get rid of???
Donate your car to JSS! The proceeds go directly to our programs.
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Community Yom HaShoah Service
Wednesday, April 7 at 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Please join the Jewish Federation of Madison, UW Hillel, Jewish Social Services, and all the community synagogues on Zoom for a service of remembrance and to honor local Holocaust survivors and their families. This service is being led by members of the Jewish community of Greater Madison.
Holocaust Survivors & Families
The Jewish Federation would like to hear from you
If you are a Holocaust survivor or a family member of a survivor, we'd like to know so we may personally invite you to our Community Yom HaShoah Service. We’d also like to gauge your interest in participating in our service, either reading a passage or lighting a candle. If you have not signed up in the past or your contact information has changed, please fill out our interest form: https://www.jewishmadison.org/holocaust-survivors-and-family-members
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Tuesday April 6th is Election Day
General Information can be found at:
To see if you are registered to vote, check your polling place and what is on your ballot for next election:
If you have a ballot and haven’t mailed it yet, you can still deliver to drop box or polling place. You can also choose not to use your absentee ballot and vote in-person on election day.
For City of Madison voters: City Clerk’s Office, (608) 266-4601.
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JSS is proud to be a beneficiary agency of: |
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