Israel & Our Community Edition

Jewish Federation of Greater Fairfield County is pleased to announce that we will be partnering with The Joan and Ben Zinbarg – Schoke Jewish Family Service Camp Scholarship Program to offer need-based grants for families in our catchment area.

Research has shown that attending a Jewish summer camp helps to strengthen a youngster’s long-term Jewish identity and involvement in the Jewish community. Recognizing that summer camp is a luxury for many families in our area, the Joan and Ben Zinbarg Camp Scholarship Program was established to make summer camp a reality. Financial assistance is available for eligible families living in Stamford, New Canaan, Darien, Norwalk, Westport, Wilton, Ridgefield, Redding, Weston, Fairfield, Bridgeport, Easton, Monroe, Trumbull, and Stratford who are looking for rewarding Jewish summer experiences for their children.

Click HERE for the application. The submission deadline for Summer 2025 is April 11, 2025. Children must be entering 1st grade or above in September of the year they will attend camp. Scholarships are awarded based on a financial assessment of need, after any subsidies, discounts, and other scholarships have been considered. All applications are kept strictly confidential. If you have questions, please contact Erika Gadson: 203-921-4161 / erikag@ctjfs.org.

Humans of Judaism Shapes the Jewish Narrative

What do Prime Minister Golda Meir, editor and producer Marion Wiesel, and Nobel Prize winner Klara Safran have in common? They were all featured on the Humans of Judaism page over the past month!

Come learn why, and how their legacy helps to shape our Jewish narrative, when we talk with Humans of Judaism founder, Nikki Schreiber, on March 3rd at 7pm at Chabad Lubavitch of Westport. Limited space. RSVP HERE.

Norwalk Symphony Orchestra's Jewish Artists Series

This winter and spring, the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra (NSO) continues to support the Jewish community with a concert series celebrating important Jewish artists. The four-part series debuted last weekend with RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN’S OKLAHOMA!. Don't miss the next three concerts!

RICKY IAN GORDON’S ORPHEUS AND EURIDICE

Friday, March 7th at 8 pm and Saturday, March 8th at 3 pm

In an exciting new collaboration with Music Theatre of Connecticut, the NSO performs chamber works in an intimate 108-seat theater. Gordon, a Jewish composer who grew up on Long Island, writes beautifully lyrical music that blurs the line between art song and musical theater. This haunting hour-long staged song cycle for soprano, clarinet, and piano (played by Music Director Jonathan Yates) updates the iconic Greek myth to reflect the composer’s own tragic experience of having lost his partner. Buy tickets HERE!

MUSIC FOR ALL AGES: AMERICAN CLASSICS

Sunday, March 23 at 3 pm

Just as in musical theater, Jewish composers have been critical to 20th-century American classical music. The two centerpieces of the NSO's Music for All Ages concert are iconic works by Jewish artists. Aaron Copland wrote his Lincoln Portrait during World War 2 to express “the magnificent spirit of our country,” and in addition to its rousing music, it includes excerpts of Lincoln’s most famous speeches, which will be narrated by NBC's Today Show’s new Anchor, Craig Melvin. Gershwin’s tone poem, An American in Paris, is chock-full of his indelible melodies as we stroll down Parisian boulevards with the incredible genius. Buy tickets HERE!

MOZART’S DON GIOVANNI

Saturday, May 17 at 7:30 pm

No, alas, Mozart is not Jewish! However, his librettist, Lorenzo Da Ponte, was born Jewish, although his father converted to Catholicism. The collaboration between Mozart and Da Ponte was the most significant in the history of opera, producing the three masterpieces, Marriage of Figaro; Cosi Fan Tutte; and Don Giovanni, the story of a notorious womanizer who finally gets his comeuppance when he is dragged down to hell for his many sins. Filled to the brim with incredible tunes and both comedy and drama, if you have never seen an opera before, this is the one to start with! Buy tickets HERE!

Click Here for Additional Upcoming Community Events

In yet another moment of gratitude, Jewish Federations welcome home Or Levy, Eli Sharabi, and Ohad Ben Ami after a horrifying 491 days in Hamas captivity. At the same time, we are appalled and saddened by their medical condition and the serious abuse and malnutrition they have suffered at the hands of their cruel captors.

Or Levy, 34, and his wife, Eynav, had just arrived at the Nova Festival on October 7, 2023. Terrorists killed Eynav and kidnapped Or. Upon his release, Or is expected to be reunited with his son, Almog, age 3.

Eli Sharabi, 52, was kidnapped from his home in Kibbutz Be'eri on October 7, 2023. Eli’s wife and daughters were murdered, and his brother Yossi was abducted and killed.

Ohad Ben Ami, 56, spent two birthdays in Hamas captivity. A dual Israeli-German citizen, he was shot in the shoulder and abducted from Kibbutz Be'eri. His wife, Raz Ben Ami, was also kidnapped, and released in November 2023. She then became a fierce advocate for the release of the remaining hostages.

Each hostage release from Gaza brings a great sense of comfort and anticipation of the release of the remaining 76 hostages. We continue to pray that they all will be welcomed home in the coming weeks so that our community can begin the healing process.

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Click on the links below to reach out to your congregation. If you are not affiliated with a congregation but would like to connect with a Jewish clergyperson, please email info@shalomct.org.