It's Happening In Miami

Elie Wiesel was a towering presence on the world stage—a Nobel laureate, activist, adviser to world leaders, and the author of more than forty books. But when asked, Wiesel always said, “I am a teacher first.”

In fact, he taught at Boston University for nearly four decades, and with this book, Ariel Burger—devoted protégé, apprentice, and friend—takes us into the sacred space of Wiesel’s classroom. There, Wiesel challenged his students to explore moral complexity and to resist the dangerous lure of absolutes. In bringing together never-before-recounted moments between Wiesel and his students, Witness serves as a moral education in and of itself—a primer on educating against indifference, on the urgency of memory and individual responsibility, and on the role of literature, music, and art in making the world a more compassionate place. Come here from the author Rabbi Ariel Burger, who recounts his lifelong relationship with Elie Wiesel as his disciple, student, and teaching assistant. His book, Witness, won a 2019 National Jewish Book Award.

Join us on February 12, 7:30 PM, at the Michael Ann Russell JCC. Light refreshments will be served.

Sponsored in partnership with MARJCC Meet the Author Series and Mishkan Miami: The Jewish Connection for Spiritual Support of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation.

Free Concealed Carry Permit Class For the South Florida Jewish Community Must Register at ChabadChayil.org/events

Thursday, Feb 6, 6:15pm

Chabad Chayil, 2601 NE 211 Ter, Miami, FL 33180

Chabad of Palmetto Bay, in partnership with the Village of Palmetto Bay, will host a Tu B'Shvat Tree Planting Celebration event on Sunday, February 9th starting at 11:00 am at Ludovoci Park,17641 Old Cutler Rd, Palmetto Bay, Florida 33157.

The 15th of Shevat on the Jewish calendar, celebrated this year on Monday, February 10, 2020, is the day that marks the beginning of a “new year” for trees. Commonly known as Tu Bishvat, this day marks the season in which the earliest blooming trees in the Land of Israel emerge from their winter sleep and begin a new fruit-bearing cycle.

We mark the 15th of Shevat by eating fruit, particularly from the kinds that are singled out by the Torah in its praise of the bounty of the Holy Land: grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates. On this day we remember that “man is a tree of the field”, and reflect on the lessons we can derive from our botanical analogue.

This is a FREE family event and everyone is welcome to attend. There will be a tree planting ceremony followed by a workshop on the meaning of food and sample preparations of food.

For more information call Chabad of Palmetto Bay at 786 282 0413.

Temple Sinai Spring Music Festival 2020

February 9th @ 4PM

A Special Cantorial Spring Music Festival featuring Cantor Norman Cohen Falah, two of Cantor Shulkes' protégés: Cantor Jessica Roskin and Cantorial Soloist Jodi Rozental, and current cantorial students from the Hebrew Union College Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music.

Tickets $36 Single Ticket $54 Single Patron ticket + Light Bites + reserved seating

Join Cantor Shulkes' BIRTHDAY CLUB! Be a part of a special presentation for $90 Per person...$90 for 90!

Click Here for Tickets

This worldwide effort advocates for inclusion of people with disabilities and mental health conditions to be active participants in Jewish life. Federation is proud to help local organizations raise disability awareness, remove barriers and celebrate diversity in our community. This month’s activities include a special story time with PJ Library, an inclusive Shabbat service, a Tu B’Shvat celebration, a scavenger hunt and much more. For more information and to RSVP, click here.

Temple Sinai’s Early Childhood Education program

LOWER SCHOOL OPEN HOUSE

Where:
Scheck Hillel Community School
19000 Northeast 25th Avenue, North Miami Beach, FL 33180

When:
Friday, January 31, 2020
8:15 AM

RSVP here.

Scheck Hillel Community School added a student-designed class to its Capstone Senior Seminar: a signature Scheck Hillel program that prepares students for college and career. The class, entitled “Introduction to Adulthood” and created by Class of 2020 seniors Michael Berenstein and Alex Wagenberg, brings outside speakers from various fields to share the lessons and values that shaped their professional, entrepreneurial journeys.

The class is taught by the school’s Experiential Learning & Internship Coordinator Cristina Florez, and it also covers career awareness, personal budgeting and investing.

“Alex and Michael are amazing young men. They came in with a big idea, and we made it happen,” said Christopher Johnson, Director of Scheck Hillel’s High School. “It is great to see our students bringing the Scheck Hillel community, one of the strengths of our school, into the classroom. I strive to lead a high school where students explore their passions and take initiative to mold their high school experience. Alex and Michael are doing that, and then some. I am very proud of them.”

The seniors conceived the concept when they were talking about college and what they wanted to learn before graduation. “We noticed that the school prepares us very well for getting into college, and how to deal with certain situations in college, but we wanted to deepen our learning within real life skills that would help us when we actually leave for college,” said Wagenberg. They realized that their classmates had the same questions.

A project that began as a business plan to learn from real-life situations and inspire the senior class became a curriculum Berenstein and Wagenberg built with the support of faculty. Students now have the opportunity to learn from industry experts and learn life skills such as building a budget, identifying and managing investments, and learning to build and sell a company.

“You can learn from a textbook, but that just provides the information. “Introduction to Adulthood” doesn’t only teach these essential skills, but also helps incorporate them into the real world,” Berenstein observed.

About Scheck Hillel’s Senior Capstone Program
As Scheck Hillel’s Grade 12 students continue to pursue requirements toward a Scheck Hillel diploma, they rotate through courses in Capstone Senior Seminar, one of Scheck Hillel's signature programs preparing students for college and career. Courses in both General and Judaic Studies are created and taught by Capstone faculty using seminar-style instruction - covering themes around identity, entrepreneurship, essentials of Judaism, and other “big questions” that require interdisciplinary thinking.

About Scheck Hillel Community School
Scheck Hillel Community School educates and inspires students 18 months-Grade 12 to become exemplary global citizens with enduring Jewish identity and values through an individualized college preparatory curriculum highlighted by Design/STEM, Capstone, college dual enrollment, arts, athletics and community service. Its 14-acres include a 115,000-sq.-ft athletic complex with academic expansion plans. Set within a nurturing, diverse community, Scheck Hillel is one of the world's largest Jewish community day schools and a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence. For more information about Scheck Hillel Community School or to arrange a visit to the school, please contact our Admissions office at 305.931.2831x173 or write to [email protected].

Don't miss the show of the century. This music will bring back very fond memories of yesteryear. Awesome and Freilich Top Notch Klezmer Music with 10 Musicians! The Grand Klezmer Concert will be featuring world renowned Klezmerist Michael Winograd and the Honorable Mentshn Klezmer Band. Also a special opening act by the Tekiah Orchestra. Buy your tickets today: www.unitedjewishgenerations.com/klezmer

For a complete and timely schedule and other television providers, go to www.jbstv.org

Yad VaShem Ceremony

The Fifth World Holocaust Forum’s ceremony from Yad VaShem in Jerusalem featuring remarks by Israeli Pres. Rivlin, PM Netanyahu and heads of state from France, Great Britain, Russia, Germany & the U.S; with Rabbi Israel Meir Lau and Cantor Shai Abramson. Sunday - 12 Noon

Talmud: Morality In The Shoah

With the commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Monday, Jan 27, JBS presents Rabbi Mordechai Becher’s (Gateways) review of Talmudic examples of how one maintains moral integrity and Jewish identity in extreme circumstances. Sunday - 9am; Tuesday - 9am & 4:30pm; Thursday - 7pm

Witness: Survivor Esther Geizhals

Esther Geizhals recalls her childhood in Lodz, Poland and the nightmare she endured throughout the Shoah -- from Auschwitz to Bergen Belsen -- through liberation – to her creating a beautiful life and family in the United States. Sunday 3pm; Monday 10:30am

92nd Street Y: Rabbi Israel Meir Lau

Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv Rabbi Meir Lau (formerly chief rabbi of Israel) describes his miraculous survival as a young child in Auschwitz and shares tales of his storied rabbinic career in conversation with Rabbi Menachem Genack at the 92nd Street Y.
Sunday – 8pm & 2am; Monday - 10pm & 4am; Wednesday - 10:30am; Friday - 8pm & 1am; Saturday - 3pm

In The News: International Holocaust Remembrance

Amb. Ron Adam, Israel’s Ambassador to Kigali, Rwanda, discusses the significance & importance of the United Nation’s commemoration of “International Holocaust Remembrance,” held annually on January 27 marking the liberation of Auschwitz. With Shahar Azani. Sunday - 5:30pm & 11:30pm; Monday 3:30am, 8:30am & 12:30pm

Concert: Hershtik & Stark

Cantors Netanel Hershtik and Yaakov Stark present an inspiring cantorial concert “The Music Lives On,” featuring classic melodies from pre-Holocaust Europe. In honor of “The March of the Living” from The Hampton Synagogue, Westhampton Beach, NY. Tuesday - 8 pm & 1:30am; Thursday - 2pm; Saturday - 7pm; Sunday – 3am

DL Conference: The Human Dimension

Alice Greenwald, Ivy Schamis and Dr. Ruth Westheimer discuss the ways in which antisemitism and hate affect average individuals. With Stephen Smith (Shoah Foundation) from 2019 ADL Conference “Never Is Now” from the Javits Center in NYC. Monday - 7:30pm & 1:30am; Wednesday - 1:30pm

Adam Frankel: The Survivors

Author Adam Frankel (“The Survivors: A Story of War, Inheritance and Healing”) discusses the traumas of learning his father was not his biological father and of his family legacy as survivors. With Indra Nooyi by UJA-JCC of Greenwich, Ct at G’wich YMCA. Monday - 8pm & 1am; Wednesday - 2 pm; Saturday - 8pm & 1am

JLC Conference: Wisse & Hanson

Ruth Wisse (Distinguished Senior Fellow, TIkva Fund) discusses the threat of socialism in America; and Victor Davis Hanson (Military Historian, Hoover Institution) addresses Israeli exceptionalism. From the 2019 Jewish Leadership Conference on Jews & Conservatism, NYC.
Wednesday - 8pm & 1:30am; Thursday – 1pm

Jonathan Sacks

The former Chief Orthodox Rabbi of the UK, describes how meeting the Lubavitcher Rebbe and Rav Joseph Soloveitchik changed his life; his years as Chief Rabbi; and his evolution on Jewish pluralism.
Today (Sunday) - Noon & 6pm; Monday – 3pm

Commander Lebovitz

Eugene Aryeh Lebovitz, commander of troops in Haifa during the 1947 War of Independence, reminisces about his survival at Auschwitz, his running the British blockade, and his ongoing work on behalf of Israel and Jewish life.
Monday - 9pm & Midnight; Tuesday - 3pm

Child of Buchenwald

Moshe Avital, who survived Auschwitz and Buchenwald to become one of the “Children of Buchenwald” (a ship which ran the British blockade of Palestine), describes his journey and his fighting with the Haganah in the War of Independence. Tuesday - 9pm & Midnight; Wednesday - 3pm

SJP Report

Founding Director and President of ISGAP Charles Small discusses his organization’s research on Students For Justice In Palestine (SJP) and the BDS movement, and the urgency of combatting antisemitism today.
Wednesday - 9pm & Midnight; Thursday – 3pm

Daniel Pearl's Father, Yehuda Pearl

On the anniversary of the 2002 murder of his son, journalist Daniel Pearl, who ended his life with the words "I am Jewish," Yehuda Pearl talks about his own sense of Jewish identity and whether he sees himself as Abraham in the Akedah. Thursday - 9pm & Midnight; Friday - 2pm

Article Of Hope – Ilan Ramon

Documentary producer Dan Cohen talks about "An Article of Hope," his film on Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon carrying a small Torah scroll from Auschwitz into space before tragically perishing when the Columbia shuttle burned on re-entry, Feb 1, 2003. Thursday 10pm & 1am

Saturday: Israeli Films – Dorit Inbar

Dorit Inbar, General Mgr. of the New Fund for Cinema & Television of Israel, talks about the blessings associated with being a foster mother (for both her family and her foster son), and describes the creativity of the Israeli documentary film industry. Saturday - 6pm

From the Aleph-Bet: Lesson 14

Learn the Hebrew letters Final Nun and Tzadek. Monday - 9am & 4:30pm; Wednesday - 7pm; Saturday - 11am