Faith In Brooklyn for April 10

April 10, 2018 By Francesca Norsen Tate, Religion Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Jews and visitors from around the world visit and pray at the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City. It is a remnant from the Second Temple that Herod the Great built during his reign. It was destroyed in 70 C.E., during the First Jewish-Roman War. The history of the Jewish people and the Holy Land are topics to be explored in a 20-week Introduction to Judaism Course that several Brooklyn synagogues are co-sponsoring. Eagle file photo by Francesca N. Tate

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Brooklyn Synagogues Co-sponsor Popular Seminar Course on Judaism This Spring

Discover Judaism from an adult perspective, become a more confident parent of Jewish children, and explore long-standing questions that you haven’t yet asked.

For many years Brooklynites have sought out this journey through the popular Introduction to Judaism classes offered here, thanks to a growing coalition of synagogues around the borough.

Rabbi Sue Oren is the instructor and coordinator of this 20-session seminar-style course on Jewish life, thought and practice. Providing a warm and open environment, Rabbi Oren leads this exploration of Jewish thought, prayer and practice.

Participants in this seminar-style course learn about Jewish history and holidays. They wrestle with inherited texts and contemporary issues, discuss Jewish views of God, ethics, life and death. The curriculum provides access to concepts, vocabulary and observances that are central to Judaism. They explore the holy and the historical, inherited texts and contemporary issues, rhythms of the calendar and of life.

Each class will include common elements: opening and closing with song, sharing communal nosh, engaging the themes presented in assigned readings, and discussing the weekly Torah portion/parashat ha-shavua. They will develop a shared vocabulary, study Jewish history and geography, the centrality of Shabbat and its concepts of space versus time, rest versus leisure, as well as the distinction between regular and Holy Time. Other topics include religious movements and trends in Judaism.

The course co-sponsors are the Brooklyn Heights Synagogue, Congregation Mount Sinai, East Midwood Jewish Center, Flatbush Jewish Center, Kane Street Synagogue, Kolot Chayeinu/Voices of Our Lives, Park Slope Jewish Center,

Progressive Temple Beth Ahavath Shalom, Temple Beth Emeth v’Ohr Progressive Shaari Zedek and Union Temple.

The upcoming session of Brooklyn’s community-based Intro to Judaism course is on Wednesday, April 25.

This weekly class meets at Congregation Mount Sinai (250 Cadman Plaza West) on Wednesday evenings, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. The course tuition is $400 and there is a $25 materials fee. For registration and questions, contact Rabbi Sue Oren at [email protected].

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Students Rally to End Youth Violence At Two Brooklyn Events This Weekend

Town Hall Will Include Q&A Session With Congressional Candidates

High school students in Brooklyn are joining the national outcry to end school shootings and other forms of violence in their homes, schools and public arenas. They are organizing a town hall to take place Saturday, April 14, on this issue.

This town hall will expand the discussion beyond the recent school shootings, to all forms of violence against young people — such as at the hands of police, or in troubled regions such as Syria, Palestine and Yemen.

According to Alex Pellitteri, lead student organizer, the forum will be held at the Salam Arabic Lutheran Church (414 80th St. in Bay Ridge), and will include a panel of experts and activists who have worked to stop these types of violence.

The next segment of this forum will be a Q&A with Congressional candidates for the 11th District seat. The students will ask the candidates about their platforms for stopping violence against young people. The entire forum runs from 3 to 5 p.m.

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Another group of youths will convene this Saturday in Downtown Brooklyn to march across the Brooklyn Bridge, chanting slogans to bring wider awareness to an issue that is affecting teenagers.

The Healing Center sponsors its seventh annual Walk-A-Thon to end teen dating violence. Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. in the Korean War Veterans Plaza, near Cadman Plaza East and Tillary Street. The group will then march across the Brooklyn Bridge and conclude with a rally in front of City Hall. For more information, call 718-238-5138.

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Good Shepherd Services Treat Kids To Acclaimed Movie, ‘Black Panther’

Good Shepherd Services recently treated a group of kids to see the widely acclaimed film, “Black Panther.” Good Shepherd Services sponsored a screening of the superhero action movie for 520 children and teenagers, including 180 youngsters from Brooklyn, who take part in programs that the organization operates. Brooklyn Eagle reporter Paula Katinas writes that, “For many of the young fans, it was their first time seeing the movie phenomenon that is setting box office records all over the world. The movie, which was released in February, has won praise from critics and audiences alike for its depiction of a black superhero.”

Good Shepherd Services, whose work is rooted in that of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, has expanded into an organization of diverse backgrounds, with the goal of helping New Yorkers realize their full potential.

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Organ Virtuoso Loreto Aramendi Returns to Brooklyn for Special Recital

Concert Is Part of NY Landmarks Conservancy’s Launch Of 2018 Sacred Sounds and Settings Open House

The Brooklyn Chapter of the American Guild of Organists will present Spanish pipe organ virtuoso Loreto Aramendi in concert at the historic Plymouth Church, (57 Orange St., Brooklyn Heights). The chapter is honored to work in conjunction with the New York Landmarks Conservancy, for whom it will kick off the 2018 Sacred Sounds and Settings Open House.

This performance marks the second Brooklyn recital for Aramendi, who is in demand. The first took place in March 2015 at Our Lady of Refuge Roman Catholic Church in Midwood, as part of that parish’s Organ Restoration recital series. She returned to the U.S. in 2016 for a performance tour that included New York City’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Both Our Lady of Refuge and St. Patrick’s Cathedral’s organs were built by George Kilgen & Son.

Ms. Aramendi will bring her world-renowned artistry to bear on Plymouth Church’s 1937 Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ, an exemplar of the “American Classic” school of pipe organ design. She’ll perform a wide-ranging program of organ music and transcriptions of Buxtehude, Fauré, Ligeti, Liszt, Pärt, Rachmaninoff, Saint-Saëns and Tournemire. Readers can learn more about Ms. Aramendi’s astonishing career at http://loretoaramendi.com/en/ and can watch video of her fiery performances at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXlV6msYEylMlCs9MSIGEF. More info on the church and its organ can be found at http://www.nycago.org/Organs/Bkln/html/PlymouthChurch.html.

Tickets for this concert, on Sunday, April 22 at 5 p.m., will be available at the door for $20, ($10 for students and seniors).