Bangor Daily News

Shabbat Across America

February 27, 2010

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Rabbi Darah Lerner and members of Congregation Beth El invite you to Shabbat Across America-Canada beginning with a vegetarian potluck Shabbat dinner at 5:30 p.m. and a Shabbat service at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 5, at Congregation Beth El, 183 French St., Bangor.

According to information provided by the congregation, "tens of thousands of people at hundreds of locations across North America, as well as soldiers on active duty around the world, are expected to participate" on that day in this National Jewish Outreach Program.

The event, the release explained, "has been designed to introduce Jews with limited background in observance to the joy and beauty of the Jewish Sabbath" and, this year, the program has been extended to include military bases.

You are asked to register for this event and let your hosts know whether you will be able to bring a dish to share by calling 945-4578 or e-mailing bethel@me.acadia.net.

Poten & Partners

Shabbat Across America-Canada

February 27, 2010

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Rabbi Darah Lerner and members of Congregation Beth El invite you to Shabbat Across America-Canada beginning with a vegetarian potluck Shabbat dinner at 5:30 p.m. and a Shabbat service at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 5, at Congregation Beth El, 183 French St., Bangor.

According to information provided by the congregation, "tens of thousands of people at hundreds of locations across North America, as well as soldiers on active duty around the world, are expected to participate" on that day in this National Jewish Outreach Program.

The event, the release explained, "has been designed to introduce Jews with limited background in observance to the joy and beauty of the Jewish Sabbath" and, this year, the program has been extended to include military bases.

You are asked to register for this event and let your hosts know whether you will be able to bring a dish to share by calling 945-4578 or e-mailing bethel@me.acadia.net.

Wicked Local

Shabbat Across America/ Canada

February 27, 2010

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Shabbat Across America/Canada. From 6 to 9 p.m., Friday, March 5, members of the Jewish community of the South Shore and surrounding areas will gather at Congregation Beth Jacob’s Community Center, on Court Street at Brewster, downtown Plymouth, in an unparalleled display of Jewish revitalization and Jewish unity. Conceived and organized by the National Jewish Outreach Program in 1997, Shabbat Across America/Canada represents a united effort by the entire Jewish community to renew interest in the fourth of the Ten Commandments, observing a weekly day of rest (Shabbat in Hebrew).

CBJ will be one of approximately 700 synagogues across the continent that will simultaneously open door to practicing and non-practicing Jews alike as well as interfaith families, so all may join together to experience and rejoice in a family Shabbat service and festive meal.

More than 600,000 people have participated in Shabbat Across America/Canada. Attendees will experience a special Friday night service and, for those who come early, a Shabbat dinner sponsored by PARTY, the congregation’s high school youth group, to be followed by a half hour tutorial of festive Shabbat songs taught by Cantorial intern Elise Barber. The Shabbat service begins at 7:30 p.m. followed by Oneg Shabbat (dessert).

MyCentralJersey.com

Montgomery congregation to mark Shabbat Across America next month
February 17, 2010
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Members of Congregation Kehilat Shalom next month will join several other Central Jersey synagogues and centers in a national event with a mission to unify the Jewish community.

Created and organized by the New York-based National Jewish Outreach Program in 1997, the 14th annual Shabbat Across America event scheduled on Friday, March 5 will represent a united effort by the Jewish community to renew interest in the fourth of the Ten Commandments -- observing a weekly day of rest.

Shabbat -- the day of rest -- begins at sundown March 5 and lasts until sundown March 6.

This is the second year Congregation Kehilat Shalom, in the Belle Mead section of the township, is participating in Shabbat Across America. Led by Rabbi Susan Falk, the evening will begin at 6:30 p.m. for practicing and nonpracticing Jews alike, where congregants will rejoice in a Shabbat service and festive, potluck meal, respresentatives of the congregation said.

Falk also plans to explain Shabbat rituals during the program.

Forward

Designing Women
February 17, 2010
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TWEBREW SCHOOL AND JEWISH TWEETS TOUTED BY NATIONAL JEWISH OUTREACH PROGRAM

Giving the National Jewish Outreach Program’s February 2 dinner at the New York Hilton a jump-start, Sam Domb — a Holocaust survivor, hotel owner and longtime NJOP benefactor — declared: “I don’t intend to speak. I just brought a $100,000 check,” which he handed to NJOP founder and director Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald, then walked off the stage! Among NJOP’s many successful campaigns to promote the Sabbath, Buchwald cited “Shabbat Across America/Canada,” “The Great American Smokeout: Give Your Lungs a Religious Experience…This Shabbat, Light Candles Not Cigarettes,” and the conversion of Lisa Scharf (nee Lisa Cabrera, a TV reporter for NBC, CBS and UPN, and a Fox News anchor). She and her husband, real estate innovator Joseph Scharf, were the evening’s honorees.

It was noted that the Scharfs’ wedding in Jerusalem was front-page news in Israel. (Lisa Scharf credited NJOP’s Hebrew Reading Alphabet Charts as an invaluable aid in learning Hebrew.) The dinner also honored Chaya Saity and her late husband, David Saity, as “devoted supporters of Israel and the Jewish community. The Saitys owned the Native American jewelry boutiques on Park Avenue and in the Trump Tower.

Buchwald lamented: “There was a time when most American Jews, young and old, had seen candles lit in their homes, were familiar with [a local] kosher butcher or kosher delicatessen, even if their families didn’t observe kashrut at home… went to Hebrew school and, though for many it was a negative experience, it was still a Jewish experience. Today we are facing a generation of Jews who are three, four and five generations removed from tradition. They may know that pork is forbidden in Jewish tradition, but [they] don’t know beans about Judaism…. More than 300,000 North American Jews have learned to read Hebrew,” declared Buchwald, who touted NJOP’s most recent innovative programming: “Jewish Treats,” which is a daily e-mail and blog; “Jewish Tweets,” NJOP’s Twitter presence, and Twebrew School, online courses..

Wicked Local

Temple Beth Shalom host "Shabbat Across America/ Canada"
February 12, 2010
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Malden —

Members of Melrose’s Jewish community will gather on Friday, March 5, 6 p.m., at Temple Beth Shalom, 21 East Foster St., in an unparalleled display of Jewish revitalization and Jewish unity. Conceived and organized by the National Jewish Outreach Program (NJOP), “Shabbat Across America/Canada” represents a united effort by the entire Jewish community to renew interest in the fourth of the Ten Commandments — observing a weekly day of rest (Shabbat in Hebrew).

Temple Beth Shalom is proud to have participated in Shabbat Across America since its inception and will be one of approximately 700 synagogues across the continent that will simultaneously open its doors to practicing and non-practicing Jews alike, so they may join together to experience and rejoice in a traditional Shabbat observance, much like the one that should be enjoyed at home.

Led by Temple members, attendees will experience an interactive Friday night beginner’s observance and a potluck Shabbat dinner with all the rituals explained. The event will take place from 6-9 p.m. All attendees should bring a dairy dish (entrée, side dish, salad or dessert). Do not bring any food containing meat or ingredients made with meat. Wine, grape juice and other soft drink beverages will be provided by the Temple.

For more information, e-mail

ponderworks@yahoo.com

or call 781-665-4520 and leave a message.

The New York Blueprint

Shabbat Across America at KJ Beginners Program
February 9, 2010
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Venue:	Ramaz Middle School 114 East 85th Street between Lexington and Park Av New York , View on Mapquest
Contact:	www.kjbeginners.org or call 212-774-5678
Organization:	Kehilath Jeshurun

On Friday night, March 5h, members of the Upper East Side Jewish community and beyond will gather at Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun (KJ) in an inspiring display of Jewish unity. Created by the National Jewish Outreach Program (NJOP), “Shabbat Across America” represents a united effort to renew interest in Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath.

KJ will be one of approximately 700 synagogues across the continent that will open its doors to all Jews. Under the direction of Rabbi Elie Weinstock, Associate Rabbi and Director of Outreach, attendees will experience an interactive Friday night explanatory service and a Shabbat dinner with all the rituals explained.

Prompted by the growing rate of Jewish assimilation in North America, NJOP and KJ hope that a memorable and rewarding experience at Shabbat Across America will infuse thousands of non-practicing Jews with a greater sense of commitment to Judaism. “We cannot accept that North American Jewry is an endangered species,” commented Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald, founder and director of NJOP. “A vast majority of Jews in this country have never experienced a traditional Sabbath experience and do not feel a connection to the Judaism that their grandparents practiced only a half-century ago. Shabbat Across America is an exciting and modern way of reintroducing friends and family members to a practice that has been with our people for over 3,000 years.”

The Jewish Week

Tim Boxer: At NJOP What's Better Than A Speach?
February 9, 2010
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Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald, right, honors Joseph Scharf and wife Lisa Cabrera at NJOP dinner at the Hilton. Photo by Tim Boxer

Hotel operator Sam Domb has been one of the stalwarts of the National Jewish Outreach Program. Last year he raised $200,000 for the organization, long admired for its highly effective Shabbat Across America campaign.

At the group's annual dinner at the New York Hilton, the founding director, Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald, called upon Domb to take a bow.

"I did not bring a speech," Domb said, "but I did bring a check for another $100,000."

"This is an expensive dinner for you," Buchwald said.

Buchwald said that today's generation of Jews never attended Hebrew school or became a

>

bar or bat mitzvah. To reach them NJOP has embraced the mix of social media. It launched Jewish Treats and Jewish Tweets. Its Tweebrew School is now the No. 2 Jewish newswire on Twitter.

A younger generation was reflected in the audience, which also included a judge, a granddaughter of Oscar Hammerstein II, a co-president of Morgan Stanley (the highest ranking observant Jew in American business), the Pulitzer Prize-winning musician Steve Reich, the Emmy Award-winning producer Allan Leicht, and the newly converted Ivanka Trump who attended the beginner's service at Kehilat Jeshurun which NJOP helped establish.

Buchwald presented awards to several individuals, including Lisa Cabrera, a news reporter for Fox5. Her father's from Colombia. Lisa converted two years ago in Jerusalem and married New York real estate developer Joseph Scharf.