Book Club: All the Rivers
Wednesday, March 29, 2023 • 7 Nisan 5783
10:30 AM - 12:00 PMOur next read will be All the Rivers by Dorit Rabinyan. A controversial, award-winning story about the passionate but untenable affair between an Israeli woman and a Palestinian man, from one of Israel's most acclaimed novelists. When Liat meets Hilmi on a blustery autumn afternoon in Greenwich Village, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Charismatic and handsome, Hilmi is a talented young artist from Palestine. Liat, an aspiring translation student, plans to return to Israel the following summer. Despite knowing that their love can be only temporary, that it can exist only away from their conflicted homeland, Liat lets herself be enraptured by Hilmi - by his lively imagination, by his beautiful hands and wise eyes, by his sweetness and devotion. Together they explore the city, sharing laughs and fantasies and pangs of homesickness. But the unfettered joy they awaken in each other cannot overcome the guilt Liat feels for hiding him from her family in Israel and her Jewish friends in New York. As her departure date looms and her love for Hilmi deepens, Liat must decide whether she is willing to risk alienating her family, her community, and her sense of self for the love of one man. Banned from classrooms by Israel's Ministry of Education, Dorit Rabinyan's remarkable novel contains multitudes. A bold portrayal of the strains - and delights - of a forbidden relationship, All the Rivers (published in Israel as Borderlife) is a love story and a war story, a New York story and a Middle East story, an unflinching foray into the forces that bind us and divide us. "The land is the same land," Hilmi reminds Liat. "In the end all the rivers flow into the same sea."
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Wed, May 1 2024
23 Nisan 5784
Upcoming Events
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Thursday ,
MayMay 2 , 2024
Thursday, May 2nd 10:30a to 11:30a
Our next book is A multigenerational family saga about the long-lasting reverberations of one tragic summer by "a wonderful talent [who] should be read widely" (Edward P. Jones). We will meet on May 2nd at 10:30 am via Zoom to discuss As Close to Us As Breathing by Elizabeth Poliner. In 1948, a small stretch of the Woodmont, Connecticut shoreline, affectionately named "Bagel Beach," has long been a summer destination for Jewish families. Here sisters Ada, Vivie, and Bec assemble at their beloved family cottage, with children in tow and weekend-only husbands who arrive each Friday in time for the Sabbath meal. During the weekdays, freedom reigns. Ada, the family beauty, relaxes and grows more playful, unimpeded by her rule-driven, religious husband. Vivie, once terribly wronged by her sister, is now the family diplomat and an increasingly inventive chef. Unmarried Bec finds herself forced to choose between the family-centric life she's always known and a passion-filled life with the married man with whom she's had a secret years-long affair. But when a terrible accident occurs on the sisters' watch, a summer of hope and self-discovery transforms into a lifetime of atonement and loss for members of this close-knit clan. Seen through the eyes of Molly, who was twelve years old when she witnessed the accident, this is the story of a tragedy and its aftermath, of expanding lives painfully collapsed. Can Molly, decades after the event, draw from her aunt Bec's hard-won wisdom and free herself from the burden that destroyed so many others? -
Saturday ,
MayMay 4 , 2024
Shabbat, May 4th 10:00a to 11:00a
Monthly Shabbat morning service -
Sunday ,
MayMay 5 , 2024
Sunday, May 5th 9:30a to 12:00p
Hebrew and Judaics for grades K-7th -
Friday ,
MayMay 10 , 2024
Friday, May 10th 7:30p to 8:30p
Erev Shabbat Services most Friday nights at 7:30 in the sanctuary -
Friday ,
MayMay 17 , 2024
Friday, May 17th 7:30p to 8:30p
Erev Shabbat Services most Friday nights at 7:30 in the sanctuary -
Friday ,
MayMay 24 , 2024
Friday, May 24th 5:30p to 6:00p
Our families with children 5 and under are invited to join us for a short Shabbat program, with singing, a story, and of course Challah and Grape Juice! -
Friday ,
MayMay 24 , 2024
Friday, May 24th 7:00p to 8:00p
Join us for a fun and festive Shabbat Service, led by the Religious School! -
Saturday ,
MayMay 25 , 2024
Shabbat, May 25th 2:00p to 8:00p
Our Kids, Teens, and Young Adults are invited to a tiered afternoon of field games, archery, and a campfire! Pizza dinner will be served, and s'mores will be available. 2:00-3:00 Ages 3-7 Ice Cream and Field Games 3:30-4:30 Ages 8-12 Ice Cream and Field Games 5:00-6:00 Ages 13-23 Gardening and Pizza 6:30-7:30 Ages 13+ Campfire, s'mores, and archery -
Wednesday ,
MayMay 29 , 2024
Wednesday, May 29th 12:00p to 1:30p
Our 18-25 year old cohort is invited to join us at the synagogue for a lunch and learn with the Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Abuse. Learn healthy practices for communicating with partners, and how to keep your heart, body, and soul safe from intimate partner violence. -
Saturday ,
JunJune 1 , 2024
Shabbat, Jun 1st 10:00a to 11:00a
Monthly Shabbat morning service
Listen to Jewish Kids Radio
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