ISRAEL AT 60
From January through May 2008 Israel Congregation of Manchester will be commemorating the 60th anniversary of the declaration of the State of Israel. Choose to come to all or a few of our array of offerings, which is sure to have something for everybody.seminars
Reading and Discussing Israeli Literature
Beginning in January and following months, the Book Club will be reading from a selection of books by contemporary Israeli authors. The first book, A Pigeon and a Boy by Meir Shalev, is available at Northshire Bookstore and online. Subsequent months' books will be chosen by readers from a list of options that reflect the diversity and vibrancy of modern Israeli literature.
- June 3: The next Book Club will meet June 3 to discuss the book Fugitive Pieces by the poet Anne Michaels. This is the story of Jakob Beer, a Polish Jew, translator, and poet who, as a child, witnessed his family's slaughter at the hands of the Nazis. Beer himself was found and smuggled out of Poland by Athos Roussos, a Greek archaeologist who carried him back to Greece and kept him there in precarious safety. After the war they emigrated together to Canada. Jakob's story is told through diaries discovered by Ben, a young man whose parents are Holocaust survivors and who is a vessel for their memories just as Jakob is the bearer of his own. It is a book about memory and forgetting. How is it possible to love the living when our hearts are still with the dead? What is the difference between what historical fact tells us and what we remember? More than that, the novel is a meditation on the power of language to free our souls and allow us to find our own destinies. (Amazon review)
lecture series
May 6, 7:00 pm
Realities of Israel Today
Rabbi David Novak
- Israel is no longer a dream, it is a reality. There are many issues the people of Israel face in addition to the security concerns that we hear so much about. In this seminar, we will discuss other issues pertaining to modern Israel: education, poverty, environment, and domestic politics. Join us for a group discussion about where Israel is as the country turns sixty. As our text, we will use Unforgiven, a wonderful article in the current Atlantic magazine, found online at: www.theatlantic.com/doc/200805/israel. Please either pick‐up the magazine or read the article online and prepare for a lively conversation. Rabbi Novak
Yom ha Atzmaut Talk
David Guttman
- Yom ha Atzmaut, Israel Independence Day Speaker: David Guttman, a Vermont resident who was in the War of Independence in Jerusalem in 1948 will be our special guest speaker at ICM.
film festival
- Walk on Water, April 22, 7:00 pm, ICM: A recent Israeli film about relationships between a German woman living in Israel and her brother still living in Germany, the historical past, and the Israeli present. Extremely popular, this film is appropriate for people 17 years old and older. Parental discretion is advised due to mature themes.
- The Long Way Home, April 29, 7:00 pm, ICM
special musical event
The Klezmatics perform Wonder Wheel: The Jewish Songs of Woody Guthrie, April 12, 8:00 pm, Clark Institute, Williamstown, MA. Click here for more information.
CENTER OF LEARNING
Upcoming Offerings- May 13: “Jezebel, Queen of Israel” The Biblical Jezebel is synonymous with evil & deceit. This seminar resurrects her name and will demonstrate that this picture is not only misanthropic but inaccurate. Paul Ross
- May 20: “Religion and Separation from Government” The First Amendment Establishment Clause prohibits the government from forming a religion. What was the Founding Fathers’ interpretation of the separation of church and state? What is the current debate? These issues provoke strong feelings. Come share your opinions as we discuss the prevailing myths and truths about what the Establishment Clause means. Bob Rosenfeld
- May 27: “Did God Have a Wife?: The Consort of Yahweh” This seminar will demonstrate that the God of the Israelites was not a bachelor and, invariably had a female consort. Paul Ross
