upcoming events

israel at 60 events | center of learning

  • May 1 - Yom ha Shoah Evening Service, 7:30 pm: Join us for an evening Holocaust Remembrance Service. Israel Congregation observes Yom ha Shoah with special guest speaker Walter Rosley who survived the war living in Europe. He will share with us his experiences. A service of remembrance will occur including a candle-lighting ceremony and readings by teenagers from our congregation.
  • May 2 - Friday Evening Shabbat Worship, 6:30 pm, followed by our Community Dinner with special guest speaker: Reverend Dr. Robert Carpenter of the First Baptist Church
  • May 3 - Saturday Morning Shabbat Worship, 9:30 am Parashat Kedoshim
  • May 4 - Rabbi Novak will be guest speaker at the First Baptist Church, 10:30 am
  • May 5 - Conversational Hebrew, with Yuval Sela, 7 pm
  • May 6 - Center of Learning: Realities of Israel Today, with Rabbi Novak, 7 pm
  • May 7 - Religious School, 3:50 pm
  • May 8 - Yom ha Atzmaut Celebratory Service, 7:30 pm with special guest speaker David Gutmann. Mr. Gutmann, an American, fought with the underground Irgun and then with the Hagganah during Israel's war for independence in 1948. A resident of Wallingford, VT, Mr. Gutmann will share with us his first-hand observations from the birth of the Jewish nation.
  • May 9 - Friday Evening Shabbat Worship, 6:30 pm, followed by our Community Dinner
  • May 10 - Saturday Morning Shabbat Worship, 9:30 am Parashat Emor
  • May 12 - Conversational Hebrew, with Yuval Sela
  • May 13 - Center of Learning: Jezebel, Queen of Israel, with Paul Ross, 7 pm
  • May 14 - Religious School, 3:50 pm
  • May 16 - Friday Evening Shabbat Worship, 6:30 pm, followed by our Community Dinner
  • May 18 - B’nai Barak Annual Devil Dog Pawlet‐Rupert Mountain Walk, 10:00 am. B'Nai Barak Men's Group will commence its sixth season with its annual Devil Dog Pawlet-Rupert Mountain Walk.  All mountaineers are to meet at the Reisman home at 10:00 am.  Once again, the Reismans will host the luncheon to which significant others are cordially invited.  This is a 5-mile hike of moderate exertion.  Please contact Loretta & Stan Reisman or Paul Ross if you plan to attend.
  • May 20 - Center of Learning: Religion and Separation from Government, with Bob Rosenfeld, 7 pm
  • May 21 - Religious School, 3:50 pm
  • May 23 - Friday Evening Shabbat Worship, 6:30 pm, followed by our Community Dinner
  • May 10 - Saturday Morning Shabbat Worship, 9:30 am Parashat Bechukotai
  • May 26 - Memorial Day, Office Closed
  • May 27 - Center of Learning: Did God Have a Wife? The Consort of Yahweh, with Paul Ross, 7pm
  • May 28 - Last Day of Religious School, 3:50 pm
  • May 30 - Friday Evening Shabbat Worship, 6:30 pm, followed by our Community Dinner
  • May 31 - Saturday Morning Shabbat Worship, 9:30 am Parashat Bemidbar
 
Also: Cooking Classes & Dinners on Thursday Evenings
Please remember to register on Wednesdays

do it now!

  • May is Israel Congregation's month to staff the Community Food Cupboard on Tuesdays. Call Elaine Ross at 802.325.5149 to volunteer.
  • Sponsor a Shabbat Dinner! Call the office for details.

add to your calendar


  • Sunday, June 1, 5:00 pm: Israel Congregation of Manchester Annual Meeting and Election of Officers and Directors. Coffee and cake will be served.
  • Tuesday, June 3, 7 pm: 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)

giving opportunities

  • Community Food Cupboard Wish List for May: baby and toddler food, diapers, baby wipes, baby shampoo, baby soap