Supporters of the Israeli hostages taken by Hamas into Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023 will gather every Sunday at 10:30 a.m. at 1979 Township Drive in Marlboro as part of the Run for Their Lives movement.
The group held its first event on Mother’s Day, May 11, drawing 40 people on just two days notice for a Mother’s March for the Hostages, in particular New Jersey native Edan Alexander.
“Do you believe in coincidences?” asked Dr. Rimma Chertog, one of the organizers of the of the march with Hal Crane. “The fact that Edan Alexander’s release was announced on the same day we walked for the hostages and their mothers is wild.”
That march was so successful, organizers decided to make it a weekly event that will continue until all the remaining hostages are freed. Chertog said this Sunday the group will be joined in solidarity by members of the Indian community.
Participants, who can walk or run, are urged to bring Israeli and American flags, wear red and bring their hostage photos and posters and their children. For more information go to Instagram, @runfortheirlivesmarlboronj.
The Somerset Patriots will hold a Jewish Heritage Night on Thursday, May 29 in celebration of Jewish Heritage Month at Patriots Park in Bridgewater during their game against the Akron Rubber Ducks. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. The night at the minor league stadium will feature fun Jewish trivia facts, kosher Turkish and Mediterranean food from The Bridge in Highland Park, live music and a special appearance by Art Shamsky from the New York Mets 1969 World Series championship team, who will sign autographs on the concourse. Among those selling tickets are: The Jewish Community Center of Middlesex County, $15, at jccmc.org; Temple Emanu-El, (732) 549-4442; the American Jewish Committee, New Jersey, which has two options: $35, for a Jewish Heritage Night hat bundle that includes an upper box ticket and a Patriots Jewish Heritage themed hat; or $10 for an upper box ticket. To learn more, contact Associate Director Danielle Cohen Schrager, AJC New Jersey, at cohend@ajc.org.
Rabbi Esther Reed, chief experience officer at Rutgers University Hillel, will be guest at the Gilbert and Claudie Hayat Speaker Series about, “Antisemitism on the College Campus Post October 7,” on Sunday, May 18 at 11 a.m. at Congregation Neve Shalom in Metuchen.
Reed in her 24 years at Rutgers Hillel has held several prominent positions a there over the years. Rutgers, with more than 7,000 Jewish students, has one of the largest Jewish populations in the country. It has also been the scene of some pro-Palestinian demonstrations, including an encampment last year.
Several weeks ago while Rep. Josh Gottheimer was holding a roundtable discussion, four pro-Palestinian demonstrators were arrested outside.
Reed received ordination and a master’s degree in Jewish women’s studies from the Jewish Theological Seminary. In 2022 she testified about antisemitism on campus before the House Subcommittee on Homeland Security.
The Women’s Philanthropy of the Jewish Federation in the Heart of New Jersey will host an afternoon lunch at the Shore, Thursday, May 29, at noon featuring Susan Weissbach Friedman, author of “Klara’s Truth: A Novel.”
The book centers on Dr. Klara Lieberman, a 49-year-old, single archeology professor at a small liberal arts college in Maine, who receives a letter from her estranged mother that her father—who has been absent for 43 years–is dead. Her mother has known he has been dead for many years, but has recently learned the Polish government is giving financial reparations for land it stole from Jewish citizens during the Holocaust and wants the money. Klara, although she has no interest in the money, wants answers about her father and so flies to Warsaw, where she begins to piece together both her story and that of her father. In doing so she connects with extended family and finds her calling: repairing the hundreds of forgotten, and mostly destroyed, pre-War Jewish cemeteries in Poland.
The lunch will also feature a special presentation by Dr. Stacy Gallin,
Director of CARMA: Combat Antisemitism and Reinforce Multicultural Acceptance.
Cost is $36 for the luncheon with a requested minimum gift to federation of $54 to attend. The event is being hosted by Robin Wander of Bradley Beach. Location will be provided upon registration. Contact Audrey Napchen at federation, (732) 588-1800 or Audreyn@jewishheartnj.org.
