To draw attention to the 239 Israeli hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza, The Empty Shabbat Table will be set up at 138 Raritan Ave in Highland Park from Nov. 3-15 by Central New Jersey Stands With Israel (CNJSI). On Friday, Nov. 3 at 4 p.m. a short program, including the singing of Shabbat songs and remarks from former Rutgers Hillel Executive Director Andrew Getraer, will be held. The exhibit is on land owned by Edgewood Properties and is being staged with the help and cooperation of Highland Park Mayor Elsie Foster and Councilman Matt Hale. The Empty Shabbat Table concept has been staged in various communities in the United States and Israel to keep the kidnapping victims’ plight in the forefront of public consciousness such as the one shown in the photo set up in Times Square by the Israeli American Council. For more information or to comment visit https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=the%20empty%20shabbat%20table.
In commemoration of Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, the Center for Holocaust, Human Rights & Genocide Education (Chhnhnange) at Brookdale Community College in Lincroft on Thursday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. will host a virtual program, “Nuremberg and the November Pogrom: A Reckoning.” The program will feature Lawrence R. Douglas, the James J. Grosfeld Professor and Chair of Law, Jurisprudence, and Social Thought at Amherst College in Massachusetts, to examine why the Nuremberg trial failed to condemn any member of the Nazi leadership for the crimes of the pogrom.
Douglas is the author of seven books, including, “The Memory of Judgment: Making Law and History in the Trials of the Holocaust” and “The Right Wrong Man: John Demjanjuk and the Last Great Nazi War Crimes Trial,” a New York Times Editor’s Choice. One of his two novels, “The Vices,” was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Prize. He has lectured throughout the United States and in more than a dozen countries.
To register go to https://chhange.org under events. A Zoom link will be sent upon registration. For information contact Cchange at (732) 224-1889 or contact@chhange.org.
David Ze’ev Jablinowitz, the op-ed editor of the Jerusalem Post, will speak in a virtual program from Israel, Saturday, Nov. 4 at 8:30 p.m. in a free program sponsored by the Orthodox Forum of Edison/Highland Park. Jablinowitz was born in Brooklyn, but moved to Israel after graduating from Queens College in 1981. He has been covering Israeli politics, the Jewish world and day-to-day life in Israel for almost 40 years. He was a correspondent and anchor for the Israel Broadcasting Authority from 1981-2017 and then served until 2018 as a newscaster for the Israel Public Broadcasting Corporation covering diplomatic and political issues. Jablinowitz is also author of Israel’s “Bus Stories” on Facebook and is now compiling stories for a book. Support for this program has been provided by the Nelson and Minkoff families to honor the memories of Hilton Nelson and Muriel Minkoff. For more information go to https://orthodoxjewishforum.dreamhosters.com/hpedison/.
Zoom link for the presentation is https://tinyurl.com/ksvhpbpf.
Entertainment historian John Kenrick will bring back memories of the “Borscht Belt” of the Catskills in a program on Sunday, Nov. 12 at 2 p.m. at the Jewish Heritage Museum of Monmouth County in Freehold. The popular summer enclave for Jews became known as the Jewish Alps and gave rise to many Jewish comedians such as Mel Brooks, Joan Rivers, Rodney Dangerfield, Sid Caeser and Jackie Mason, who performed at its many clubs, famed resorts and hotels such as Grossinger’s, Browns, Kutchers and the Nevele. The program will feature video clips.
Kenrick has served as personal assistant to six Tony Award-winning producers, including the team behind the original production of Rent, and has taught at New York University, The New School and the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. He is creator of the website Musicals101.com and founding creator for the Museum of Broadway.
Admission is $12 for members and $18 for non-members. Tickets can be purchased online at https://www.jhmomc.org.
