The Monmouth Reform Temple will present the former CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest and current president of the Fifth Commandment Foundation on Sunday, June 2 at 10 a.m. speaking about Israel and the rise of antisemitism in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 terrorist attack by Hamas. The program will be in-person and livestream, although advance registration is needed to attend in person.
In addition to his work with the foundation, which focuses on affordable housing for the elderly, Kleinman is also president of Max L. Kleinman Consulting, LLC, specializing in nonprofit management, marketing and resource development, and a consultant to the Jewish Legacy Project, which provides dedicated resources for small Jewish congregations in the United States and Canada to successfully navigate current challenges, prepare for the future and ensure a continuing community legacy.
Among the topics he will touch on during the program, “Israel—Lightening-Rod for the New Ant-Semitism,” will be the calls for the “replacement” of Israel by a Greater Palestine, why the current antisemitism has made Israel supporters the new pariahs in progressive circles and beyond and what American Jews must do to halt this reality.
For those attending in person a light breakfast will precede the program. The livestream will begin 10:45 at https://monmouthreformtemple.livecontrol.tv/d7eb7d66. The program is free, but contributions to the Adult Education Committee are appreciated by sending a check, with adult education in the subject line, to the Monmouth Reform Temple, 332 Hance Ave., Tinton Falls, NJ, 07724. For more information, go to monmouthreformtemple.org.
Makhelat Hamercaz, the Jewish community choir of central New Jersey, will perform its annual spring concert on Wednesday, June 5 at 7:30 p.m. at Congregation Neve Shalom in Metuchen. The concert will be the last for Neve Shalom’s cantor, Hazzan Sheldon Levin, who is retiring at the end of the month after 25 years at the synagogue and who co-founded the choir 21 years ago with Anna West Ott, cantor emerita at Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple in New Brunswick. Both have served as co-directors since its inception and he will be honored at the event.
This year’s theme is “Jewish Music Throughout the Centuries,” with pieces spanning eight centuries from the Golden Age of Spain to those written in the last few years. Songs will be performed in Ladino, Yiddish, English and in both Sephardi and Ashkenazi Hebrew. Composers include: Salomone Rossi, Carlo Grossi, Franz Schubert, Louis Lewandowski, Max Janowski, Leonard Bernstein, Debbie Friedman and Deborah Mintz. Also being sung are several of Levin’s arrangements, including a new version of the Miami Boys Choir’s “Hinei Ma Tov,” a sing-along Israeli medley.
General Admission is $20 in advance and $25 at the door and seniors, $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Tickets are available at the Neve Shalom office or at www.MercazChoir.org.
There is also a friends option, $36 per ticket; patrons, $100 for two tickets; benefactors, $180 for two; $360 for four and guardian angels, $500 for four. All donations are tax deductible.
Learn how to protect the Jewish community and yourself against the rise of antisemitism and bullying on Sunday, June 9 at 10:30 a.m. at Rumson Jewish Center at Congregation B’nai Israel. The program will feature Emily Shire, a New York City lawyer and journalist, and David Kahn, director of the Israeli Combative Tactics Association and board member of Israeli Krav Maga Association. The program is being presented by the synagogue’s Cultural Programming Committee and Hadassah of Red Bank.
Shire’s work has appeared in such publications as the New York Times and Washington Post. She has spoken at Hadassah’s national convention and at AIPAC’s Policy Conference and the American Jewish Committee’s Global Forum. In 2017 Shire was named one the Forward’s 50 most influential American Jews.
Kahn has instructed all five branches of the American military, Royal Marines and Italian Marines as well as state local, state and federal law enforcement. He has authored seven Krav Maga books, two of which have won national awards, and he and his partners run several Israeli Krav Maga training centers.
Discussions about the increase of antisemitism after the Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel by Hamas will be held and those attending will can learn Krav Maga, the martial art developed by the IDF. Registration is required by June 5. Those participating in the Krav Maga should wear comfortable clothing.
For information contact Tara Siers, synagogue executive director, at tara.siers@rumsonjc.org.
A virtual two-part book club, “Black Americans, Jewish Americans: Racial and Ethnic ‘Passing’ in Literature and the Struggle to Belong,” will be held Wednesdays, June 5 and 26 at 7 p.m. by Rutgers University’s Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life. Both will be led by Donavan L. Ramon, assistant professor of English at Southern Illinois University- Edwardsville and fall 2023 Bildner visiting scholar.
The first session will revolve around the “Human Stain” by Philip Roth and the second on “Passing” by Nella Larsen. Discussions will center on the key themes of both books and comparisons between the two novels, both of which involve racial passing and hidden identities.
The program, which is free and open to the public, is being presented in cooperation with the New Brunswick Free Public Library, New Brunswick
African American Heritage Committee and Rutgers University Libraries–New Brunswick. Separate registration is required for each session at bildnercenter.rutgers.edu.
