Acclaimed six-man a cappella vocal band Six13, known for its Jewish-themed renditions of popular tunes, will celebrate Hanukah on Sunday, Dec. 8 at 2 p.m. at the East Brunswick Jewish Center (EBJC).
The New York City-based group juxtaposes traditional and contemporary music to transmit a strong Jewish identity–fueled by soulful harmonies, intricate arrangements and signature dynamic, full-band-like sound–as part of its mission to connect Jews around the world with their heritage through music.
The group’s videos have more than 20 million views and members have been featured on national television and press, including the Today Show, CBS, CNN and Time Magazine. Six13 has eight award-winning albums, the music from which has been adapted by choirs worldwide and played on mainstream radio stations. The group has performed at the White House, the Kennedy Center in Washington, headlined the North American Jewish Choral Festival and sang at national sporting events.
The event is being sponsored by EBJC’s Sisterhood and Men’s Club and Congregation B’nai Tikvah in North Brunswick’s Sisterhood. General admission tickets available online are: adults, $45; children 3-13, $20 and nuclear family bundles for two adults and up to five of their children, $120. Sponsorships are also available. The last day to purchase tickets by credit card is Dec. 4. Prices at the door are $65 for adults $30 for children and no family bundle option. Doors will open 1:15 p.m.
For tickets go to ebjc.org/six13. For questions, call Cindi, (732) 690-2743 or Bobbi, (732) 690-4779.
Author Maya Arad, will speak about her book, “The Hebrew Teacher,” in a virtual program presented by Congregation Torat El in Oakhurst on Sunday, Dec. 8 at 1 p.m. The book centers around three Israeli women, whose lives have been altered by immigration to the United States, who seek to overcome various crises. Ilana is a veteran Hebrew instructor at a Midwestern college who has built her life around her career. Miriam, whose son left Israel to make his fortune in Silicon Valley, pays an unwanted visit to meet her new grandson and discovers cracks in the family’s perfect façade. Efrat, another Israeli in California, is determined to help her daughter navigate the challenges of middle school.
The Israeli-born Arad is a writer-in-residence at Stanford University’s Taube Center for Jewish Studies. She is the author of eleven books of Hebrew fiction, studies in literary criticism and linguistics.
To register and for more information for the free program, go to torat-el.org and a link to the event will be sent.
Author and civil rights attorney Bryan Schwartz, founder of the Scattered Among the Nations Project, will speak on Sunday, Dec, 8 at 10:30 a.m. at Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple in New Brunswick. The project’s goal is to assist geographically and politically isolated Jewish or Judaism-practicing communities to overcome adversity and to continue embracing the Jewish religion and culture.
His book of the same name uses photographs and intricate accounts to tell the story of the world’s most isolated Jewish communities in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the former Soviet Union and the margins of Europe. The organization has helped Peru’s Inca Jews, India’s Benei Menashe, Ghana’s House of Israel, and Nigeria’s Igbo Jewish community, and expects to support Uganda’s Abayudaya. It endeavors to embrace the highest level of tzedakah in the Maimonidean ladder of giving — to help communities strengthen themselves. Schwartz is an Oakland-Calf. attorney who conceived the idea for the organization in 1999 visiting Jews in 30 countries.
Cost is $15 for members, $18 for non-members and $10 for students and seniors. Register at ansheemeth.net. For more information call (732) 545-6484.
Dr. Yehudah Pryce is a former gang member who served time in prison but transformed his life by converting to Judaism and becoming a clinical social worker and director of national mental health programs. On Friday Dec, 13 he will speak at a dinner program at 6:30 p.m. for Chabad of the Shore in Long Branch.
At age 22 the heavily tattooed Pryce was sent to Pelican Bay State Prison, a maximum-security institution in California, for armed robbery of drug dealers. His gang involvement started at age 13 with him selling drugs, stealing and carrying guns. In prison he began reading books on various religions but didn’t connect with any until a rabbi came to speak to prisoners. He later formed a six-year relationship with another rabbi and began studying Judaism, keeping kosher and observing Shabbat. Pryce was released in 2018 after spending 16 years in prison, converted to Orthodox Judaism and married a Jewish woman he met online while in prison.
They now have four children and live in Los Angeles in an Orthodox community. Pryce has earned a doctorate and is a clinical social worker at Chabad Treatment Center.
Cost is $75 for adults and $35 for children. RSVP (732) 229-2424 or chabadshore.com/Pryce.
