A TASTE OF JUDAISM: SHABBAT DECONSTRUCTED

"A Day of Rest, Restoration, and. . .Relevance??"

Sunday, October 19 from 10am-noon

Join Rabbi Niles Goldstein as we begin our pursuit of Shabbat and its many meanings, rituals, and practices.

This will be the first session of our season, and it will focus on key questions and issues: What IS Shabbat? We will explore the history, development, structure, and interpretations of the Jewish Sabbath. If you've always been curious as to why Shabbat is and has been so important to the Jewish people and faith, then this session--and our stimulating, year-long series--is for you! Our format is open, informal, engaging, and interactive.

All of this will be followed by a delicious brunch.

No prior knowledge is necessary.

This session will take place at Cowgirl Hall of Fame (519 Hudson Street).

Fee: $30/members, $35 non-members. Cost includes brunch and drinks at Cowgirl.

PLEASE SAVE the other dates: Nov. 16, Dec. 14, Jan. 11, Feb. 8, Mar. 15, Apr. 19, May 17

Happy Hour at Cowgirl - Wednesday @ 6

Wednesday the 24th - 6-8 pm

Have a drink with us at The New Shul's Wild Wild West Village Happy Hour at Cowgirl! Shmooze with our Rabbis and members and find out more about the rootin' tootin'-ist shul west of Fifth Avenue!

519 Hudson St. (corner of Hudson and 10th St.)

Mazel Tov to Steven Reisner!

Mazel Tov to member Steven Reisner who was written up in yesterday's New York Times for having helped to win a vote in the American Psychological Association that will prohibit consultation in the interrogations of detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The Times writes:

The vote, 8,792 to 6,157 in a mail-in balloting concluded Monday, may help to settle a long debate within the profession over the ethics of such work. Psychologists have helped military and C.I.A. interrogators evaluate detainees, plan questioning strategy and judge its psychological costs. The association’s ethics code, while condemning a list of coercive techniques adopted in the Bush administration’s antiterrorism campaign, has allowed some consultation “for national security-related purposes.”

The referendum, first posted on the Internet as a petition in May, prohibits psychologists from working in settings where “persons are held outside of, or in violation of, either International Law (e.g., the U.N. Convention Against Torture and the Geneva Conventions) or the U.S. Constitution, where appropriate,” unless they represent a detainee or an independent third party. The association’s bylaws require that it institute the policy at the next annual meeting, in August 2009.

The article goes on:

Steven Reisner, a New York psychoanalyst running for the association presidency on the issue, called the vote “fabulous news.”

“The membership has sent a strong message to the leadership of the association that it wants to see this ethical prohibition as policy,” Dr. Reisner said, “and now it has to be policy.”

He added that the association should add the ban to its ethics code immediately and work out details of its enactment in the coming months. “This is a major step, but it’s a first step,” he said.

Click here to read the entire article.

Mazel Tov again to Steve!

Shabbat Data Bank

Inspired by our conversation at last week's - Shtetl Shabbat - we've decided to begin to put together a "Shabbat Data Bank" where we will compile the ideas and stories that people have been sharing about their own unique experiences of Shabbat. (We're also open to renaming the "data bank"!)

Shabbat Data Bank

Heading into tomorrow night's Shabbat on Tap - 7pm at Dublin6 (in the back room), 575 Hudson Street (between W11th and Bank) - we thought we'd continue our conversation by creating an open thread here to begin gathering stories and ideas (just click "comments" below) about how you have experienced Shabbat in the past (either in a traditional or non-traditional fashion) as well as other ways in which you would like to see Shabbat celebrated.

I look forward to continuing our dialogue in our online shtetl.

Rain Date - Saturday the 20th - for Window Painting at Cowgirl

Rain Date - Saturday, September 20th, at 9am

Although our first attempt at window painting got rained out last week (runny murals aren't our thing!), we want to (once again) invite you to start the New Year on a creative note!

Join one of five teams at the first ever New Shul/Greenwich Village Window Painting Celebration with the theme "Old & New". Each team will design and paint an outdoor section of Cowgirl's window with all supplies provided!

Apples, honey and challah will be available for all!

It's a great way to celebrate a new season in the Village and kick off The New Shulʼs 10th year.

Space is limited for painters, but everyone is invited to come out and hang with members while they paint, shmooze in the village, and eat apples and honey from 9-5pm.

Call Amy to sign up at 212.284.6658 or email her at amye@newshul.org.