Tu B'Shevat Jam 5769

Experience a feast of the senses with live music, poetry, comedy and spoken word performed by the talented members and friends of The New Shul.

Tu B'Shevat, the ancient Jewish pilgrimage festival that celebrates nature, is an opportunity to explore our relationship with the environment through the themes of creation's majesty, our abuse of it, how we can repair it, and its power to renew and transform us. Join us for an unforgettable evening of provocative and spiritually powerful entertainment, served up with special holiday food and drink.

This is a free event!

Where
First Presbyterian Church
12 West 12th Street

When
Friday, February 6 at 7pm

It's not too late to participate. Email the office at info@newshul.org if you would like to perform.

Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Gala Concert

Live history and come to the Riverside Church Thursday, February 12th at 8pm for the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Concert.

Ruby Dee will be narrating "The Lonesome Train, featuring Eric Weissberg on Banjo, The Riverside Inspirational Chorus, The New York City Labor Chorus, The Chorus and Orchestra of the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, and Maestro Maurice Peress.

Entrance:121 St. & Claremont Ave. (one block east of Riverside Drive: #1 train to 116 St.)

Proceeds from the concert will benefit the Riverside Food Pantry which served 10,000 households in 2008.

For tickets ($15): Call the Riverside Church at 212-870-6784 or go to www.theriversidechurchny.org

Israeli Wine Direct & Digital Criterion

Inviting ROI members, Birthright alumni, techies and wine connoisseurs to come check out some great wines from Israel at this wine and tapas event on Monday, February 2nd from 7-10pm at Suba Restaurant located at 109 Ludlow Street in Manhattan. There will be food paired with each of the wines and kosher food will be served.

Digital Criterion and MyWineText will be showcasing its technology allowing you to purchase wine using text messaging or a simple iPhone app. We want to use the opportunity to raise proceeds for Save a Child's Heart. Save a Child's Heart is an Israeli organization helping children from all over the world, providing the largest amount of support to Palestinian children suffering from various chronic heart conditions.

$25 cover charge for food and drink. Mixed drinks will be extra at the bar.

Wineries at this event will be: Margalit, Tzora, Pelter, Flam, and Tulip

ORDER WINE FOR HOME DELIVERY DURING THE EVENT!!

GET YOUR PASSOVER WINES THIS YEAR FROM THE BEST ISRAELI BOUTIQUE WINERIES!

Those Who went to D.C. Share Their Stories To CBS

Watch as our very own members, Jill, Larry and Levi Stern, discusses their experience in Washington, D.C. for President Barack Obama's inauguration.

To see the interview by CBS click here!

The Sandwich Generation: Caught in the Middle?

Are you feeling isolated, sad, angry, frustrated or guilty? Anxious about finances? Are you worried about your aging parents, and stressed about trying to juggle your responsibilities to your family, your work, and yourself?

You are not alone!

Please join Andrea Osnow, LCSW and Nancy Wohl, LCSW for a free discussion where we can share ideas, resources and support.

For more information, please call 212-645-1452 or email villagera@aol.com

Where
272 West 10th Street (between Greenwich & Washington Streets)

When
Thursday, January 29, 7–8:30 pm

Stay Connected

We’ll be watching Obama get sworn in on everything from television to YouTube. Obama has mastered the ability to stay connected, and we are inspired. Which got us thinking, how can we stay connected to you? We have a facebook page and a twitter account. If you’re on either, be sure to friend us or follow-us.

On that note, we’re curious - where are you watching Obama’s inauguration?

Celebrate MLK by Volunteering

Have the day off on Monday? Why not spend it volunteering at the JCC?

Click to enlarge

In addition to their night of "Music and Reflection," the JCC in Manhattan is hosting "A Day of Volunteering" on Monday:

Use your day off to do good! A variety of projects fill the JCC, including Project Sunshine: making welcome kits for children coming into hospitals, Meals for the Homeless, The NY Cares Coat Drive, and more ways to volunteer! Bagels, coffee and hot chocolate will be served.

Monday, Jan 19, 11am-2pm, FREE
Held at the JCC in Manhattan on 334 Amsterdam Ave at 76th St.

Announcing Our Final Two Judges for Souper Bowl 2009

This just it – Chef/owner Akhtar Nawab will be joining our panel of guest celebrity judges. Akhtar Newab pieces together his Indian heritage, Kentucky roots and greenmarket-driven kitchen experience (Craft, Gramercy Tavern) as skillfully as some of the cobblers on the strip. He is the head chef/owner of Elettaria. Sounds like a perfect guest judge to try our eclectic soups and Jewish medicine chicken soup.

Though in the past we have had three judges, this year we are adding a fourth! Julian Gerson will be our junior gest judge and special guest blog reporter. To read about Julian’s previous experience, check out his blog

Madoff: The Grinch Who Stole Chanukah

Featured in Jewish Week, our very own Rabbi Niles Goldstein commented about this important issue:

To mix religious metaphors, every year there’s a Grinch who steals Chanukah. This year it’s Bernard Madoff, The real question is how to forgive those who have we can forgive Bernard Madoff and evaluated how the $50 billion embezzlement could have been used for the good manipulated, defrauded and humiliated us. This week JInsider asked top thinkers how.

Rabbi Niles Goldstein
Spiritual Leader of The New Shul and author, most recently, of Gonzo Judaism • www.nilesgoldstein.com

Based on my understanding of the Jewish value system, if Madoff expresses contrition—and genuinely means it—not only can we forgive him, we are obligated to forgive him. In my experience, this is counter to the way most human beings are wired, but that is what makes Judaism so radical and revolutionary as a religious tradition. This man has caused enormous damage to a great number of individuals and institutions, and in no way do I mean to minimize any of it.

Nevertheless, the capacity to forgive and the quality of compassion are at the heart and soul of what it means to be an actualized Jew. It may not be easy to act or feel in those ways toward someone like Madoff, but that is precisely the point; as a religion that has always been countercultural at its core, Jewish self-realization involves a lot of effort and hard work. Let’s not run away from that challenge.

URGENT - TOMORROW - SAVE THE M8 BUS

To save the M8 bus the MTA needs to see a big turn-out to the Wesdnesday, January 14th hearing from 6-9pm.
The MTA have received more e-mails and calls about the M8 bus over any other line, so nice work so far! Let's keep it up.

The hearing is located at the Hilton NY, Trianon Ballroom (Third floor)
1335 Ave of the Americas (between 53-54 Streets), Manhattan

Subways: E,V to 5 Av/53 St, or B,D,F,V to to 47-50th St/Rockefeller Ctr. Buses: M5, M6, M7
Registration to speak: open till 9 pm at hearing. Limit 3 minutes per speaker.
You can register to speak in advance, or comment in writing: contact Douglas Sussman, Director of MTA Community Affairs, 347 Madison Ave, NY, NY 10017, 212-878-7483.

New Developments
There was a meeting at State Senator Daniel Squadron's office with several reps from the MTA and other elected officials such as:

• Assemblymembers Kavanagh and Glick
  
• State Senators Duane and Squadron
• City Councilmembers Gerson and Mendez
  
• City Council Speaker Quinn
  
• Borough President Stringer
  
• Congressmember Velazquez
  

There were also reps from the Straphangers' Campaign, Community Boards 2 & 3, Lilian Wald Houses, V.I.D., Theater for a New City, and many others affected groups.

The meeting was very informative-- the MTA explained their metrics for determining which lines to eliminate. These included the farebox recovery ratio of a given line, raw ridership numbers, and the number of alternative routes if a line were eliminated. These were the standards by which the M8 was selected for elimination.

Additional ridership and transfer data was requested, and the fact that NYU private buses greatly reduce the ridership statistics of the M8 was pointed out. In addition, the fact that the M8 line is much faster than other crosstown buses because it runs on wide one-way streets was expressed. Cate Contino of the Straphangers' Campaign verified that the MTA is indeed facing a major deficit and is no longer cooking their books.

The goal is the preservation of the M8 line at current service levels, and more broadly, the preservation of our City's mass transit system without service cuts. Your thoughtful (and heartbreaking) comments written on http://www.savethem8.org/ were shared with the MTA.

This Wednesday, the 2,302 (and growing) signatures that our dedicated neighbors have collected on the bus, in their buildings, and online with e-mails to their friends, will be presented.

So, here is what you can do next:

COME TO THE HEARING ON WEDNESDAY AND BRING EVERYONE YOU KNOW. Look for Teresa Hommel and Daniel Weinberg, they will be handing out M8 signs for you hold up! Testify either in person or in writing. Make your voice heard.

The 2009 Oy! Hoo Festival

The 2009 Oyhoo Jewish Music Festival takes place at two downtown venues over two nights. Check out the best in Jewish music with over 20 GROUPS PERFORMING and showcasing their material.

All Access Pass $25 – Oyhoo.com
Single Venue Tickets $10 –
CityWinery.com or 92ytribeca.org

City Winery
January 13th, Day 1

• Paharaoh's Daughter-9pm
• Les Yeux Noirs – 9:40pm
• Vagabond Opera - 10:30pm

January 14th, Day 2

• Chana Rothman – 9pm
• Leah Siegel – 9:40pm
• Michelle Citrin – 10:10pm
• Anath "Dark Lullaby" – 10:50pm

92Y/Tribeca
January 13th, Day 1

• Gary Lucas Performs the Golem – 9pm
• Zalmen Mlotek - 10pm
• Spirit of Sepharad - 11pm

January 14th, Day 2

• Electro Morocco – 9pm
• Dov Rosenblatt – 9:40pm
• Radio Wonderland with
  guest Jeremiah Lockwood – 10:10pm
• Y-Love and Diwon – 10:45pm

Shabbat on Tap - Jewish Ethics and Bernard Madoff

Steven J. Adler, editor-in-chief, BusinessWeek

Friday, January 23 at 7pm.
Dublin6 (in the back room)
575 Hudson Street (between 11th and Bank St.)

Experience Shabbat where everybody knows your name. It’s Friday night and the weekend has begun. So has Shabbat, the original way to "kiss the week goodbye!"

Steven J. Adler, member and editor-in-chief of BusinessWeek, will discuss the damage that the Bernard Madoff scandal has caused, in particular for Jews and Jewish non-profit organizations on Friday, January 23rd at 7pm at Dublin6, 575 Hudson St. in the West Village.

The discussion, which will also feature Rabbi Dan Ain and CityLimits.org Editor Karen Loew, will grapple with the anti-Semitism that Madoff's actions have exacerbated. In addition, it will focus on how New York Jews can reaffirm Judaism's long tradition of seeking social justice, communal responsibility and pursuing righteousness.

If discussing the big questions over a cold one sounds like your kind of spiritual experience (pun intended), join The New Shul on Friday evening, January 23 at 7pm as they search for the Sabbath at Dublin6.

Calling All Chefs!

The New Shul Super Bowl is almost two weeks away. Do you love to cook? Make a good soup? Been told, “These are the best matzah balls ever!” Come find out by competing in our 3rd Annual Golden Schmaltz Awards on Sunday, January 25th from 3:30-5:30pm at Village Restaurant. Email Amy or call the office to reserve your spot as a cheftestant. Cheftestants can enter their spoon-slurping masterpiece in one of two divisions: Chicken Soup (that includes Matzah Ball Soup) or All Other Soups. Check back soon as we will be announcing the official categories for judging. Happy Cooking!

Get Ready to Celebrate - Our Tenth Anniversary Gala

Save the date for The New Shul Gala on Wednesday, June 3rd featuring our very own Ellen Gould, double Emmy Award-Winning Bubbe Meises: Bubbe Stories. The event will begin at 7pm at the Museum of Jewish Heritage and will be followed by a celebration in honor of our Tenth Anniversary.

Don't Miss Friday's Special Service

Many of us this week have had our thoughts directed toward the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. During services this Friday night, January 9 at 6:30pm, Rabbi Niles Goldstein will explain what the great medieval Jewish thinker Maimonides had to say about the differences between an obligatory and a voluntary war. His brief teaching will be followed by an engaging talk on the situation in Gaza by our special guest speaker Don Sylvan, a former professor of political science at Ohio State, president of the Jewish Educational Service of North America. Please join us for this informative and stimulating evening.

Children programs will take place during the entire evening. Everyone is invited to stay for our festive oneg after services.

DATE: Friday, January 9, 2009

TIME: 6:00pm, Club Shabbatenny
6:30pm, Service Begins

LOCATION: 272 West 10th Street, Auditorium

Calling All Little Ones (and their parents too!)

Two Great Announcements for families with young children:


THE NEW SHUL PLAYGROUP - OPEN HOUSE (for 18-24 month-old children)
Join us on Thursday, January 8th at 7pm, for an info session of our inaugural playgroup program, which will feature a variety of age-appropriate activities including circle time, music, movement, art and story time, led by early childhood educator and parenting expert, Hannah Wiltshire, MS Ed. LMSW. The info session and playgroup will meet: 39 W. 14th St, Suite 307.

Mondays and Wednesdays 9:30-11am, January 26-May 20,2009
New Shul Members: $750, Non-Members: $900
To register or for more information, please call the office. HURRY – space is limited!

CLUB SHABBATEENY (for children birth to seven)
Join us on Friday, January 9th at 6pm as we gather under the tallit for a blessing and secret message, light the holiday candles, drink sweet grape juice and eat challah. Yum! Then it’s time to boogie, sing and drum, and maybe hear a story or two!

All are welcome (no velvet rope) so please bring your friends!
272 West 10th Street (b/w Greenwich and Washington Sts)
FREE!

NY Jewish Film Festival

Presented by The Jewish Museum and The Film Society of Lincoln Center
January 14 – 29, 2009

Check out the New York Jewish Film Festival, a global survey of innovative and provocative films—most receiving their New York or U.S. premieres—that explore the multi-faceted Jewish experience. A total of 32 films from 15 countries add up to an exhilarating worldwide journey. Many screenings are followed by discussions with directors and other special guests.

Click on Calendar to view the daily schedule, and to purchase tickets online for the screenings at the Walter Reade Theater and The Jewish Museum.

Let us know what you see and write a review in the comment section of this post!

Holy Tour

From member Amy Kaplan

Our close friends are looking for other families to sign up for a tour of Israel March 15-27, 2009. Our family took the Tova Gilead tour and one of the highlights of the trip was our daughter's Bat Mitzvah on top of Massada (above pic, seond from left). We highly recommend this tour because it's geared to both adults and kids (including archeological digs and rafting down the Jordan River). We saw and learned a lot about Israel. Tova has been running top-notch tours for years, and it was an experience of a lifetime. Part of the fun was making new friends and sharing the experiences. We'd be happy to answer any questions you have about this trip. Contact: Amy & Lawrence Kaplan at amyk@nyc.rrr.com. You can also check out Tova's site for more information.

Help Save the M8 Bus

by member Marisa Cohen

You may have heard that because of city budget cuts, the MTA might
discontinue the M8 bus line. This would be a DISASTER for my family and
everyone else in the Village who counts on this line to take us to school,
work, and activities. I personally ride the bus route multiple times per
week to go to PS 41 and Hebrew school, and there are several other schools
along the route, including PS 3, the Earth School, Grace Church, Little Red,
VPC, and St. Lukes, making it a de facto schoolbus route for Village
families.

Please help out by signing the petition at www.savethem8.org and forward the link to other downtown families.

Thank you!