MARCH 2023
ADAR / NISSAN 5783
RUACH:
Please join us for a Shabbat service on Friday, March 17 at 7:00 PM.
We will welcome the Sabbath and honor the Anniversary of Ukraine’s Struggle for Freedom through song, literature, and words of Ukrainian Jews living through these difficult days.
In the Zoom Room
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Start the day in calm reflection at our Shabbat Meditation, Saturday, April 1, 9:00-9:30 AM.
In the Zoom Room
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CULTURAL EVENTS:
BOOK CLUB:
Continuing our tour of Jews in seemingly unlikely places. . .
Join us on Sunday, March 19 at 11:00 for a Zoom book discussion about Jews in India. Read either (or both) of the books below, then meet in the Zoom Room at 11:00.
The Book of Esther by Esther David
The Book of Esther recreates in detail the lives of the Bene Israel community in a small village on the south India coast. It begins in the 19th century and continues through five generations until recent times.
The Walled City by Esther David
The Walled City is set in Ahmedabad and is a coming-of-age story about a young Bene Israeli girl growing up in the walled city, attempting to preserve her Jewish roots without understanding them. As violence engulfs the city, the concept of walls takes on a new layered epiphany.
Here’s some background on the Jews of India:
The Jewish community has been living in India since 75 CE.
Many Jews settled in India after fleeing coastal areas of what is now Israel after the fall of King Solomon’s second temple. They sought to avoid persecution from the Greeks.
There are five Indian Jewish communities — the Bene Israelis of western India, the Bnei Menashe Jews of Northeast India, the Bene Ephraims of Andhra Pradesh, the Baghdadi Jews of West Bengal and the Cochin Jews of Kerala.
Despite living in different corners of India, they are still bound by the common thread of food and religion. Over the years, members have stuck to the dietary laws and integrated Indian habits with their customs, leading to some unique ceremonies and rituals that have been passed down from one generation to another.
At its height in the 1940s, there were about 20,000 Jews in India. There are now about 5,000.
NEWS FROM THE FORWARD:
And closer to home, an article about Holocaust survivors arriving in New Jersey and starting chicken farms there:
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NEWS ABOUT OUR TORAH:
Our Torah is one of 1,564 which were rescued from the Czech Republic after World War II. Ever wonder where the others are?
From the Memorial Scrolls Trust website, here is an interactive map which shows where about 500 of them live today. See if you can find Chavurat Shir Hayam:
Find our Scrolls (memorialscrollstrust.org)
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FROM THE STROUM CENTER:
4/3 TALK | Sarah Zaides Rosen on “Tevye’s Ottoman Daughter”
Monday, April 3, 4:00 pm PDT – 5:00 pm PDT
This talk will introduce listeners not only to a fascinating Jewish community where Sephardic Jews were the majority (and Ashkenazi Jews the minority), but also to the ways in which Sephardic Jews responded to a refugee crisis, and in turn how they contended with contemporary political ideas, including Zionism.
In this talk, historian and Stroum Center for Jewish Studies’ Assistant Director Sarah Zaides Rosen will trace the story of 19th- and 20th-century Russian Jews who left the Pale of Settlement, crossed the Black Sea and arrived in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), all in the twilight years of the Russian and Ottoman Empires.
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BIMA FILM SERIES FEATURING FILMS BY LEE GRANT:
From the curator of the Series:
Dear Shir Hayam:
My name is Tova and I am curating an upcoming film series at BIMA Friday March 17th & Saturday March 18th. I’m wondering if you would be interested in letting your congregants know about this series. We would be honored and delighted to be in your newsletter!
Lee Grant was a pioneer documentarian. She won an oscar for Shampoo directed by Hal Ahby in 1977 and then left Hollywood! She wanted to direct films about the injustices she saw and heard about in America. Think how documentaries on social issues are par for the course now on Netflix and other channels. When Ms. Grant started out there were next to none. She pitched ideas to HBO and they sent her out to the field. I had the pleasure of speaking with her daughter Dinah Manoff via zoom. At 97 Ms. Grant is of sharp mind and wit. She is very excited we are playing her documentaries which she calls her spiritual films on our very special Island.
There will be two screenings each day. A matinee starting at 2 pm and an evening screening beginning at 7 pm. Dinah will be in conversation with me before the evening screenings. BIMA and I are so grateful for the generous sponsorship by Moskin & Vitale Real Estate of Bainbridge Island, without which we wouldn’t be able to screen this series.
Sincerely,
Tova Gannana
https://www.biartmuseum.org/event/lee-grant-film-festival-day-one/
https://www.biartmuseum.org/event/lee-grant-film-festival-day-two/
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COMMUNITY NEWS:
Our mishabeirach wishes for full health recoveries to Collyer Church and Jessica Hanford.