Sam Lapidus Montclair (Virtual) Run
November 14 - November 29
Join the Levite Jewish Community Center and The Alabama Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders for the 44th annual Sam Lapidus Montclair Run. This year’s race will be virtual and the race period will go from November 14 – November 29.
The Sam Lapidus Montclair Run honors the short but very full life of Sam Lapidus, who died of Ewing’s sarcoma, a form of childhood cancer, in November 2008 – just nine days before his 15th birthday. Funds raised from the run will be donated to the Alabama Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders at Children’s of Alabama and the Levite Jewish Community Center.
To get registered and learn how to run a virtual race visit SLMR.itsyourrace.com.
Picnic on Highlands with Temple Beth El
November 21 @ 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Save the date for the November edition of Picnic on Highlands! Picnic on Highland is a special series of outdoor gatherings with a special focus on young families. Our second picnic takes place Saturday November 21st — right before Thanksgiving! Bring a lunch, a blanket or chairs, and, of course, your favorite face mask. We’ll be providing themed sweet treats and additional childcare, so that parents can socialize too. Reach out to mnorman@templebeth-el.net with questions, for location information, and to RSVP.
Jews and Blacks in the Civil Rights Era:
Midrash and Fact – Temple Beth-El
November 22 @ 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm
We welcome Billy Planer back to explore the reality of the relationship between the Jewish and Black communities during the Civil Rights era. Why were there Jews on both sides, and the sidelines, of the Civil Rights movement? What was the role of Judaism in the activism of young people in the 1960s? What are the implications for the streets of America today? This is an important program for us as we begin a congregational conversation about racial justice and equity.
We’ve heard many of you express a desire for social connection and are expanding our virtual programming to include small group discussions. On select programs, we’ll invite you to stay on the Zoom immediately following, for 15-20 minutes of discussion and kibitzing in small group break out rooms. Think of this as the time after the program where you’d usually linger and chat!
This is a pay-what-you can event and participants are asked to contribute as much or are little as they are comfortable with, so that we can provide this event affordably for all.
Acontributing amount of $5 – $35 is suggested, but not required.
“The New Jewish Canon”:
A Conversation about Contemporary Judaism
November 24 @ 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
The late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries have been a period of mass production and proliferation of Jewish ideas, and have witnessed major changes in Jewish life and stimulated major debates. Join this class to talk about the book, “The New Jewish Canon,” which came out this year in July. This book offers a conceptual roadmap to make sense of some of this rapid change. The New Jewish Canon is an entry point for the Jewish intellectual and communal zeitgeist of the contemporary period and the recent past, canonizing our most important ideas and debates of the past two generations; and just as importantly, stimulating debate and scholarship about what is yet to come. Join Rebbetzin Bethany with your lunch on zoom to talk about some of these debates. Register here for the zoom link.
Southside Interfaith Thanksgiving Service
November 24 @ 6:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Tune in on the Temple Beth El YouTube page at 6:30PM Tuesday November 24th for a livestream of this special service. Since this will be a recorded video, you will still be able to access it, even if you cannot make the time of the livestream. Access the Temple Beth El YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/user/TBEBirmingham
Collat Jewish Family Services Bereavement Group
The meetings will be led by Gail Schuster, and the group will determine the frequency and meeting times.
For more information and to register for the Zoom meeting, please contact Gail Schuster at gail@cjfs.org or at 205-879-3438.
Financial Assistance Available
for Jewish Community Members
Thanks to a grant from the Greatest Needs Fund of the Birmingham Jewish Federation’s COVID Relief Campaign, Collat Jewish Family Services is offering financial assistance to Jewish community members who are facing financial insecurity because of job loss, caring for family or other issues. Confidential assistance is available to members of the Birmingham Jewish community who need help with rent or mortgage payments, utilities, prescription costs or other needs. To learn more, please email CJFS Clinical Director Marcy Morgenbesser LICSW, marcy@cjfsbham.org or call 205.879.3438.