Shylock's Beard, Shabbat Programs and Additional Events - July 31- August 6
07/31/2020 02:39:38 PM
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Please join us this Sunday for a Zoom reading of Shylock's Beard: an original play by Cary Mazer. Curtains up at 3:00pm. Tickets are free. Register in advance to receive the Zoom link to join.Register here.
BIMAH is a Jewish theater initiative of the Jewish Collaborative of Orange County.
Scroll to the bottom to read Rabbi Tilchin's Shabbat message
Friday, July 31 at 6:30pm FRIDAY NIGHT BY CANDLELIGHT Rabbi Tilchin is joined by Jason Feddy this evening as we welcome in Shabbat. Click hereto join us on Zoom or join us on Facebook Live.
Shabbat Shalom!
Saturday, August 1
at 2:00pm (PDT) TWELVE STEPS AND TORAH Join Rabbi Marcia Tilchin, with special guest moderator Cantor Suzanne Katchko and friends for Torah study guided by Twelve Step wisdom.
BIMAH presents Shylock's Beard: an original play by Cary Mazer. Directed by Abi Steinberg with an all Orange County cast featuring Ava Burton, Sam Kolodezh, Melissa Reiner and Jim Seilsopour. Register here to receive Zoom link.
Tuesday, August 4 at 10am ADVANCED LEARNING INSTITUTE We are very excited to welcome Sam Glaser as our guest scholar, who will share some teachings from his new publication, The Joy of Judaism. Newcomers always welcome. Join us on Zoom.
Tuesday, August 4, 7:00pm IKARON OPEN HOUSE Meet the IKARON educational team and learn about this unique concierge learning opportunity for children grands K-6. Register here to join us on Zoom. Click here for flyer and to learn more about the program
Yesterday was remarkable for many reasons. The saddest day of the Jewish calendar year (the 9th of Av) brought many people together in solidarity and hope, framed by two collaborative events. The shared Wednesday evening service between Ner Tamid Synagogue in Poway, Temple Beth El of South County, Temple Beth Emet in Anaheim and JCoOC was a moving experience for more than 100 zoom participants. The closing event on Thursday night, hosted by the OC Jewish Coalition for Refugees, Jewish Justice Advocates of Temple Beth El and the Jewish Collaborative of OC - featuring speakers from three refugee and asylum-seeker support organizations – was compelling, sobering and full of love. We reached our aspirational fundraising goal to help each non-profit continue to succeed in their holy work. Email us if you would like to receive a recording of last night’s program, "Honoring the Refugee Story on Tisha b’Av.”
Yesterday was also a significant fast day for our Muslim brothers and sisters – the 9th day leading up to Eid al-Adha – The Feast of Sacrifice, that takes place today - the 10th day of the 12th month on the Muslim lunar calendar - Dhul Hijjah. According to a dear Muslim colleague, those who fast on the 9th of Dhul Hijjah have their sins for the past two years wiped away – a fasting twofer. I am always moved by the opportunity to share religious practices and traditions with friends of other faiths. He learned about Tisha b’Av and I learned about Eid al-Adha. The Episcopalian on the call may have felt a little left out.
Yesterday was also the burial of civil rights leader and congressman,John Lewis – one of the finest people ever to serve in the halls of congress. A powerful speaker and writer, his final gift to us was an inspirational charge published yesterday in the July 30th New York Times Op-Ed section. You can read the entire piece HERE. It was a fitting partner to the liturgy of Tisha b’Av, a day on which we grieve for countless losses of life, land and dignity experienced by Jews world over throughout our history.
The stories told by our refugee speakers last night were all the more poignant because they hearkened back to our painful, tragic past of repeated loss and exile that we remember, in particular, on Tisha b’Av. Our mission was to provide as much light and hope as we could, sharing the eternal strength born of hope that has allowed Jewish communities world over to prevail in the wake of loss time and time again. While Congressman Lewis was addressing his message to a new generation of compassionate leaders, one paragraph prophetically spoke directly to the mission of last night’s program:
“You must also study and learn the lessons of history because humanity has been involved with in this soul-wrenching, existential struggle for a very long time. People on every continent have stood in your shoes, though decades and centuries before you. The truth does not change, and that is why the answers worked out long ago can help you find solutions to the challenges of our time. Continue to build union between movements stretching across the globe because we must put away our willingness to profit from the exploitation of others.”
At the end of Eicha – the Book of Lamentations that is read on Tisha b’Av, we make a final plea to God at the close of the last chapter: “Hashiveinu Adonai eilekha v’nashuva, hadesh yameinu k’kedem – Help us to turn to you and we shall return. Renew our days as in days of old.”
When we recite this line, we are not looking to relive our bitter past. It charges us to embrace our “days of old” as an opportunity to, in John Lewis’s words “learn the lessons of history” as a reaffirmation that recovery and rebirth is always possible when compassionate strangers extend a caring hand. For everyone. Everywhere. In every generation.
Please enjoy this beautiful composition of Nachamu Nachamu Ami written by Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach and sung by his daughter Neshama.
Shabbat Nahamu Shalom,
Rabbi Marcia Tilchin
The Jewish Collaborative of Orange County innovates, supports and collaborates on community programming that enriches the landscape of OC Jewish life and encourages individuals, couples and families to connect their passions and purpose with Judaism.
Jewish Collaborative of Orange County 2200 San Joaquin Hills Rd. Newport Beach, CA 92660
