Torah of Sacred Time- Creating Rest In a Restless World
Rabbi Tobie Weismann and Creating Soulful Journeys present Creating Rest In A Restless World using the Jewish Studio Process
American Antisemitism – Past & Present with Rabbi Dan Judson
Course participants will explore this deeply troubling but deeply fascinating history of American antisemitism, paying particular attention to the present rise of antisemitism and trying to make historical sense of this moment. Even the antisemitism seen today from those who would decry Israel as an illegitimate state and decry Jews as imperial colonialists that should be shunned, even this idea has its own history which we will explore.
Besides an exploration of history, this course will also be an opportunity to share and reflect on our present experiences in what feels like an old-new moment in America’s relationship with Jews and Judaism.
JCOGS members receive a discounted cost for this course: $90. Regular: $180. In addition, financial aid is available and should not be a barrier to participation.
For Registration please click HERE.
WAR AND PEACE: A DEEP DIVE INTO ISRAEL & PALESTINE AND HOPE FOR THE FUTURE
Join CBE for a day of Shabbat learning and discussion on the history, current crisis and hope for the future of Israel/Palestine with CBE Scholar-in-Residence, Jared Goldfarb. Two sessions with a break for brunch. Learn more and register by Dec. 11.
American Antisemitism – Past & Present with Rabbi Dan Judson
Course participants will explore this deeply troubling but deeply fascinating history of American antisemitism, paying particular attention to the present rise of antisemitism and trying to make historical sense of this moment. Even the antisemitism seen today from those who would decry Israel as an illegitimate state and decry Jews as imperial colonialists that should be shunned, even this idea has its own history which we will explore.
Besides an exploration of history, this course will also be an opportunity to share and reflect on our present experiences in what feels like an old-new moment in America’s relationship with Jews and Judaism.
JCOGS members receive a discounted cost for this course: $90. Regular: $180. In addition, financial aid is available and should not be a barrier to participation.
For Registration please click HERE.
Strange & Sacred: A Night with the Talmud’s Wildest Stories
Following our outdoor “Talmud al Fresco” session, join Rabbi David for an evening of text, food, and conversation inspired by The Boy on the Door on the Ox: An Unusual Spiritual Journey Through the Strangest Jewish Texts. Together, we’ll taste some of the most surprising, puzzling, and playful passages in Jewish tradition—stories that stretch the imagination and invite us to see holiness through encounters with text. Dinner will be provided.
Torah Of Sacred Time
Over 8 monthly sessions, we will explore how Torah (Jewish wisdom) frames time as a sacred dimension of Jewish life, engaging classical and modern sources to examine how days, seasons, and cycles shape consciousness, community, and covenant. Together we will consider how marking time with awareness can nurture balance, resilience, and joy.
Lunch & Learn // From Berlin to Hollywood: the Life and Times of Ernst Lubitsch, Fritz Lang, and Billy Wilder
A Talk, with Film Clips, by UVM Lane Series Director Natalie Neuert
Natalie Neuert will discuss how these Weimar Era Jewish directors became three of the most successful, influential, and revered artists in American cinema. Her talk will include a look at their early German work; their arrival and establishment of careers in Hollywood; and their lasting impact on the American film industry.
American Antisemitism – Past & Present with Rabbi Dan Judson
Course participants will explore this deeply troubling but deeply fascinating history of American antisemitism, paying particular attention to the present rise of antisemitism and trying to make historical sense of this moment. Even the antisemitism seen today from those who would decry Israel as an illegitimate state and decry Jews as imperial colonialists that should be shunned, even this idea has its own history which we will explore.
Besides an exploration of history, this course will also be an opportunity to share and reflect on our present experiences in what feels like an old-new moment in America’s relationship with Jews and Judaism.
JCOGS members receive a discounted cost for this course: $90. Regular: $180. In addition, financial aid is available and should not be a barrier to participation.
For Registration please click HERE.
American Antisemitism – Past & Present with Rabbi Dan Judson
Course participants will explore this deeply troubling but deeply fascinating history of American antisemitism, paying particular attention to the present rise of antisemitism and trying to make historical sense of this moment. Even the antisemitism seen today from those who would decry Israel as an illegitimate state and decry Jews as imperial colonialists that should be shunned, even this idea has its own history which we will explore.
Besides an exploration of history, this course will also be an opportunity to share and reflect on our present experiences in what feels like an old-new moment in America’s relationship with Jews and Judaism.
JCOGS members receive a discounted cost for this course: $90. Regular: $180. In addition, financial aid is available and should not be a barrier to participation.
For Registration please click HERE.
KRISTALLNACHT MEMORIAL
Join CBE for a Kristallnacht Memorial screening of Etched In Glass, the story of Steve Ross, Holocaust survivor and founder of the Holocaust Memorial in Boston, a heart-wrenching and inspirational. As a child, he survived 10 concentration camps, found a second life in America, and dedicated himself to helping troubled youth and people in need. Susan Moytel, whose father was Ross' close lifelong friend, will introduce the film.
The Other
This is an award-winning documentary exploring the complex relationship of shared humanity, culture and connection between Israelis & Palestinians—and the transformative journey that follows when they are faced with meeting ‘the other’ amidst the difficulty of the conflict & occupation—providing an extraordinary example of what we are all capable of as humans.
Screening of the 2024 documentary film “The Other” and Guided Discussion
Film Screening, Discussion and Potluck Dinner
Sponsored by OZ Adult Ed with Friends of Standing Together
About the Film:
This is an award-winning documentary exploring the complex relationship of shared humanity, culture and connection between Israelis & Palestinians—and the transformative journey that follows when they are faced with meeting ‘the other’ amidst the difficulty of the conflict & occupation—providing an extraordinary example of what we are all capable of as humans.
Filmed from 2017-2024, including post October 7th and during the subsequent war, The Other focuses on Israeli & Palestinian peace-builders, anti-occupation activists, artists, academics, ex-fighters, bereaved parents and many more living the reality on the ground. Whether in non-violent co-resistance, peace-building, or shared community, we witness those who have only known each other through hate, bloodshed, inequality, and war, transcend beyond narrative & belief systems. They teach us that unlearning deep-seated conditioning is possible and that we can liberate ourselves from generational trauma, hatred and fear—no matter how ingrained and legitimate those fears are.
Renewing Our Souls- YFL Creating Soulful Journeys
Using the Jewish Studio Process – a unique methodology combining art therapy practices with a reimagined approach to Jewish learning and spirituality – we’ll explore our deep yearning, to connect to our souls, to each other, and to the sacred world around us. THIS WORKSHOP WILL BE ONLINE ONLY. The link will be sent upon registration. For more information, contact creatingsoulfuljourneys@gmail.com
AMONG NEIGHBORS
Shows at 2 & 6 Tickets: $8 matinee $10 evening Seniors and students $8 all shows
AMONG NEIGHBORS, a new, award-winning documentary that has been recently released in New York, is coming to the Middlebury Marquis Theatre on October 22!
Produced and directed by award-winning filmmaker Yoav Potash (“Crime After Crime,” Sundance Film Festival) and Executive Produced by Anita Friedman, “Among Neighbors” is an evocative and heart-pounding murder mystery with urgent political relevance. This outstanding film tells an incredible story of a town where history has been silenced, but a brave eyewitness to murder speaks out in search of the Jewish boy she loved.
The film brings the Polish response to the Holocaust to life through the last living eyewitnesses, revealing both love and betrayal as it zeroes in on the only living Holocaust survivor from the town, and an aging eyewitness who saw Jews murdered there, not by Nazis, but by her own Polish neighbors.
Renewing Our Souls- YFL Creating Soulful Journeys
Using the Jewish Studio Process – a unique methodology combining art therapy practices with a reimagined approach to Jewish learning and spirituality – we’ll explore our deep yearning, to connect to our souls, to each other, and to the sacred world around us. For more information about this process, go to JewishStudioProject.org or email Rabbi Tobie Weisman at creatingsoulfuljourneys@gmail.com
Talmud Al Fresco
Jewish wisdom tastes different when studied in the open air. Come learn with Rabbi David in the sukkah and see how our tradition of debate and dialogue comes alive in this unique, seasonal classroom. We’ll also explore the spiritual practice of learning Talmud in the sukkah—how its fragile walls invite us to open our minds to new perspectives. Snacks and drinks will be provided. In person only.
Opening the Gates: A Beginner’s Guide to the High Holy Days
New to Judaism? Want a refresher before the High Holy Days? Join us for a welcoming, interactive workshop exploring the meaning, traditions, and spiritual themes of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur through a Reform Jewish lens.
Project Esther, Antisemitism and Democracy
Kulanu of Ohavi Zedek exposes Project Esther, a blueprint created by the Heritage Foundation as an adjunct to Project 2025. You may wonder what Project Esther is and why it’s so important to understand. This program will explore the following questions with time for conversation and questions.
What does Project Esther purport to do regarding antisemitism?
What are the impacts of Project Esther on the Jewish community?
What are the consequences of Project Esther for our democracy?
Scholar-in-Residence, Avigail Graetz
Our Scholar-in-Residence, Avigail Graetz, explores how the wisdom of impermanence can guide us during Elul—encouraging both self-examination and an open-hearted gaze outward, toward others and toward the world we share.
Meet and welcome Avigail Graetz! Avigail is a writer, teacher and dharma practitioner whose work explores the intersections of Judaism, Buddhism, and personal narrative. She has a background in literature, film, theater and interfaith dialogue, and is known for weaving spiritual insight with storytelling and social engagement. She holds a B.A and M.F.A from Tel Aviv University and an M.F.A from Ben-Gurion University. Avigail has accompanied individuals facing illness and death, drawing on both Buddhist teachings and her deep Jewish roots. For her novel, A Rabbi's Daughter, the author was awarded both the Pardes Fellowship at the National Library of Israel and the Jewish National Fund-Hebrew Literature Prize (2012). A Rabbi's Daughter was translated into English in 2017. She currently lives in India, where she published a poetry book Just This, Poems of Freedom and is working on a documentary film about her father, Rabbi Michael Graetz, and their shared journey through memory, aging and letting go.
Friday evening 6:00 pm Shabbat Service
Kabbalat Shabbat Presentation:
"Ki Teitzei and the Inner Battlefield: A Teaching on Conflict and Compassion."
Parashat Ki Teitzei opens with war and closes with the command to erase Amalek, yet most of its verses turn to family life and human relationships. As the High Holidays draw near, we ask: do we live as though life itself is a battlefield? Too often our drive to “change ourselves” becomes another act of inner aggression, perpetuating conflict instead of healing it. This teaching will explore how Parashat Ki Teitzei, read through the lens of mindfulness, can be an invitation to step out of cycles of inner war and to cultivate awareness, compassion, and peace.
Saturday morning 9:00 am Study Session
"Kohelet, Job, and the Buddha: Impermanence as a Path of Reflection and Liberation"
As we enter the season of Elul, a time of turning inward and preparing for renewal, the voices of Kohelet, Job, and the Buddha meet in surprising resonance. Each, in their own poetic language, wrestles with impermanence, suffering, and the fleeting nature of life. Together they invite us to look honestly at what passes away, to soften our grip on what we cannot hold, and to cultivate compassion as we face both the vulnerability of our own lives and the wider world.
Cultivating Hope in a Time of Conflict: Building the Foundation for a Future of Peace
"Cultivating Hope in a Time of Conflict: Building the Foundation for a Future of Peace"
With Rabbi Michael Cohen of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies & Friends of the Aravah Institute
Come listen, learn, and discuss.
For 30 years, the Arava Institute in southern Israel has brought Israelis and Palestinians together through environmental science and environmental diplomacy, using shared learning and projects to build trust and promote climate resilience.
Since it opened in 1996, Rabbi Michael M. Cohen—rabbi emeritus of the Israel Congregation in Manchester Center, Vermont—has split his time between Vermont and the Institute's campus on Kibbutz Ketura. He will share stories and insights from three decades of work with Israelis, Palestinians, Jordanians, Moroccans, and Americans, showing how the environment can unite people across political divides.
He'll also speak about his experience at the Institute on October 7th and in the difficult year that followed with Israelis and Palestinians together.
Rabbi Michael M. Cohen is a faculty member of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies and at Bennington College. He teaches courses on conflict resolution, the Bible, and the environment.
Rabbi Cohen has been a Policy Advisor to the U.S. Department of State, Office of the Special Envoy for Middle East Peace, and a Speechwriter Adviser to the White House. He also sat on the Advisory Board of the Middle East Peace Partnership (MEPPA) of USAID established by Congress.
*This program is sponsored by Pettee Memorial Library
Alfred Dreyfus: Antisemitism and Jewish Identity at the Turn of the Twentieth Century
Join us as Maurice Samuels draws from his recent biography of Alfred Dreyfus, delving into the Jewish dimension of the Affair, focusing on Dreyfus's own Jewish identity, the role of antisemitism in the case, and its profound effect on Jews around the world.
Maurice Samuels is the Betty Jane Anyan Professor of French at Yale University, where he also chairs the French Department and directs the Yale Program for the Study of Antisemitism. A recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship and the Cullman Center Fellowship at the New York Public Library, he is the author of five books. Alfred Dreyfus: The Man at the Center of the Affair, is published in Yale's Jewish Lives Series.
Voices From the War Zone
Project COMMON BOND 2025
Program Overview:
In 2025, Project COMMON BOND will be a 7-day program held at Kripalu, a retreat center. The program will include the following:
Daily dignity groups facilitated by trained mental health clinicians
Daily electives in art, sports, and peace-building
Opportunities to meet new friends, learn and grow
Become a part of a global community dedicated to the practice of peace and dignity
In this setting, each participant shares the experience of loss, which allows the young people to bond with one another while experiencing the dignity and humanity of different cultures.
The Past and Future of Liberal Zionism
Join renowned storyteller, scholar, and rabbi Dan Judson for a thoughtful lecture and interactive conversation on The Past and Future of Liberal Zionism. At this moment of crisis in Israel, the very possibility of a Zionism that is grounded in liberal, humanistic values has come into question. In this lecture, we will define what liberal Judaism means in today’s context, explore some of its history, and ask what the future holds for liberal Zionism. Catered dinner and desserts served.
6:00pm Dinner and 6:30-8:00pm Lecture
This event will be on Zoom starting at approximately 6:30pm.
Rabbi Dan Judson, Ph.D. serves as the Provost of Hebrew College in Newton, MA where he is also a lecturer in Jewish history. Rabbi Judson received his doctorate in Jewish history at Brandeis University and his book, Pennies for Heaven: The History of American Synagogues and Money (University of Chicago Press, 2018) was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award. He is presently working on a book about American Zionist history, When America Became Zionist: The Lodge-Fish Resolution of 1922 and the Surprising Group of Politicians who Changed American Policy Towards Israel. His research and writing on new models of synagogue finance have appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Haaretz, Reform Judaism magazine and many other Jewish publications. He is also a storyteller who has appeared on the MOTH national radio hour.
This program is funded in part by the Harold Grinspoon Foundation
The Cosmos of Kabbalah
A four-part series with Rabbi Lee. Online learning in Jewish mysticism.
Ruach HaMaqom members need not register. Zoom link will be provided in our email newsletter.
Northern New England Vermont Chapter Nature In Israel
A fascinating presentation by the executive director of the American branch of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel.
Learn why Israel is so important environmentally, why its ecology is so unique, and how the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel has helped shape Israeli culture and society to love nature. Nature Israel will introduce you to the important work of Israel’s largest environmental organization founded in 1953, its historic achievements right up to its innovative nature-based solutions to climate change today.
Open to all! Bring your friends! You do not need to be a member of Hadassah to attend.
Register at the $72 level or above and be entered into a drawing for a fabulous gift basket!
Register at the $250 level or above and receive 2 tickets!
ANNE FRANK: A HISTORY FOR TODAY
Due to great interest and a generous donor, another opportunity to experience Anne Frank: A History for Today will be available for the Woodstock Vermont area community! Join together for Community Night at Woodstock Union High School on Thursday, May 29th at 5pm.
*Appropriate for ages 12 and up
For more information: VermontAnneFrank@gmail.com
Feen Lecture 2025 – Rabbi Jill Jacobs: Why is Antisemitism at the Center of Attacks on Democracy?
The A. Pearly and Edith C. Feen Lecture Series was created to honor the memory of A. Pearly Feen, one of Vermont’s most outstanding attorneys and legal scholars, and Edith C. Feen, his wife. Feen was especially known for hiring a number of new lawyers, just starting out, many of whom were also members of OZ.
A FIRST HAND ACCOUNT OF THE SHOAH
Rena Bernstein returns to Israel Congregation to share her story, open up to you for questions and to discuss her feeling about the rise of worldwide anti-semitism in the wake of the war between Israel and Hamas.
Refreshments will be offered following the presentation
Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Memorial Event
Please join us for this important event. We will begin with Introductory remarks by Rabbi David Edleson and Rabbi Aaron Philmus. Then we will explore museum exhibits provided by Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Israel. There will be docents available to answer questions as you walk through the following exhibits:
Heroism and Resistance: Rescue by Jews during the Holocaust
Spots of Light: To be a Woman in the Holocaust
"They Say There is a Land" Longings for Eretz Israel During the Holocaust
Yom HaShoah Commemoration
Yom HaShoah Commemoration with speakers Ari Gradus, Ellie Roden & Tony Eprile
THE TRANSFORMATION OF A RABBI, A SYNAGOGUE, AND VERMONT’S RELIGIOUS LANDSCAPE, 1944-1952
The Transformation of a Rabbi, a Synagogue and Vermont’s Religious Landscape, 1944-1952
The Annual Rabbi Max B. Wall Endowment Lecture
Wednesday, April 9, at 5 p.m.
McCarthy Recital Hall
The Annual Rabbi Max B. Wall Endowment Lecture will be presented by local historians Jeff Potash, Ph.D., and Aaron Goldberg, J.D. on Wednesday, April 9, at 5 p.m. in the McCarthy Recital Hall. The talk, entitled The Transformation of a Rabbi, a Synagogue and Vermont’s Religious Landscape, 1944-1952, will touch on the importance of Max B. Wall and his impact on the local community.
