Musical Shabbat and special talk by Rabbi Michael Cohen. After the service, stay for a catered oneg (RSVP below) and Q&A with Rabbi Cohen.

6-7:15pm Musical Shabbat Service with special talk by Rabbi Michael Cohen

7:15-8:30pm Catered Oneg Dinner and Q&A with Rabbi Michael Cohen. Menu highlights: Rubbed Salmon and Winter Salads

30 years ago the doors of the Arava Institute opend on Kibbutz Ketura. Since then it has brought together Israelis (Jews & Arabs), Palestinians, Jordanians, Moroccans and other college age students from around the world to study and live together.

Register by January 19

All Jewish identified adults to explore our feelings and reactions to the tensions in Israel/ Palestine today. We will use Jewish values, and Jewish and Palestinian writings as a basis for holding courageous conversations together. Coffee and goodies included.

These 5 conversations will build on each other. Come to as many as you can. In person at Ohavi Zedek, monthly on Sunday mornings. Please register so we can send you materials ahead of each session.

Sundays from 9:15 – 11:00 in the OZ Sanctuary & Social Hall

Click to Register

Join Rabbi Tobie Weisman of YFL Creating Soulful Journeys in Cultivating Spiritual Attunement is the third of 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. You can sign up for all 8 sessions or just one at a time.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

PLEASE REGISTER HERE

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

Learn More/Register

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?

REGISTER HERE

"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

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.

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.

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     

A four-part series with Rabbi Lee. Online learning in Jewish mysticism.

Link to register

Ruach HaMaqom members need not register. Zoom link will be provided in our email newsletter.