Upcoming Events at B’nai Torah Congregation
Once again, B’nai Torah Congregation is ramping up for a season chock full of programs and events people of all ages, including the annual Concert Series, Author Forum, Mitzvah Day, and Scholar-in-Residence Series.
Mitzvah Day
Sunday, Nov. 13, 9 am – noon
Featuring mitzvah projects for all ages and interest levels that make a difference in our community. To see the full brochure and donation requests, visit www.btcboca.org/event/mitzvah-day-2016.
2016 – 2017 Author Forum Series
Dennis Ross: Doomed to Succeed
PAST EVENT (Nov. 2, 2016, 7:30 pm)
More than 500 people attended to hear Ambassador Ross speak about his role in shaping U.S. policy toward the Middle East, and Israel specifically. This event was co-sponsored by the Adolph and Rose Levis Jewish Community Center.
Milton Viorst: Zionism – the Birth and Transformation of an Ideal
Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016 at 7:30 pm
Viorst served as the Middle East correspondent for The New Yorker and has spent decades studying Israel and the evolution of Zionism.
Brenda Janowitz: The Dinner Party
Monday, Feb. 6, 2017 at 7:30 pm
“The Dinner Party is everything a reader wants in a novel: guests with a knack for inspired conversation and family drama swirling both above and below the table. A truly entertaining read!” – Elin Hilderbrand
Kate Siegel & Kim Friedman: Mother, Can You Not?
Thursday, March 30, 2017 at 2 pm
Based on the wildly popular Instagram account @CrazyJewishMom, Kate Siegel’s essay collection about life with the woman who redefined the term “helicopter mom.” Co-sponsored by the Adolph & Rose Levis JCC.
To purchase tickets, visit www.btcboca.org/AuthorForum or call Lauren Berger at (561) 392-8566 x334.
2017 Concert & Cultural Arts Series
January 18: Carlebach & the Symphony – A Tribute to Eleanor and Paul Weiner z’l
Featuring Dr. Mordechai Sobol, Ofir Sobol, Cantor Arik Wollheim, Cantor Chaim David Berson, and Cantor Netanel Baram.
January 25: World of Yiddish Song
Zalmen Mlotek and his band, joined by two young New York musical theater stars, traces the unique and exciting musical journey of Yiddish song. From its origins in the communities of Eastern Europe to its revival in America’s Yiddish theater as the common language of an immigrant people, Mlotek illuminates Yiddish music’s notable influence on Broadway and American popular culture.
February 8: My Life, Naftali Herstik
Cantor Naftali Herstik Celebrates his 70th birthday and 50 years of Chazzanut
Come hear the acclaimed 12th-generation chazzan, who has a “golden voice that reaches directly to our heart,” share the story of how he became Chazzan at Jerusalem’s Great Synagogue and later, head of Israel’s principal cantorial school, the Tel Aviv Cantorial Institute (TACI) where both B’nai Torah cantors studied.
February 22: Beau Jest – BTC Theater
A Jewish Comedy & Off-Broadway Hit for 3 Years!
Sarah Goldman is a nice Jewish girl with a problem: her parents want her married – to a nice Jewish boy, of course. They’ve never met Sarah’s boyfriend, Chris Kringle, who doesn’t exactly fit that description, so to make them happy she invents Dr. David Steinberg – the man of their dreams. When they insist upon meeting Dr. Steinberg, Sarah contacts an escort service to provide her with a Jewish date – but instead they send her Bob Schroeder, an out of work actor who agrees to perform the impersonation. Sarah’s mother – armed with challah and lokshen kugel – sets out to snare this Beau for her daughter with hilarious mix ups and consequences!!
March 8: Spirit in the Sky – Reflections of Our Lives
A Special Anniversary Gala Celebrating Cantor Udi Spielman’s Decade at B’nai Torah
Mr. Amos Ettinger, an Israeli TV legend also known for his poetry and lyrics to hundreds of beloved Israeli songs, is the founder and was host of the Israeli TV show “Such a Life” (“This is Your Life” in America) for over 30 years. Amos has played a major role in developing the culture of Israeli society and received a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015. He will continue this tradition right here in Boca as he hosts our Cantor Udi and his wife Varda’s Gala night.
March 22: Ahava Raba – Abundant Love
Cantor Yaakov ‘Yanky’ Lemmer & the New York Klezmer Band
Join us in “bringing peace to the four corners of the earth” with Ahava Raba, a new group where phenomenal young Hassidic Cantor Yaakov ‘Yanky’ Lemmer and renowned klezmer musicians Frank London & Michael Winograd come together to celebrate the abundant love, deep spirituality and ecstatic joy in Jewish sacred music. All springing from the same source, klezmer, Hassidic and cantorial music express the heart and soul of East European Jewish life.
All concerts start at 7:30 pm. Tickets start at just $25. To purchase season or individual tickets online, visit www.btcboca.org/events/concertseries2017 or call Elysa Stark at (561) 392-8566.
2017 Scholar-in-Residence Series
January 14: Arnold Eisen
Chancellor of The Jewish Theological Seminary and one of the world’s foremost experts on American Judaism, Eisen has worked closely for the past twenty years with synagogue and federation leadership around the US to analyze and address the issues of Jewish identity, the revitalization of Jewish tradition, and the redefinition of the American Jewish community.
Chancellor Eisen will speak during Shabbat morning services, followed by a Shabbat luncheon.
February 11: Tal Becker
Principal deputy legal adviser at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a senior member of the Israeli peace negotiation team (including in the last round of talks mediated by US Secretary of State John Kerry), Becker is also a fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem and a leading member of the iEngage Project.*
Becker will be part of Men’s Club Shabbat morning services, followed by a luncheon Facilitated by a generous contribution from the Diane Marcovitz Adult Education Fund.
January 27-28: Ruth Calderon
One of Israel’s leading figures spearheading efforts to revive Hebrew Culture and a pluralistic Israeli-Jewish identity. She coestablished ELUL, the first beit midrash in which secular and religious women and men studied and taught together. In 1996, she founded in ALMA, a Jewish liberal arts program for advanced learning. Dr. Calderon is the author of “A Bride for One Night” and “Talmudic Alpha Beta”. From 2013 – 2015, she was a Knesset Member from the Yesh Atid Party, where she was Deputy Speaker, member of the education and state control committees, and Chairperson of the Lobby for Jewish Renewal.
Calderon will speak during a congregational Shabbat dinner and will be part of Women’s League Shabbat morning services, followed by a luncheon.
February 25: Donniel Hartman
President of the Shalom Hartman Institute, and Director of their iEngage Project, Hartman has written books and essays on Judaism and modernity and is a frequent speaker at academic across North America. He has a Ph.D. in Jewish Philosophy from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, a Master of Arts in Political Philosophy from New York University, a Master of Arts in Religion from Temple University, and Rabbinic ordination from the Shalom Hartman Institute. Donniel’s newest book is titled “Putting God Second: How to Save Religion From Itself.”
Hartman will speak during Shabbat morning services, followed by a congregational Shabbat lunch.
March 11: Yossi Klein Halevi
American-born Israeli author and journalist, his latest book “Like Dreamers: The Story of the Israeli Paratroopers Who Reunited Jerusalem and Divided a Nation” won the Jewish Book Council’s Everett Family Foundation Jewish Book of the Year Award for 2013. A former contributing editor of the New Republic and writes for leading American newspapers, Yossi has been active in Middle East reconciliation work, and serves as chairman of Open House, an Arab Israeli-Jewish Israeli center near Tel Aviv. Halevi is a senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, and co-director of the Muslim Leadership Initiative.
Yossi will speak during Shabbat morning services, followed by a luncheon.
March 17-18: Daniel Matt
One of the world’s leading authorities on Kabbalah, Matt is a professor of Jewish Spirituality at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. He has taught at Stanford University and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Matt has published over a dozen books, including “The Essential Kabbalah” (translated into seven languages), “Zohar: Annotated and Explained”, and “God and the Big Bang: Discovering Harmony between Science and Spirituality.” He has been honored with a National Jewish Book Award and a Koret Jewish Book Award. Dr. Matt has been featured in Time Magazine, and has appeared on National Public Radio and the History Channel.
Matt will speak during a congregational Shabbat dinner and during Shabbat morning services, followed by a luncheon.
RSVP for all meals at www.btcboca.org/Scholars. For more information, please contact
Elaine Siegell at ElaineS@bnai-torah.org or (561) 392-8566 ext. 309.
B’nai Torah is a warm, welcoming, multi-generational, modern, and egalitarian synagogue offering a variety of programs including an award-winning Cultural Arts Series, senior, men’s, women’s, and youth gathering groups and year-round volunteer opportunities. B’nai Torah is also home to several schools of Jewish education including The Ruth and Edward Taubman Early Childhood Center, The Mirochnick Religious School, and The Cooperman Academy for Adult Jewish Learning. B’nai Torah Congregation is located at 6261 SW 18th Street, Boca Raton, Fla., 33433.
