For Beth Shalom membership information, please call 518-371-0608.
Holocaust Remembrance Day: What Why, How
Jody Squadere is a librarian at the East Greenbush Community Library in Rensselaer County and is also a member of B'nai Sholom Reform Congregation. She has organized a program to be presented to the public called "Holocaust Remembrance Day: What Why, How" to be given by Rabbi Danielle Weisbrot of B'nai Sholom Reform Congregation. This is a free program. Registration is required on the B'nai Sholom Reform website or by calling us at 518-477-7476. The event will be on Thursday, April 13 at 6:30pm.
Description: What does a day of remembrance mean? How can we make it meaningful? Join us for an evening of learning and remembrance.
This year, International Holocaust Remembrance Day fell on January 27. The Israeli/Jewish commemoration, called Yom HaShoah, starts on April 17 (the 27th of the Hebrew month of Nisan). Shoah is the Hebrew word for “catastrophe,” while Holocaust is Greek for “sacrifice by fire.” Both terms – and both memorials – struggle to capture the tragedy of the past as we grapple with its meaning in the present.
Join Rabbi Danielle Weisbrot of B'nai Sholom Reform Congregation (Albany) for a discussion of these two days of remembrance and their unique roles in navigating the loss and the legacy of the Holocaust.
Jody has attached a flyer as well as the link to our registration page. https://eastgreenbushlibrary.librarymarket.com/holocaust-remembrance-day-what-why-how.
Please share this information with your community and on the community calendar. I am reaching out to other Capital Area Congregations. Please reach out to Jody if you have any questions.
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“If you are not a better person tomorrow than you are today, what need have you for a tomorrow?”
– Rebbe Nachman of BreslovThe Hebrew month
of Elul which precedes Rosh Hashanah and Yom
Kippur is meant as a time of introspection. Each day of the month, we
are meant to spend some time in meditation and contemplation about the year ending,
and the teshuvah, the returning, renewing, and repenting that
we each need to do in preparation for the coming year.
Rather than wait until Rosh Hashanah, we take time each day for 30 days,
looking at our actions, reviewing our lives, engaging in meaningful dialogue
with our souls and beginning to apologize to those we have wronged, including
ourselves.
Our tradition calls this process "cheshbon hanefesh," an accounting of the soul. This is an opportunity for us to understand ourselves better and find more opportunities to engage with God.
The goal is to have a better sense of ourselves, our shortcomings and mistakes, sought forgiveness where possible, and granted forgiveness as well.

Book Overview
An evocative and stirring novel about a young woman living in the fascinating and rarely portrayed community of Yemenite Jews of the mid-twentieth century, from the acclaimed author of The Family Orchard. In the tradition of Anita Diamant's The Red Tent, Henna House is the enthralling story of a woman, her family, their community, and the rituals that bind them. Nomi Eve's vivid saga begins in Yemen in 1920, when Adela Damari's parents desperately seek a future husband for their young daughter. After passage of the Orphan's Decree, any unbetrothed Jewish child left orphaned will be instantly adopted by the local Muslim community. With her parents' health failing, and no spousal prospects in sight, Adela's situation looks dire until her uncle arrives from a faraway city, bringing with him a cousin and aunt who introduce Adela to the powerful rituals of henna tattooing. Suddenly, Adela's eyes are opened to the world, and she begins to understand what it means to love another and one's heritage. She is imperiled, however, when her parents die and a prolonged drought threatens their long-established way of life. She and her extended family flee to the city of Aden where Adela encounters old loves, discovers her true calling, and is ultimately betrayed by the people and customs she once held dear. Henna House is an intimate family portrait and a panorama of history. From the traditions of the Yemenite Jews, to the far-ranging devastation of the Holocaust, to the birth of the State of Israel, Eve offers an unforgettable coming-of-age story and a textured chronicle of a fascinating period in the twentieth century. Henna House is a rich, spirited, and sensuous tale of love, loss, betrayal, forgiveness, and the dyes that adorn the skin and pierce the heart. This description may be from another edition of this product.
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Please Visit our Calendar for All the Upcoming Events
Do you have a special event coming up that you would like to share with your family, friends, and synagogue family? Why not sponsor an Oneg or Kiddush? Sponsoring a kiddush is honoring, celebrating, memorializing, and congratulating any individual/s or event. A kiddush is a wonderful way to bring people together and begin to celebrate the Sabbath too. For more information you can call the synagogue office and speak to Jackie at (518) 371-0608 or call Linda Russell at (518) 371-3641.
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Rachel Gershon Rourke, Community Volunteer Coordinator
Jewish Family Services of Northeastern New York
Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York
Albany & Schenectady Jewish Community Centers
Phone: 518.722.4980 ext:1003 email: [email protected]
http://www.jfsneny.org. 184 Washington Avenue Ext, Albany NY 12203
The Emil A. and Jenny Fish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies strives to build a cadre of teachers, professional and lay leaders across the United States who are committed to Holocaust Education and Remembrance, ready to meet the challenges that the field is facing as survivors of the Holocaust are passing away and awareness of the subject in public memory is fading.

Welcome to Beth Shalom

A Mitzvah
We have a chance for volunteers to participate in a mitzvah by helping a refugee family who have settled in our area. Rabbi Beverly Magidson has forwarded this request to us.
The United States Committee on Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) is looking for volunteers to assist with a small Afghan refugee family located in Ballston Spa. The family consists of two older adults and two adult children. Most of what they need is daytime transportation to doctor appointments. They are living with family; their English is pretty good. USCRI would like to run background checks for volunteers (at their expense) but will not require it in this case.
Please contact Margaret Slotnick at [email protected]
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