Spend a special shabbat among our Bet Am community, as we enjoy our first Shabbat of Learning. The theme will be "Acher/The Other". Programs (Friday night and Saturday) will be led and taught by members of Bet Am Shalom with expertise in specific areas, and by Rabbi Bronstein and Cantor Schiller. Guests are welcome!

Reservations required for Friday night dinner and Saturday light supper.
Special programming for children on Shabbat afternoon requires advance sign-up.

Exploring The Other/Acher

The concepts of separateness, alienation, and difference have always been significant in Jewish history, Jewish life, and Jewish study. Together, over Shabbat, we will explore the idea of “otherness” on a variety of levels and from a range of perspectives. We will think about “otherness” in our personal lives, in our Bet Am Shalom community, in the broader Jewish community, and in the larger world. Throughout our lives and journeys, our common experience is being both inside and outside, included and excluded. We perceive “the other” and we are “the other.”

Schedule of Programs
Friday, April 23

6:15 p.m. Kabbalat Shabbat service.
7:15 p.m. Shabbat dinner. Reservations required ($25 each adult, $15 pre-b’nai mitzvah children)
8:15 p.m. Separation from the Surrounding Culture: Sharing our stories by BAS congregants Bettina Weil, Cynthia Ehrenkrantz and Joe Kochen.

Saturday, April 24

9:45 a.m. Shabbat morning service: Rabbi Bronstein delivers D’var Torah:  “Holy” as “Other” vs. “Holy” as “Separate”.

11:30 a.m. Special Junior Congregation with Cantor Marcey Wagner and Junior Congregation leaders.

1:30 p.m. Acharei Kiddush – Something for everyone – teens warmly invited and encouraged to attend.

• Welcoming the Stranger: America is experiencing major demographic change. Why and how should we engage with other minorities? with Ann Schaffer. 
• Who's Right? When Values Clash in Family Life. Exploration of real life intergenerational conflicts. Are they solvable? Do values matter? How do we honor others? Do our values really define how we act? with Elliot Rosen.
• Jewish Views of the "Other": Bible, Mishnah and Maimonides with Roz Schulman.
• Young People’s Program: Jews From Around the World with Cantor Marcey Wagner. For ages 4 to 12. Babysitting available for children under 4 years. (PLEASE REGISTER IN ADVANCE for the Young People's program and babysitting.)

3:00 p.m. Shabbat Menuchah – rest and relax – continue discussions in our “salon,” have a snack, take a walk.

5:00 p.m. Interfaith panel: From Otherness to Diversity: Using religion as an opportunity—rather than an obstruction—to create a diverse society with Rabbi Bronstein and his long-time colleagues and friends in the Westchester interfaith community: Episcopal, Ethical Culture, AME-Zion, Unitarian-Universalist.

6:30 p.m. Seudah Shlisheet (third Shabbat meal, light supper). Reservations required ($12.50 each adult, $10 pre-b’nai mitzvah children).

7:15 p.m. Cantor Schiller: Our Song, Others’ Song: The Music of Our People. We will sing and listen to an array of Jewish melodies through time and across the globe. We will allow the music to show us the cultural elements we Jews have adopted through our many journeys as the “other,” and ponder the question: “What makes this music ours?”

8:30 p.m. Havdalah.

For more information, please email Rosie Aronin at ramaronin [at] gmail [dot] com.

Program Planning Chairs:
Betsy Landis, Judy Zendell, Pattie Cippi Harte and Rosie Aronin.

Reservations:

To make a reservation: use the link below to reserve online (you will still need to send a check to the BAS office for payment) or download a reservation form attached below and mail it to the office.

To help the committee plan, also state your preference for one of the three acharei kiddush topics.

RESERVATION LINK