| Topic of the Month: Small Jewish
Communities |
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 In the twenty-first century, the Jewish community's
greatest challenge lies in confronting the prospect of
continued erosion and assimilation. Jewish education should be
the primary combatant to that danger. An integral component to
Jewish education is Jewish history. Through knowledge of their
past, Jews become aware of their heritage.
By request
from one of our readers, this month's eletter seeks to
highlight a few truly inspirational small Jewish communities
and their journey through time. We hope that you will share
the stories of these phenomenal communities with your students
and kids and that they will also be inspired and
proud.
Small Jewish Community Thrives Under
Leadership of Energetic Woman
Soila, 62, is the
president of the Caibariem Jewish community. Caibariem, a
small town near the city of Santa Clara is host to 20 Jews.
Though this community is small, they are very active, holding
Shabbat services/dinners at people's homes and also joining
the Santa Clara Jewish community for holiday celebrations.
Soila, like most other Jews in Cuba, had not practiced
her religion since Castro took power.
To read more go
to: http://www.jdc.org/p_amer_cuba_ps_women_soila.html
Meet the Bnei Menashe of India
Bnei
Menashe means "children of Menashe." These Jews believe they
are the descendents of the Israeli tribe of Menashe, exiled
from Israel in 721 BCE. They fled China and hid to avoid being
forced to convert to Christianity.
To read more of
their story and see a BabagaNewz slideshow go to :
http://www.babaganewz.com/slideshows/indexFlash.cfm
?showid=18
Curacao, Netherlands Antilles
Congregation
Mikve Israel-Immanuel in Willemsted, the capital of Curacao,
Netherlands Antilles is one of the Western Hemisphere's oldest
synagogues. It has functioned continually since its
establishment in 1654 by refugees from the Spanish and
Portuguese Inquisitions, and has been located in its present
building since 1732. Its survival despite the continued
decline in the size of Curacao's Jewish community is a
testament to the island's first Jewish settlers who had
established a "mother" Jewish community - a self- confident
early community which supported the establishment of many
other American Jewish communities.
Curacao, with 300
Jewish families, is home to one of two Jewish communities in
the Netherlands Antilles.
To read more go to:
http://www.worldjewishcongress.org/communities/ar
chives/curacao.cfm
Suriname
Despite the small size of
Suriname's current Jewish community (which numbers only 200 to
300 people), the South American country has a fascinating
Jewish history - as the locale of a thriving 17th and 18th
century semi-autonomous "Jewish Savanna", supported and
encouraged by the area's various European rulers.
To
read more go to:
http://www.worldjewishcongress.org/communities/ar
chives/suriname.cfm
|
| Your JSkyway Community |
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Customize A Course!
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has created a span of courses for over 500 educators in Jewish
schools. Using our knowledge and expertise, we can provide the
framework and methodology to create specific programs for
external organizations and bring courses to life. We have
recently created courses for DOROT and STAR.
To find
out more click the link below:
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Check out the following sections for
great information related to this month's eletter
topic.
Under: Judaic
Jewish History
Jewish Education
Jewish Law
Click on the link
below to start searching now!
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Want your teachers to be informed of upcoming
professional development events and news? Subscribe them
to this Eletter by sending their names and email addresses to
Emily at: emyerson@jflmedia.com
|
| A Better You |
|
 Can you remember the year you had your Bar or Bat
Mitzvah? Do you remember how you felt. The following is an
excerpt of a book review by David Mogolov of Living in the
Past by Philip Schultz.
"In brief but
sharply-detailed half-remembrances, Schultz tells of a
willfully forgotten year in the life of a Jewish boy in a
1950s Rochester immigrant neighborhood called Cuba Place. He
also proves that the confusion and contradictions of
adolescence are far better conveyed in verse than in prose.
Public embarrassments, familial shame, naïve excitement, and
tortured hope hide between plainly stated fact and ingenious
metaphor. Schultz restores to adolescent conflicts the
significance and terror that sound silly when spelled out in
memoir."
To read more of this book review go to: http://jbooks.com/nonfiction/index/NF_Mogolov_Schultz
.htm
IDEAS???
We would love to hear your feedback on
our current E-letter and requests for future issue topics!
This eletter is the result of a great topic suggestion by one
of our readers. What do you want to see in the next JSkyway
E-letter? Email your ideas to Emily Myerson at: emyerson@jflmedia.com
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