Shabbaton with Azi Graeber: Tuesday, October 21st
Major Rabbinic Disputes in European Jewish History, Part 2
Eastern European Jewish history is replete with rabbinical feuds. Sometimes these quarrels took place by letter or at the pulpit, other times in the streets and in between the pews. In this survey of famous rabbinic rumbles, we will dive into several such examples from the 17th through the early 20th centuries.
The last session covered an 18th-century drama in which a prominent rabbi and his followers accused another of allegiance to the notorious false messiah Shabbetai Zevi. This year, the session will move into the 19th century and cover the competition for control over communal territory, which led to expulsions, arrests, and riots.
Azi Graeber is VP of Real Estate and Capital Transactions at a real estate investment firm. He spent several years studying at the Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem and at Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, NJ. Azi has many family connections to FHJC going back generations, including his grandfather’s friendship with Rabbi Ben Zion Bokser. Azi lives in Kew Gardens with his husband, Bentzy Rosengarten.
No reservations are required. To participate, click on the Zoom link at 8:00 PM to join the discussion. Or click on it at 7:30PM to join Limud first. There is no charge for this Adult Ed event but donations are always welcome!
Sisterhood Daytime Readers: Thursday, October 23rd
In 1950s Tehran, seven-year-old Ellie lives in grand comfort until the untimely death of her father, forcing Ellie and her mother to move to a tiny home downtown. Lonely and bearing the brunt of her mother’s endless grievances, Ellie dreams for a friend to alleviate her isolation.
Luckily, on the first day of school, she meets Homa, a kind girl with a brave and irrepressible spirit. Together, the two girls play games, learn to cook in the stone kitchen of Homa’s warm home, wander through the colorful stalls of the Grand Bazaar, and share their ambitions of becoming “lion women.”
But their happiness is disrupted when Ellie and her mother are afforded the opportunity to return to their previous bourgeois life. Now a popular student at the best girls’ high school in Iran, Ellie’s memories of Homa begin to fade. Years later, however, her sudden reappearance in Ellie’s privileged world alters the course of both of their lives.
Together, the two young women come of age and pursue their own goals for meaningful futures. But as the political turmoil in Iran builds to a breaking point, one earth-shattering betrayal will have enormous consequences.
Click here to register and join the discussion. And if you haven’t read the book, join us anyway. It might inspire you!
