J Blog

Dear Friends,

Shana Tovah!

At times, I found myself pausing and turning the calendar back a year and trying to remember what happened in the days immediately following Hurricane Harvey. I think about what I was doing, progress on the remediation at the J and renovation plans going forward.

The period of time from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur is called Aseret Yemei Teshuvah, or, the Ten Days of Repentance. This is an especially contemplative time, when we reflect on the past year and consider how we can be our best selves in the year to come.

To help in this process, we invite you to enjoy a video from Rabbi Ariel Sholklapper, in which he teaches a simple yet meaningful practice that can help us start the new year with a heightened awareness and appreciation of what surrounds us each day.

August 15 was a very special day for the ceramics program at the J and our devoted students. It wasn’t enough that we have been welcomed back into a beautiful new studio and have been so well treated by the staff at the J.

Through the auspices of the Ceramic Store (which has been so generous to us since Harvey), we were treated to a glaze workshop sponsored by Amaco Glaze Company. Not only did the president of the company travel to Houston himself, he also brought one of his top educators to demonstrate, explain, and answer questions. 

Are you part of a book club and looking for your group’s next read?  We’ve just announced our Community Read event for the Ann and Stephen Kaufman Jewish Book & Arts Festival and hope you’ll join us by reading Rachel Kadish’s new novel The Weight of Ink!

Kadish will be speaking at the Book Festival on Monday, Nov 5 at 8:00 PM. For this event during the Festival, we ask book clubs and interested readers to read The Weight of Ink in advance of her author talk.

There is a debate in the Talmud over how to interpret a particular phrase in the Book of Psalms. “Rabbi Judah HaNasi and the sages differed in this matter. One said [the phrase should be interpreted as], ‘The character of the generation is determined by its leader.’ And one said [the phrase should be interpreted as], ‘The character of the leader is determined by its generation’” (Arachin 17a).

Although the debate is not definitively concluded, its implications are worth noting—a nation and its leaders are inextricably linked, and each has a role and responsibility in shaping the other. 

We are proud to announce that our very own Evelyn Rubenstein JCC Foster Grandparent volunteer, Blynthia Scott (AKA Granny Blu), has been selected as a nominee for WellCare | TexanPlus® Grand Champion. Blynthia, along with the other four Champions, exemplifies excellence by giving back to our local community and making a difference in the lives of older adults.

Granny Blu lives a life full of compassion and devotion. She volunteers as a Foster Grandparent 40 hours a week at the Harris County Psychiatric Center, working with youth with mental illness.

Got 4 weeks? How about 6, 8, 10 or 12? No matter your schedule or interest, we’ve got a class for you.

If you’ve always wanted to explore your Jewish roots and discover what they can mean to you as an adult, now is the time to do it! Our Bobbi and Vic Samuels Center for Jewish Living & Learning (CJLL) is proud to be a hub of pluralistic adult Jewish learning classes, bringing together students and faculty from various synagogues and other institutions in the Houston community.

The boards are here, the instructors are trained, now we just need YOU to practice your surf moves! Join us for demo days where you can learn the basic moves from our instructors out on the boards. 

Thursday, Aug 2 | 5:00 PM-7:00 PM 
Sunday, Aug 5 | 8:30 AM-10:30 AM

These are come and go, take some time in the pool to learn how to get on the board, stand up, work the paddle, and balance. We will have music playing and instructors ready to help.  Meet us outside by the BAS pool. 

This summer, educators from our Bertha Alyce Early Childhood School (BAS) were able to attend two Rice School Literacy and Culture (SLC) Institutes.

The first, the Rice SLC Summer Institute for Teachers, is an opportunity for early childhood educators to review new research in the field of early childhood language development and literacy and to bridge the gap between research and practice by learning hundreds of strategies to promote literacy skills and development in the classroom. Three Pre-Kindergarten teachers and our BAS Director of Curriculum and Instruction attended the week-long institute.

Mayor Sylvester Turner recently announced the first awardees of the new grant program Festival Grant via the Houston Arts Alliance (HAA). Sixteen festivals with venues across Houston were selected for funding totaling $145,475. 

We are proud to announce that the Evelyn Rubenstein JCC's Jewish CultureFest is one of the recipients of the 2018 Festival Grant. We thank the City of Houston and HAA for its support of this unique community event.