J Blog

There’s Something About this Place! and that includes the Ann and Stephen Kaufman Jewish Book & Arts Festival

The last few weeks have been a challenging and difficult time in Houston and especially in our Jewish community with so many individuals and institutions suffering significant damages that will take a long time to repair.

There is a silver lining… as a community, we are resilient.  We have strapped on our boots and resolved to rebuild - not only our homes and our beloved J, but our emotional well-being. One way forward is participating together in important community gatherings and events. 

There is a silver lining… as a community, we are resilient.  We have strapped on our boots and resolved to rebuild - not only our homes and our beloved J, but our emotional well-being. One way forward is participating together in important community gatherings and events.

It just so happens that at the end of October, the Evelyn Rubenstein JCC hosts one of the biggest community events of the year, the Ann and Stephen Kaufman Jewish Book & Arts Festival.  Yes, you read that right... it’s not just a “Fair” anymore.  This multi-week event has evolved over the years to encompass so much more than just books. The Festival has grown into a world class showcase for theatre, music and film, in addition to top notch authors.

 

A New Beginning This Shabbat we read the Torah portion B'reishit that tells the story of the seven days of creation as well as the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. This Torah portion is significant not just because it marks a new beginning in the Torah, but also because it has the ability to inspire new beginnings in our lives. As we approach a new beginning at the J, I am thrilled to share with you that we are planning to re-open ...

Thank you for your continued patience as we work through the necessary repairs to open our facilities on the Levit Family Campus. Please make note of the following important updates: Our goal is to open the Weingarten Building on Monday, October 16 and begin to resume business operations, daytime and evening classes and other programs. Further details on class programs and schedules will be announced next week. The Fitness Center flooring ...

Shana Tovah, I wanted to provide you with a number of facility and program updates as we continue to make progress on the required repairs and remediation of all of our facilities. The swimming pool at the Merfish Teen Center is now operational and is available to our members to swim laps beginning on Monday, September 25. Please click here for the schedule and additional information regarding the hours, parking, what to bring, etc. The ...

We have some good news to share in today's update. We have generators running and have AC and electricity in parts of the Weingarten Building. We are working area by area to check the mechanical systems. We've already had one air handler motor catch fire and burn out. We will have a much better idea in the next few days when we can re-open the Weingarten Building. We estimate it will be at least another 7+ days as we are waiting on ...

Shabbat Shalom from the J The world is a very different place than it was a month ago. A month ago, the J did not have each department successfully running programs without a building. We did not have a free two-week day camp created in partnership with Greene Family Camp. Our entire staff and teachers, along with our Board and community members, never gathered for Shabbat in the Tennis Center where we shed tears of joy and sadness while ...

As we continue to recover from Hurricane Harvey, our staff has worked diligently to get programs back up and running, both in the short term with the limited facilities available, and for the future as we get buildings operational. Today we wanted to provide you with an update on the programs we are currently running and looking forward to in the near future. We hope that you'll come out to show your support for the J at one or several of these ...

Program Updates Our staff continues to find facilities to open their doors for our programs. Four different gymnastic gyms are providing space for our competitive gymnasts to train. Congregation Brith Shalom that hosted our concert this past Sunday is providing space for our children and teen theater productions to rehearse, and Shlenker Day School is hosting our KidZone program. Our staff is amazing. They have been working under very ...

Facilities Update As many schools prepare to open on Monday and businesses start to re-open, I wanted to provide you with updates on the Evelyn Rubenstein JCC facilities. We are working this week to set up temporary generators to get electricity to the Weingarten building and operate temporary chillers that will provide air conditioning. We will also bring in a temporary boiler to have hot water available in restrooms, showers and heat water ...

Shabbat Shalom from the J It is difficult to describe to those outside of Houston what life is like here right now. Families displaced from their homes, the contents of a life piled up on countless front lawns, each day hazily blending into the next. These past two weeks have proven themselves beyond our wildest imagining, and we are utterly exhausted. Exhausted from tearing apart houses, from conversations with FEMA, from shuttling kids to ...