Nissan / April 2006
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* Welcome the New Month and re-cap past events
* EuroJews events
* Membership
* News from Community folks (happenings, questions, etc...)
If you have information that you would like to go in the May Newsletter,
please e-mail it to me before the 24th of April to:
laura(at)handinhandarts.com
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Welcome the New Month and re-cap past events
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"I learned something interesting from my Rabbi's sermon in the States on
Friday that I thought I'd pass along to you...
Why doesn't the 1st Month of the Jewish calendar (the Month of Nisan)
correspond with the New Year?... Well, here's the answer.
The Jewish calendar marks two different types of years. The first New
Year, Rosh Hashanah, which falls during the 7th Month in the Jewish
calendar (Tishrei), marks the birth of Creation for all living things
and the beginning of the world's Cycle of Seasons.
The second New Year -- Rosh Chodesh of Nisan -- marks the birth of the
Jewish people after being freed from slavery in Egypt.
Hence, Passover falls during the 1st Month of the Jewish calendar
because it's historically the first time in which Jewish redemption and
Jewish liberation have existed. " - Jordan Namerow
The New Moon of Nisan (which is on Wednesday, March 29th) is a Moon of
FREEDOM!
May we be surrounded by freedom and work towards it in everyway that we
can/must.
As Anne Frank said:
How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before
starting to improve the world.
Wishing everyone peaceful, freedom-filled fresh spring seders with
friends and loved ones, in your communities around the Globe.
Shalom, pokoj, shanti, peace....
Laura Evonne Steinman in Warsaw, Poland
laura(at)handinhandarts.com
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EUROJEWS EVENTS
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If you have nice quality photos, please send them along to Pawel with
text about what they are and then we can have photos on our website.
Thanks! pawelbabecki(at)op.pl
/Review of the past _Purim in Poland _event for a few members:/
/
/From Beatrice in Germany:
Thanks to the generous help of the Bejt Warszawa community, the most
recent event in Warsaw was a great success. We had participants from 11
different countries, including many from the FSU, who came together to
celebrate Purim in Warsaw. Along with the intellectually stimulating
educational workshops, we also had the chance to bake Hamentashen, learn
Israeli dancing, make masks and puppets for Purim, and even retell the
purim story how we saw fit. The costume ball was an absolute climax to
the weekend when EuroJews had the chance to meet and celebrate with the
Polish Jewish young adults. We had the opportunity to learn a bit of the
Jewish history when we went on the Jewish tour in Warsaw; our tour guide
was quite good and shared with us a lot of interesting details that one
wouldn't learn from a history book, like that Mila 18 used to be a
brothel and casino and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising monument was made out
of stone that Hitler had bought for his own future monument. It was also
great to learn about PUSZ, the active Polish Jewish student union, and
the work that they do in the community, in contrast with the devastating
history of Polish Judaism. All in all I really enjoyed the weekend and
hope that everyone else did too.
The weekend following the Warsaw event Nathan, Leonid, and I attended
the _European Region biennial conference_ in Hannover. We had the
opportunity to raise awareness within the European region about
EuroJews, made important connections which should lead to increased
participation and hopefully even funding, and learned a lot, such as
fundraising and leadership skills. We were also able to sell about 50
CDs. It was a great experience and I hope that it will have a positive
effect on EuroJews.
From Natalie in Ireland:
*EuroJews Purim in Poland weekend*
The Hostel:* Clean, everything working, good breakfast, nice and
helpful staff, handy location. Good - though dangerous! - to have a
bar in-house, and 24-hour free internet access
The Meals: Lovely, thank you! Great for vegetarians.
The Purim Party: Lovely atmosphere, nice venue, great costumes!
The Jewish Tour: I missed it unfortunately ...
Worship Services: Always nice to experience different services. Local
people were very friendly, and it was nice to be invited to
participate.
Workshops: Lecture style-*
Is Purim a Queer Holiday? - We had a good laugh slagging off the
characters in the Purim story while trying to figure out what sort of
sex-life they may have had!
Jewish Krakow tour:
We were met by a member of the Jewish students' group in Krakow, who
brought us for a look around the Jewish area there, and told us what
it's like to be Jewish in Krakow - very trendy apparently, nice to hear!
We went to the new museum in the High Shul, where our guide gave us
lots of information about the display of photos of important Jewish
families in Krakow before WW2. It was great to get so much background
detail so we could fully appreciate the photos. Also there was an
excellent bookshop with all kinds of Jewish stuff. Later on we got to
meet up with another local student who was also very friendly and good
fun, and were all very warmly invited back to Krakow. It was a
wonderful day, well worth getting up at 5.45 am for (well, the late
night was my fault)! It was good to be able to have the time to
interact with local people and get the inside track on Jewish life in
Krakow.
*Upcoming Events?
*Who is hosting the next one? Maybe your community! If you need help,
just let us know.
Spring/Summer EuroJews June Event
We are at the planning stages of an event in June 2006. One idea is that
it be held in a rural retreat in Ireland, and that it be for a week
long, and contain lots of Jewish teaching. Anyone interested in being
part of this should get in touch now, so they can contribute to what
actually happens.
Please Contact: Nathan Alfred <nathetc(at)fastmail.fm>
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MEMBERSHIP
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Only 14 people have answered the survey
(http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=U24JXE5AQCKK ) so far, and these
are their results.
Many of those who did answer have participated in only one or two
events, but a few have been to many of them.
There wasn’t one general favorite as far as people and weekend
schedule,
though just based on location, Prague and Amsterdam were well-liked.
When given the choices poor, fair, good and great:
- The hostels were rated equally between good and fair
- The food seen as mostly good
- The religious services 64% good 36% great
- Educational workshops on average good
- Hands-on/arts workshops got a little of everything, but mostly good
- The balls/parties got a strong majority of good, with some great and
one poor vote
- The Jewish tours equally good and great
- The overall weekend schedule on average is good
- The administration got 85% good and 15% great
What do people want to see more of in the weekend? A strong desire for
more workshops and more “Jewish interest places”
What do you want less of? Less time spent traveling from one place to
another
How can events be improved? Better organization, more workshops (and not
so many interesting ones at the same time,) and more welcoming
activities
Who wants to play a larger role in the events? 58% do want to help with
organization and leading workshops
How satisfies are you overall with EuroJews? 7% think it could be
better, 43% are happy, and 50% love it
What does all this mean? My opinion is that people are satisfied, though
of course the we can improve. Those of you who would like to help in any
way PLEASE CONTACT US (Beatrice(at)eurojews.org, nathetc(at)fastmail.fm,
laura(at)handinhandarts.com)
Regarding food, accommodation, distances from accommodation to other
places: this is all a question of money, if people want to spend more,
then we can afford better hostels and food. A main idea of EuroJews is
to make it affordable to everyone, which is why we try to keep the
prices low. If someone has an idea of how to solve this, PLEASE CONTACT
US. With your help, we would definitely be able to offer more workshops
However, these are only the results of 14 PEOPLE – EUROJEWS IS
MORE THEN
200 PEOPLE. The survey will be up for a few more days PLEASE FILL IT
OUT, LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK.
http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=U24JXE5AQCKK
We can’t improve the organization/community/events without your
feedback.
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NEWS FROM COMMUNITY FOLKS (HAPPENINGS, QUESTIONS, ETC...)
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EuroJews CD's on-sale now in some of your communities! cost about 10eu
each.
Contact Nathan if you would like more info!
Nathan Alfred <nathetc(at)fastmail.fm>
I bought one when they were delivered fresh off the press and listen to
it a bunch. It is great!
I'm going to buy more and bring them to family and friends in the states
this summer! - Laura Evonne Steinman
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Listen, I'm organizing this International Queer Shabbaton. It's gonna be
a wonderfull weekend full of workshops, events, lectures, performances
and loads of nesjomma and food:www.queershabbaton.org
Right now, we are doing the PR and really need people to spread the word
worldwide.
Thanks so much, Gideon Querido van Frank.
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*Invitation to Shir Hatzafon's family Seder on 12 April*
Shir Hatzafon has planned a wonderful Seder for Pesach 2006 (5766) on
*Wednesday, 12 April 2006, beginning at 17:00, at the Copenhagen
International School, Hellerupvej 22-26 in Hellerup.*
We have chosen the early time to more practically accommodate families,
including small children. http://www.pjf.dk/
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EuroJews Late Bar/Batmitzvah Project
Have you had a barmitzvah or batmitzvah? Or are you one of many EuroJews
who, for one reason or another, missed out? It is never too late. We are
planning an intensive learning programme leading, where appropriate, to
a bar/batmitzvah ceremony. Please get in touch if you are interested in
this, either as a student or as a teacher.
Contact: Nathan Alfred <nathetc(at)fastmail.fm>
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EuroJews Jewish/Moslem Dialogue Project
Fed up with negative and stereotypical journalism, from all sides?
Anyone interested in participating in a EuroJews/Moslems interfaith
project should get in touch - let's break down some barriers.
Contact: Nathan Alfred <nathetc(at)fastmail.fm>
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*From Fig Leaf to Faux Fur Chic ** *
Thursday 6^th April 2006 at 7pm
at The LJS, 28 St John’s Wood Road, London NW8 7HA
* *
with Guest Speaker
Susie Menkes OBE
Fashion Editor of the International Herald Tribune
Coffee, Cakes, Ideas, Discussion, Wine, Nibbles, Friends, Thoughts.
Tickets ?10 / ?5 students and concessions
For booking or information contact LJS Young Adult Worker, Anna Gerrard
on 07817 207 625 or a.gerrard(at)liberaljudaism.org
<mailto:a.gerrard(at)liberaljudaism.org>
* *
* +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++*
**
‘*tent’ in birmingham*
friday 7 april at 7 pm
contact: anna on 07817 207 625 or
a.gerrard(at)liberaljudaism.org
<mailto:a.gerrard(at)liberaljudaism.org>
**
*DATES FOR YOUR DIARY*
thursday 13 april at 7:30 pm
*cross community second night seder*
a vibrant & progressive seder for students & young adults
at finchley reform synagogue, fallow court avenue, n12 obe
full price ?20 or students ?10
contact: anna on 07817 207 625 or a.gerrard(at)liberaljudaism.org
<mailto:a.gerrard(at)liberaljudaism.org>
‘*tent’ in leicester*
friday 21 april at 8 pm
contact: anna on 07817 207 625 or a.gerrard(at)liberaljudaism.org
<mailto:a.gerrard(at)liberaljudaism.org>
*tent’ at ljs *
friday 28 april at 6:45 pm
at 28 st john’s wood road, nw8 7ha
contact: anna on 07817 207 625 or a.gerrard(at)liberaljudaism.org
<mailto:a.gerrard(at)liberaljudaism.org>
*‘tent’ in israel* 26 may - 4 june
cost: ?1,099 to include flights, accommodation, 2 meals a day and
*_basic_* medical insurance. Non refundable ?300 deposit per person by 4
April 2006. subsidies are available for 'tentniks'.
for details contact:
gili on 020 7631 9823 or shlicha(at)liberaljudaism.org
<mailto:shlicha(at)liberaljudaism.org>
aaron on 07764 192 696 or a.goldstein(at)liberaljudaism.org
<mailto:a.goldstein(at)liberaljudaism.org>
Monique Blake
*Outreach & Projects Administrator
Liberal Judaism*
The Montagu Centre
21 Maple Street, London W1T 4BE
T: 020 7631 9826
F: 020 7631 9838
E: _m.blake(at)liberaljudaism.org_ <mailto:m.blake(at)liberaljudaism.org>
*/Visit our website:/*/ //_*www.liberaljudaism.org*_/
<http://www.liberaljudaism.org/>
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
*World Jewish Relief *is offering YOU the opportunity to become a
humanitarian aid volunteer overseas! If you are committed, enthusiastic
spaces are available for placements in Argentina, China, South Africa
and Ukraine. 3-6 months, start in June or September 2006.
Scheme ideally suited to university students and graduates. For more
information contact dan on 020 7691 1771 or email do(at)wjr.org.uk
<mailto:do(at)wjr.org.uk>*
*
http://www.worldjewishrelief.org.uk/how_you_can_help/volunteers/
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
*Norwood** Challenges Team - Lanzarote Bike Trek Adventure** *
**27 april – 2 may 2006-01-31
contact for details: 020 8420 6834 or email: challenges(at)norwood.org.uk
<mailto:challenges(at)norwood.org.uk>
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