Happening

CONNECTIONS

Conference on Alternatives in Jewish Education, the largest annual interdenominational gathering of teachers, clergy, librarians, youth and social workers, communal professionals, and lay leaders, offers hundreds of workshops and study sessions, August 14-18 at the Indiana University Campus in Bloomington. Participants in a pre-conference Shabbat experience will celebrate through worship, family programs, storytelling and singing. Throughout the conference performers from all over the world will provide evening entertainment. CAJE 19 Conference P. O. Box 37535, Cincinnati, OH 45237. (513)761-1500. FAX (513)761-3104.

Moscow and St. Petersburg will be the new venues of branches of Na’amat to help establish ties between families in Israel and those intending to make aliya from the Former Soviet Union and to help the Jewish population re-organize in the wake of the fall of communism.They will help potential emigrants resolve matters of “personal status” (e.g. conversion of a non-Jewish spouse) set up Hebrew courses, sponsor holiday celebrations and hold discussions on the status of women. Contact Daliya Tsykoriev, Kutuzovsky Prospekt 26-85, Moskva, 007-095- 2497191, FAX 007-095-2524448

CEREMONIES AND RITUALS

An Egalitarian Get redresses inequities in the traditional get which only a man can initiate. Learn about this Jewish divorce from a rabbi who can lead you through the process and officiate in a separation ritual. Yael Shuman, Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, Church Rd. / Greenwood Ave., Wyncote, PA 19095. (215)576-5210.

Jewish New Years Cards are being sold to raise funds to provide humanitarian assistance and human rights advocacy for Central American refugees. Also blank note cards, $8 per package with 8 cards. The San Francisco Jewish Sanctuary Coalition , P.O. Box 411391, San Francisco, CA 94141.

Sukkah Cards reproduce colorful panels created for “Succah by theWater” an annual celebration for women in Toronto. $18.00 per set of 7; credit cards accepted. New Israel Fund of Canada, 40 Dundas St. W., #231, Box 29, Toronto M5G 2C2, Ontario, Canada, (416)340-0507.

A call for blessings for a collection from various religions: Send spiritual blessings such as for houses, travelers, newborn children, etc. to Philip Deemer, 7030 LynnetreeWay, Citrus Heights, CA 95610-3932

HOLOCAUST RELATED

Project Search, a free Holocaust and War Victims Tracing Service, helps reunite family members separated during World War II, establish the date of a family member’s death, or provide certification for reparations and or pensions to civilian survivors. Magen David Adorn in Israel assists in the research. Contact your local Red Cross Chapter or Project Search /Social Services, 150 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10023. (212)787- 1000 X2239 or 2242.

If you were a child hidden during the Holocaust and would be interested in talking about your experience with others in a school, religious establishment, senior center, women’s group, on radio or television, alone or with others, request a speakers bureau application. The Hidden Child Foundation, 823 UN Plaza, New York, NY won. (212)490-2525.

IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD

Heighten environmental activism in your congregation through worship, study, and advocacy. Hold an “outdoor environmental Shabbat” or buy energy-saving gadgets to sell in your temple gift shop. Send for an information kit; write to share what your synagogue is doing. National Religious Partnership for the Environment, 1047 Amsterdam Ave., New York, NY 10025. (212)316-7441. FAX (212)316-7547.

A prayer for a ramp. An organization offering philosophical support and technical assistance to make your synagogue accessible to handicapped people is the Torah Organization for Disability Access , 3409 Shelburne Rd., Baltimore, MD 21208. (414)764-6132.

PERIODICALS

Kerem is a journal on contemporary Jewish spiritual life, rituals, midrash, prayer, and the lifecycle. Co-editors Gilah Langner and Sara R. Horowitz recently featured midrashim on Sarah and the binding of Isaac, Rebekah’s marriage to Isaac, and Ruth; also yizkor prayers to be said by victims of abuse, and for stillborn and infant deaths. $8.50. Kerem, 2555 Pennsylvania, NW #504, Washington, DC 20037.

Identity, Ceremony, Community: Jewish Women’s Spirituality ,”by Phyllis Holman Weisbard, in Feminist Collections: A Quarterly of Women’s Studies Resources (Fall 1993), is part of a special issue on women’s spirituality and religion, $2.75, to University of Wisconsin- Madison. Also useful: Feminist Periodicals and New Books on Women & Feminism, both from the Women’s Studies Librarian, 430 Memorial Library, 728 State St., Madison, Wl 53706. (608)263-5754.

American Women Poets Experience Israel in Shirim : A Jewish Poetry Journal (December 1993). It follows an issue on Israeli women and their relationships with the land. $4. Shirim, 4611 Vesper Ave., Sherman Oaks, CA 91403.

YOUR TALENT NEEDED

Jewish girls: for an anthology of fiction, poetry and nonfiction on growing up Jewish and female in America, send manuscripts up to 1000 words, with SASE by July 15. Marlene Adler Marks, Jewish Journal of Greater LA, 3660 Wilshire Blvd. #204, LA, CA 90010 or via CompuServe 71764,2060.

Psychology of Jewish Women is the theme of a collection of papers to be published as an outgrowth of the Judaism Feminism and Psychology Conference (Seattle, 1992). Propose a paper to Kayla Weiner or Arinna Moon, 600 First Ave., #530, Seattle, WA 98104. (206)343-0828.

Jewish Visions by Jewish Artists: send for specifications for a juried exhibit in Fall 1994, in honor of LILITH Magazine’s 18th anniversary. Jewish Women’s Art Exhibit, UJA Federation, 130 E. 59th St,. #447, New York NY 10022.

TEACHING TOLERANCE

The Crown Heights History Project is a groundbreaking collaborative exhibition and education project exploring the lives and traditions of African- Americans, Caribbean- Americans and Lubavitch Hasidic Jews. Coordinated by a Jewish anthropologist, Jill Vexler, and a black historian, Craig Wilder, the project involved extensive community participation in oral history interviews, documentary photography and video, and the donation of artifacts. The participatory exhibits include performances, walking tours, community forums, foods from these groups and an explanation of hair styles-from dreadlocks to Hasidic sidecurls. Through the fall of 1994 at The Brooklyn Children’s Museum, 145 Brooklyn Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11213. (718)488-6260. The Brooklyn Historical Society, 128 Pierrepont St., Brooklyn, NY 11201. ( 718)624-0890, and The Society for the Preservation of Weeksville & Bedford-Stuyvesant History, 1698 Bergen St., Brooklyn, NY 11213. (718)756-5250.

Teaching Tolerance, a semiannual magazine published by the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit legal and education foundation, features philosophical and practical resources. Free to educators. Teaching Tolerance, 400 Washington Ave., Montgomery, AL 36104. FAX (205)264-3121.

Connecting with beads: The work of the late Myriam Mendilow, who founded Lifeline for the Elderly Craftshops in Jerusalem, is perpetuated by the U.S.- based Myriam’s Dream. Project Kesher Konnection offers a packet of ceramic beads made by the elderly in Israel with lesson plans and ideas for intergenerational programming, teaching appreciation and respect for the elderly. Children create objects incorporating the beads for display, and may sell them to raise funds. $7 per packet (enough for a class) from Iris Schwartz, I Robin Hood Rd., Suffern NY 10901. (914)357-2157.

Helping the Elderly: Funds from Myriam’s Dream (above) are disbursed in grants to improve the life of the Jewish aged in many parts of the world. If you travel and make contact with Jewish communities in Eastern Europe or Asia, let local leaders know they may apply for assistance to Karen Kushner, 309 Goodman’s Hill Rd., Sudbury MA 01776. Contributions may be made to Myriam’s Dream, Inc. and sent to Joyce Malakoff, 42 York Dr., New City, NY 10956.

INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL

Helsinki: What is the Bible’s image of woman? The fates of Judith, Ruth, Hannah and Eve are explored in The Bible 1994, an international drama festival with 60 women actors from Estonia, Latvia, Sweden, Norway and Finland who will perform in five world premieres July 18-August 4, The Raging Roses Theatre, Luotsikatu 14/PL 162, 00161 Helsinki, Finland. 358-0-630 400, FAX 358-0-669 568.

Amsterdam: Jewish Women: Tradition and Renewal is a course—in English— offered by The Amsterdam Summer University and the Jewish Historical Museum, July 25-July 29. Lectures will take a feminist approach to Jewish religious texts and to the problems Jewish women face within the tradition. Amsterdam Summer University, P. O. Box 53066, 1007 RB Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 31-20-6200225. FAX 31-20- 6249368.

Israel: A Women’s Study Tour November 1-11, 1994, will explore— with guest scholar Judith Lichtman, president of the Women’s Legal Defense Fund in Washington, DC—the challenges facing Israeli women, examining their special contribution to building peace as they continue to struggle for equality. Contact Susan Bandler, New Israel Fund, 1625 K St. NW#500, Washington, DC 20006. (202)223-3333. (To spend a day visiting innovative Israeli non-profit organizations working to promote social justice while on your own trip call Liora Asa at the same number.)

Jerusalem: Women, War and Peace: The Vision and the Strategies—an international conference of Women in Black and women’s peace movements— will be held December 29-31 1994. Women throughout the world—both activists and scholars—are invited to share their expertise in an activist conference with workshops, a mass vigil and march through Jerusalem, and the award of the first Women in Black Peace Prize. Special invitations are being extended to women peace activists in former Yugoslavia, the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo in Argentina, Greenham Common Women, Black Sash women and others. If you wish to present, please indicate your subject and format (workshop, panel, etc.). Contact Erella Shadmi, 4/11 Dresner Street, Jerusalem, Israel 93814. (02)718597, FAX (02)259626.

London: Connect with Jewish feminist activities by contacting the Jewish Women’s Network, Sharon Lee, 41 Dorset Drive, Edgeware, Middx, HA8 7NT, London, England. 081-9525308. Bruria Books specializes in Jewish women’s literature including fiction, biography, sociological studies, law, memoirs, essays, Jewish women’s spirituality. Contact Sally Berkovic 081- 2033678. Also note Jewish Women’s Aid, assisting victims of domestic violence in the Jewish community, now has a free phone help line 0800-59-1203.