Celebrate Israel at Temple B’nai Abraham! Join us on Sunday, May 2, for a celebration of all things Israeli. An invited guest will facilitate a discussion about The David Project film, “The Forgotten Refugees.” A Krav Maga (Israeli self-defense) instructor will lead two sessions for different age groups, and our own Eli Davidyan will instruct participants in cooking traditional Israeli foods. Our now customary session on Jewish meditation along with a hall of displays by our students and teachers related to their trip to Israel rounds out the morning. Come celebrate Israel at the final Community Learning Day of the academic year!
About TBA’s Community Learning Day
The Community Learning Days are designed to bring all generations of our congregation and the greater North Shore Jewish Community together to enjoy educational programming. The program is free and open to the public. Generally, our Community Learning Days feature one or more special guests complemented by individuals from our community who share their expertise, skill, interest or talent.
This program is generously sponsored by the Alan Kaplan Memorial Enrichment Fund.
May 2 Featured Guests
The David Project: “The Forgotten Refugees”
Israel Bonan will share with us the moving story of his deportation from Egypt at the start of the Six Days War in 1967, as well as the eventful history of the modern day Exodus of the Mizrahi Jews (“The Forgotten Refugees”), from Arab countries. Following some discussion, we will view an abbreviated version of the film, “The Forgotten Refugees,” a film about the mass exodus of Jews from the Middle East and North Africa in the 20th century. The film was produced by the David Project and Isra TV. Using extensive testimony of the former refugees from Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Iraq, and Morocco, the film weaves personal accounts with dramatic archival footage of rescue missions, historic images of immigration and resettlement, and analyses by contemporary scholars to tell the story of how and why the Jewish population in Arab countries declined from approximately 850,000 in 1948 to several thousand today. The David Project is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating and inspiring strong voices for Israel through dynamic educational seminars, workshops, and curricula.
Krav Maga: Israeli Martial Arts
Krav Maga, meaning contact combat, is a generic Israeli term that describes various self-defense systems in use by the Israeli Military that adhere to a certain set of principles and are based on some common concepts regarding how the body and mind work when placed under the extreme stress of a combat or conflict situation. It is a CQC, Close Quarter Combat system, that takes a direct approach to dealing with real world violence. One of the reasons Krav Maga is such an effective form of self-defense is that it was developed in Israel. The context of the Middle East situation forces it to be direct, efficient and effective; there is no room to allow anything that doesn’t work in to the system. Our special guest, Gershon Ben Keren of the Boston Academy of Krav Maga, is from England but he trains in Israel. He will lead two sessions, one for K to grade 3 and the other for grades 4 to adult.
Jewish Meditation
Our new tradition on Community Learning Day! The meditation will combine some “hitbodedut” — silent meditation — and some “hitbonenut” contemplation, along with a discussion about meditation practices.
Schedule of Learning Activities
(Schedule is subject to change)
Detailed descriptions of each of the sessions can be found below the schedule. If you want to reserve a space in any of the sessions, or you have a question, please leave a comment.
| 8:30-9:00 | 9:00-9:45 | 9:45-10:15 | 10:15-11:15 | 11:15-12:00 | |
| Foyer | Continental Breakfast and Welcome everyone |
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| Chapel | Jewish Meditation Grade 6 and up |
Sunday Minyan | The Relationship Between Judaism and Music with Shimon Soferr all grades and adults |
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| Sanctuary | School Minyan all grades |
The David Project: “The Forgotten Refugees” with Israel Bonan Grade 6 and up |
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| Social Hall | Krav Maga with Gershon Ben Keren Grades 4 to adult |
Krav Maga with Gershon Ben Keren Grades K to 3 |
Israeli Exhibits | ||
| Kitchen | Falafel and Hummus with Eli Davidyan teens and adults |
Falafel and Hummus with Eli Davidyan teens and adults |
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| Library/Classroom 1 | Choir with Marcy Yellin ages 7 and up |
Holiday Workshop (preschool) Craft and Music with Rebecca Guilmet under age 6 |
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| Classroom 3 | Israeli Dance with Lynn Rubenstein Kindergarten and up |
The Art of Torah with Phil Blue Grade 4 and up
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Session Descriptions
The David Project: “The Forgotten Refugees”
Israel Bonan will share with us the moving story of his deportation from Egypt at the start of the Six Days War in 1967, as well as the eventful history of the modern day Exodus of the Mizrahi Jews (“The Forgotten Refugees”), from Arab countries. Following some discussion, we will view an abbreviated version of the film, “The Forgotten Refugees,” a film about the mass exodus of Jews from the Middle East and North Africa in the 20th century.
Krav Maga: Israeli Martial Arts
Krav Maga, meaning contact combat, is a generic Israeli term that describes various self-defense systems in use by the Israeli Military that adhere to a certain set of principles and are based on some common concepts regarding how the body and mind work when placed under the extreme stress of a combat or conflict situation. Our special guest is from England but he trains in Israel. He will lead two sessions, one for k-grade 3 and the other for grades 4-adult.
Jewish Meditation
Join us as we again welcome an expert from Nishmat Hayyim: Breath of Life Jewish Meditation Collaborative of New England join us for a session of Jewish meditation.
Choir
Do you like to harmonize when we pray? Marcy Yellin continues her work developing a TBA choir. No previous experience required. As always, newcomers welcome!
Holiday Workshop (preschool) Craft and Music
Join Rebecca Guilmet teach the preschoolers about Yom Ha’atzma’ut, Israeli Independence Day.
Israeli Dancing
Lynn Rubenstein leads students and their families in a festive demonstration of Israeli dancing.
Israeli Exhibits
Move from station to station exploring Israel:
- Teachers to Israel Presentations, by TBA teachers
- State of Israel Timeline, by students in grades 5 to 7
- Rabbi and Congregant trip to Israel presentation
- The Art of Torah, grade 1 with Phil Blue
- Different Faces of Israel, with Lauren Goldman
- Falafel and Hummus tasting
- Sing-along, with Marcy Yellin
Relationship Between Judaism and Music
Shimon Soferr leads a discussion on the influence of Judaism on music.
