Adult Learning

  • Free screening of FREE MEN (Les Hommes Libres) for Yom HaShoah

    Posted ‍‍יא ניסן ה תשעב - April 3, 2012 By in Adult Learning, Lifelong Learning, Special Event Free Men

    On Thursday, April 12 at 7:00 P.M., the Falmouth Jewish will host a free, public screening of French director Ismael Ferroukhi’s acclaimed new thriller Free Men. The screening is scheduled to mark Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, which begins the following week on April 19. Free Men (Les Hommes Libres), which has been featured at the Cannes and Toronto Film Festivals, is a work of fiction inspired by events that occurred in German-occupied Paris involving the efforts of Muslim North African residents of the city to protect Jews and aid the Resistance. A.O. Scott of the New York Times, commenting on director Ferroukhi’s mix of the historical and fictional figures featured in the story, wrote: (Ferroukhi) “deftly interweaves their stories with the adventures of the fictional Younes, and so contributes a worthy and interesting chapter to the tradition of World War II dramas of conscience.”

    The story centers on a young unemployed Algerian named Younes, played by break-out star, Tahar Rahim (The Prophet), who earns his living as a black marketeer. Arrested by the French police but given a chance to avoid jail, Younes agrees to spy on the Paris Mosque. The police suspect the Mosque authorities, including its rector Ben Ghabrit, of aiding Muslim Resistance agents and helping North African Jews by giving them false certificates. At the Mosque, Younes meets the Algerian singer Salim Halali, and is moved by Salim’s beautiful voice and strong personality. When Younes discovers that Salim is Jewish, he stops collaborating with the police and gradually transforms from a politically ignorant immigrant into a fully-fledged freedom fighter.

    “This film is an event,” said Benjamin Stora, France’s preeminent historian on North Africa and a consultant on the film. “Much has been written about Muslim collaboration with the Nazis. But it has not been widely known that Muslims helped Jews. There are still stories to be told, to be written.”

  • FJC Explores “Sacred Aging” This January

    Posted ‍‍כז כסלו ה תשעב - December 23, 2011 By in Adult Learning, Lifelong Learning, Pam's Desk, Special Event aging

    “Do not cast me off in old age; when my strength fails, do not forsake me.”    –  Psalm 71:9

    Throughout the month of January 2012, the Falmouth Jewish Congregation will be exploring the theme of “sacred aging,” engaging in discussions about ways to age with dignity, knowledge, and the support of community. Why “sacred aging”? The demographics of Cape Cod, with its higher-than-usual population of the semi-retired and retired, certainly speaks to the importance of the topic of aging. So does the large number of caregivers amongst us – children caring for aging parents, as well as aging parents caring for children and grandchildren. Then there is the ever-present call to pay attention to the aging amongst us, both in our local communities and in society at large. Judaism has a lot to say about the topic, both in its ancient texts and in its modern multiplicity of voices. The Union for Reform Judaism has for several years now promoted a program of “sacred aging” to help congregations and Reform Jews educate themselves anew in Judaism’s call to healthy living and aging.

    In his essay “To Grow in Wisdom,” initially delivered at the 1961 White House Conference on Aging, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote:

    “What we owe the old is reverence, but all they ask for is consideration, attention, not to be discarded and forgotten. What they deserve is preference, yet we do not even grant them equality. One father finds it possible to sustain a dozen children, yet a dozen children find it impossible to sustain one father.”

    Perhaps this is the most distressing aspect of the situation. The care for the old is regarded as an act of charity rather than as a supreme privilege. In the never dying utterance of the Ten Commandments, the God of Israel did not proclaim: Honor Me, Revere Me. He proclaimed instead: Revere your father and your mother. There is no reverence for God without reverence for father and mother.

    In Jewish tradition the honor for father and mother is a commandment, the perfect fulfillment of which surpasses the power of man. There is no limit to what one ought to do in carrying out this privilege of devotion. God is invisible, but my mother is His presence…”

    Allow me to suggest that each of us consider this year’s January theme one of personal relevance. This is decidedly not a program exclusively for seniors! From our children and baby boomers to our early retirees in their active 70s, to our nonagenarians, we will explore together attitudes toward aging and maturing. We will learn, do, create, and discuss together, with both a seriousness of purpose and a healthy sense of humor. Make a point of participating in at least one activity this month. Offerings are wide-ranging and surely include something of interest to you, from yoga and cooking for one to a variety of films, knitting circles, care giver discussions, and more.

    If you are not a member of the FJC, please note that many of the program’s events are open to the public and free of charge, while others are offered exclusively to members. Please call the office if you have a question. Everyone is encouraged to RSVP to help us with planning (508-540-0602). For a full calendar of events, visit the website’s calendar.

    Events open to the public include the following:

    The program begins on Tuesday, January 3 at 10:00 A.M. with the presentation “Dispelling the Myths of Hospice,” by Melissa Roberts Weidman, Director of Communications and Community Outreach at Hospice & Palliative Care of Cape Cod. Ms. Weidman will address the connections between advance planning and healthy aging, dispelling the many myths about hospice (i.e. that hospice is only for cancer patients; that hospice is only called when there are days or hours left; that a patient needs to be bedridden) and making the case for knowing the facts and resources available so you can rest assured your wishes are understood and supported. Come to a lively, informative talk covering these and other aspects of hospice and palliative care, presented by Melissa Roberts Weidman, Director of Communications and Community Outreach.

    The following week, on Monday, January 9 at Noon, Nadine Krasnow will present a talk entitled  “The Next Step”: Options for Senior Care and Housing”. This talk begins with a brown bag lunch, with drinks and desserts provided. Ms. Krasnow, who served as an executive in the retirement care industry for eleven years, will present an overview of the various care options for seniors, including staying home and hiring help; staying home and going out to adult day care; moving in with adult children; or moving to a retirement community. She will provide a brief description of each option, the relative pros and cons, along with an overview of the issues involved and what questions to ask to ensure that the best possible decision will be made.

    Nadine Krasnow served as Executive Director, Corporate Director of Marketing and Sales, and as an independent consultant in the retirement care industry. As a service to support individuals and families and help them make informed decisions, she maintains a small, private practice on the Cape and in the Greater Boston-MetroWest area.

    On Thursday, January 12, the first of several free film screenings will take place. A Noon brown bag lunch will precede the screening of “Sunset Story,” a funny and intimate documentary drama that will make you think differently about growing old. It tells the story of Irja (81) and Lucille (95), two friends at a rest home for retired radicals. As they attend demonstrations, register their fellow residents to vote and debate everything under the sun, Irja and Lucille’s verve and humor delight us. “Sunset Story” doesn’t shy away from the sadness of old age; it reveals two elderly women’s lives in an unusually authentic and surprisingly moving way. We follow the two for a period of several months as, inseparable, they venture out for manicures, political protests and meals at their favorite deli.

    Meanwhile at Sunset Hall, they are among the few who speak up during political discussions and the only ones alert enough to care about the appalling menu offerings. In private, they air their frustrations about fellow residents and debate fitting observance of the upcoming Jewish holidays from disparate perspectives–as a Finnish Unitarian (Irja) and an assimilated Jew (Lucille). Then, when Lucille receives a terminal cancer diagnosis, Irja must confront the possibility of losing her lifeline. Lucille and Irja explode familiar stereotypes of doddering “old ladies.” Sharp-witted, up-to-date, and often provocative, the two are not afraid to weigh in with opinions on men, sex, gender roles, and social attitudes toward the elderly. In a society in which the elderly are isolated and discarded as “unpleasant” reminders of the aging process, Irja and Lucille surprise us with their vitality and their quest for meaning and connection.

    Additional upcoming free public events in January include “The Things My Mother Taught Me,” a talk and book signing by author Kate Whouley based on her most recent book, the memoir Remembering the Music, Forgetting the Words: Travels with Mom in the Land of Dementia (2011), on Sunday, January 22 at 2:00 P.M. In her talk, as in her book, Ms. Whouley will share with honesty and good humor the tough, tender and heart-wrenching experiences of an Alzheimer’s caregiver.

    The program continues with a presentation entitled “Listen to the Still and Quiet Voice Within,” by Dr. Paul Raia, who has been directing patient care and family support at the Alzheimer’s Association for the past 22 years and now serves as vice president of clinical programs at the MA/NH Chapter. Dr. Raia’s talk takes place on Tuesday, January 24, starting with a noontime brown bag lunch.

    Two additional film screenings come later in the month. Thursday, January 26 features the documentary film Over Ninety and Loving It, followed by a brown bag lunch and discussion. For this documentary featuring people in their 90s and 100s who are living extraordinary and passionate lives, filmmaker Susan Polis Schutz interviewed some of the most incredible people you can imagine – people who aren’t aware of chronological age at all but live as though the future and youth spring eternal.

    The final film screening is a Saturday afternoon double feature on January 28 at 3:00 P.M. First up is a 20-minute dramatic short film entitled Beautiful Hills of Brooklyn. This multiple award-winning short is a transcendent story of the human spirit, told through the ordinary, daily life of an elderly woman — strong, independent and unsentimental — the kind of life that goes on quietly among us, hidden from view, full of undiscovered riches. Filmed entirely on practical locations in, the film stars Broadway, film and television actress Joanna Merlin, who created the role of Jessie in the original stage production and also co-wrote and produced the film.

    The second film is Gen Silent, the critically-acclaimed documentary from filmmaker Stu Maddux that asks six LGBT seniors if they will hide their friends, their spouses- their entire lives in order to survive in the care system. Their surprising decisions are captured through intimate access to their day-to-day lives over the course of a year.  It puts a face on what experts in the film call an epidemic:  gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender older people so afraid of discrimination by caregivers or bullying by other seniors that many simply go back into the closet. Unlike any film before, Gen Silent startlingly discovers how oppression in the years before Stonewall now affects older lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people with fear and isolation.

  • FJC Reads Selection for 2011-2012 / 5771-5772

    Posted ‍‍ג כסלו ה תשעב - November 29, 2011 By in Adult Learning, Lifelong Learning

    EAST OF EDEN

    John Steinbeck’s Epic Retelling of the Cain and Abel Story

    Books and Audio CD available in the Righter Library

    Discussions to be scheduled for 2012

    Our selection for this year’s all-congregation read is the classic of American fiction, East of Eden. John Steinbeck’s passionate and exhilarating epic re-creates the seminal stories of Genesis through the intertwined lives of two American families – Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel set in Steinbeck’s own childhood home, the Salinas Valley of northern California. The valley is a new world both idyllic and harsh, and Steinbeck sings to it with a personal nostalgia that is clouded by the knowledge that this valley-as all human dwellings-is the location for as much tragedy as triumph.

    A novel of memorable characters and ideas, East of Eden is far-reaching in its effort to explicate the most fundamental trials of mankind. Brutally realistic about people’s ability to harm themselves and those around them, it is also a celebration of perseverance, enduring love, and the noble striving and ability to better oneself. And it is a work of profound optimism about the capacity of humans to triumph over adversity and determine their own fates. In prose both evanescent and dignified, Steinbeck creates in these characters and for the reader “a new love for that glittering instrument, the human soul. It is a lovely and unique thing in the universe. It is always attacked and never destroyed.”

    Steinbeck received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962 “…for his realistic as well as imaginative writings, distinguished by a sympathetic humor and keen social perception..” In his acceptance speech, Steinbeck summarized what he sought to achieve through his works:

    “…Literature is as old as speech. It grew out of human need for it and it has not changed except to become more needed. The skalds, the bards, the writers are not separate and exclusive. From the beginning, their functions, their duties, their responsibilities have been decreed by our species…Further more, the writer is delegated to declare and to celebrate man’s proven capacity of greatness of heart and spirit gallantry in defeat, for courage, compassion and love. In the endless war against weakness and despair, these are the bright rally flags of hope and emulation. I hold that a writer who does not passionately believe in the perfectibility of man has no dedication nor any membership in literature…”

    I encourage you to read or re-read this gripping drama, an epic morality tale of good and evil. Our discussions will draw on the biblical basis of Steinbeck’s vision, bringing fresh appreciation of both the biblical narrative and power and Steinbeck’s modern, American retelling.

    Pamela Rothstein, Director of Lifelong Learning

     

  • Cooking For One

    Posted By in Adult Learning, Lifelong Learning, Special Event chef

    With FJC Member and Nutritionist Valerie Oppenheim

    Offered this January, 2012 (TBD)

     Have you lost motivation to cook for “just” yourself? Perhaps medical dietary restrictions have limited your options or cause confusion while reading labels or planning meals. Join Valerie Oppenheim, registered dietitian, for a workshop to help guide you back to easy and healthy choices. Additional topics covered include: nutrition as we age, supplements, foods for illness and common concerns, cooking for others, menus and recipes, and more. Please call the FJC to reserve a spot….508-540-0602

    [Submitted by Pamela Rothstein, Director of Lifelong Learning]

     

  • Knitting Circle – Creating for Ourselves and Others in the FJC

    Posted By in Adult Learning, Lifelong Learning, Social Action, Special Event knitting

    Led by Member Ilene Karnow

    Daytime, evening, and Sunday morning sessions to be offered in January

    Just ask anyone who knits while waiting for an appointment, at a child’s sporting event, a meeting, or while riding a bus – a conversation about something knitted will ensue and a connection is formed.

    Knitting has been shown to benefit us by altering our physiology, mental states and even attitudes! Join in and make a difference for yourself and others.  You can help create items to wrap around all generations of our FJC community, such as baby hats and sweaters and shawls/blankets for the ill and chilled created from individually-knit squares.

    Knitters of all levels are welcome, from novices to experts, men and women. All are welcome and we will help one another. The Knitting Way – A Guide to Spiritual Self Discovery by Skolnik and McDaniels is our resource.

    Come once, twice, or all three times. Can’t make any of the dates, but still want to learn? Are you a snowbird who is unavailable but would like to participate upon your return?

    Please contact Ilene Karnow or Pamela Rothstein (pbrothstein@comcast.net)

    [Submitted by Pamela Rothstein, Director of Lifelong Learning]

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