Fox Valley Jewish Neighbors

August 28th at 6:30pm
Wheeler Park

On Saturday, August 28th we will have our annual Hot Dogs and Havdallah service at Wheeler Park (in Geneva) sending out the Sabbath. Please let us know what you would like to bring to share and rsvp to tammie.weinberger@gmail.com if you can come!

August 20th at 6pm
Peck Farm Orientation Barn

On Friday, August 20th at Peck Farm we will have our very casual, very family friendly Shabbat service and potluck dinner. Please let us know what non-meat dish you would like to bring to share and rsvp to tammie.weinberger@gmail.com if you can come!

Tuesday, September 21, 2010 from 3:00pm – 8:30pm

Celebration of International Day of Peace at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Geneva
102-110 Second Street, Geneva, IL 60134
630-232-2350 office@uusg.org

Noon - 3:00p
Sanctuary open for noontime meditation
Peace through Justice Opportunities highlighted

3:00p - 5:00p
For Children: Stories featuring puppeteer Marilyn Price
Movies for Adults: The Day After Peace and Rethink Afghanistan. The Day After Peace charts the journey taken by award-winning director Jeremy Gilley to establish a self-sustaining, institutionalized day of global non-violence. Rethink Afghanistan, by acclaimed director Robert Greenwald, examines the costs of the war in money, lives, and U.S. credibility.

5:00p - 7:00p
Sanctuary open for meditation
Peace through Justice Opportunities highlighted

7:00p - 8:30p
“Ceasefire: Stopping Violence by Changing the Mindset” Former gang member Ricardo Williams and the Rev. Tim White of Ceasefire Chicago will tell remarkable stories describing their work focusing on street-level outreach, conflict mediation, and changing community norms to reduce violence, particularly shootings.

This Interfaith Celebration is Free and Open to the Public.

It is Co-Sponsored by:
Unitarian Universalist Society of Geneva & Fox Valley Jewish Neighbors

Fox Valley Jewish Neighbors is introducing in Geneva a new Jewish education program. The program has classes for children beginning at age 3 and continuing through a bar/bat mitzvah preparation program. FVJN welcomes children with all ranges of Jewish education and backgrounds, from those with no formal religious education or Jewish knowledge or background to those who have previously attended religious education programs. The FVJN Jewish School program provides a general Jewish education and will not adhere to any one particular branch of Judaism.

The following attachment provides the details of the program and includes an Application to be completed to enroll children in the program.

Please download the Application here.

(Some paid teacher positions are still available; anyone interested in a teaching position should contact FVJN at 630 578-3375 or info@fvjn.org.)

Our monthly Shabbat Evenings for June, July and August will be at Peck Farm, overlooking the beautiful lake and prairie of wildflowers. The evenings will follow the pattern of recent months, with a Shabbat dinner, a few prayers, a few songs, and lots of time to talk and play. Each will be very family friendly and very interfaith–family friendly.

The dates are as follows, with details to come:

August 20

Children in the Tri-Cities area will soon have a new opportunity for Jewish education!

Fox Valley Jewish Neighbors, an unaffiliated Jewish community center located at 121 S. Third St. in Geneva, is developing a new education program for children in third grade and up, to begin in the fall.

This new religious school program welcomes children — from Jewish and from interfaith families — who have been attending religious school, as well as children who have had little or no formal religious education. This will be a broad-based program inclusive of all branches of Judaism. Bar and bat mitzvah preparation will also be available.

Adults interested in teaching positions, including college students, educators, and especially those with children who will be in the program, are encouraged to request information about paid teaching positions in this school

Please call 630-232-8032, or 630-584-3491, for more information.

FVJN is a Jewish community group composed of Jewish individuals and interfaith families living in central Kane County and nearby towns. The goal of this group is to develop a cohesive Jewish community in the Fox Valley area for religious, charitable and educational purposes. Check out www.fvjn.org for information and upcoming events.

FVJN is located at 121 South 3rd Street, Geneva (across from old Kane County Courthouse).

FVJN is a tax-exempt organization pursuant to Internal Revenue Code section 501c3. Five percent of proceeds from all FVJN events is donated to local charities.

The next meeting of the FVJN Book Group will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 14, at 7 p.m.
We will be discussing “The Zookeeper’s Wife,” by Diane Ackerman.

Summary from www.bookbrowse.com:
“When Germany invaded Poland, Stuka bombers devastated Warsaw—and the city’s zoo along with it. With most of their animals dead, zookeepers Jan and Antonina Zabinski began smuggling Jews into empty cages. Another dozen “guests” hid inside the Zabinskis’ villa, emerging after dark for dinner, socializing, and, during rare moments of calm, piano concerts. Jan, active in the Polish resistance, kept ammunition buried in the elephant enclosure and stashed explosives in the animal hospital. Meanwhile, Antonina kept her unusual household afloat, caring for both its human and its animal inhabitants—otters, a badger, hyena pups, lynxes.

With her exuberant prose and exquisite sensitivity to the natural world, Diane Ackerman engages us viscerally in the lives of the zoo animals, their keepers, and their hidden visitors. She shows us how Antonina refused to give in to the penetrating fear of discovery, keeping alive an atmosphere of play and innocence even as Europe crumbled around her.”

Do you love to read? Do you enjoy discussing books with others? Then please join us as we dive into the world of novels authored by Jewish writers, and/or books which have Jewish themes.

Everyone is welcome. We will be very informal, but here are a few guidelines:
1. Book group gatherings will take place at FVJN on (TBA) the second Tuesday of every other month at 7 p.m.
at FVJN: 121 S. Third St., Geneva.
2. A different person will facilitate each discussion: You pick a book, you lead the discussion.
3. Food is not required, but feel free to bring a nosh to share.
4. Stick to books with a Jewish context.
5. It helps to read the book before you come to the discussion, but if you didn’t, come anyway!
6. Everyone’s input and opinion is respected.
7. Attendance is not required; come because you want to!

Questions? Thoughts? Feel free to contact me:
Rachel Yackley mry98@aol.com.

Hope to see you there!