Volunteers Needed to Help Make Geneva Beautiful!

It’s that time, again!

FVJN maintains a beautiful flower garden each year, as part of the Geneva Beautification program.

Volunteers are needed to help with planting on Saturday, April 14, starting at 8 a.m.

The garden we are responsible for is on the southwest corner of State St. (Rt. 38) and Third St., in Geneva.

You can just show up or contact our volunteer garden coordinator, Marci: marci@worddesigner.net.

If able, bring gardening gloves, shovel, trowel, clippers, etc.

For Students in Grades 5th – 8th BBYO Connect!

Students in grades 5th through 8th are invited to “A Taste of BBYO Connect,” on Sunday, April 15, at 9:30 a.m., at FVJN.

All Jewish children in this age group are welcome to come for this program; you need not be an FVJS student. Please RSVP to: Rachely@fvjn.org.

Will FVJS/FVJN Start a BBYO Connect Group?

Do you have children in grades 5th – 8th? If yes, would they enjoy the chance to engage in more social activities with their FVJN friends, as well as meet other Jewish teens their age from the area (Elgin to Aurora)?

FVJS/FVJN is looking into starting our own chapter of BBYO Connect, specifically for this age group.

Were you in a Jewish youth group, back in the day? Wouldn’t you like that experience for your kids? **This group needs a parent or two for coordinators/advisors, in order to work. If you are interested, please let us know by emailing rachely@fvjn.org.

BBYO Connect is the BBYO experience made just for 6th, 7th and 8th grade students (as well as 5th graders, from January on), offering social and meaningful experiences that will serve as a gateway to continued involvement in Jewish life.

The purpose of this group is to provide middle school students with a positive experience in which they can get together with camp, school, and synagogue friends, as well as meet new friends.

Visit http://bbyo.org/connect/ for more information about this organization!

Do It Yourself Passover Help

Passover begins at sunset this Friday evening, and lasts for 8 nights. Some of you may have standing seder plans with family and/or friends, but others may be looking to celebrate Passover with a seder for the very first time.

There are a lot of great resources you’ll find on line. One site, which has information, recipes, crafts and more, is aish.com. Here is a quote from just one of many pages of Passover information on this site, which beautifully sums up the holiday, and also illustrates why this is a “go to” site for Jewish information:

“Passover conveys five major concepts that became our mantras for how to lead successful and productive lives. They are the five most important things to know about Passover, and to incorporate into every day of the rest of the year. Because we’ve absorbed them into our national psyche for the thousands of years since the Exodus, we’ve been privileged to fulfill in great measure our prophetically mandated role to become a light unto the nations.

They are our greatest contributions to the world and can be summarized in five words: memory, optimism, faith, family, and responsibility.”

A great way to get all the information you need is to get a Haggadah. Below are three sites where you can instantly acquire just what you need. For those of you who attended our FVJS Model Seder last Sunday, the Haggadah we used came from the first site in the list: www.30minuteseder.com. There is a small fee at this site, but it enables you to make as many copies as you need without copyright infringement.

Another helpful site is http://www.sidduraudio.com/pesach.html, where you can listen to clips of the Haggadah being recited in order to learn how to do it yourself.

Be creative and have fun this holiday season!

Chag Sameach!

Mark Your Calendars!

Mark Your Calendars!

April 1: FVJSchool & Model Seder

April 15: FVJSchool

April 15: FVJN Movie Club

April 29: FVJSchool

President’s Corner

Fox Valley Jewish Neighbors, 

 

As we welcome spring, especially with weather that foretold its existence for weeks now, I’d like to welcome everyone to our FVJN seder table.  Passover seders, in keeping with the age-old Jewish tradition, are perfect opportunities to open your homes to others.  While these wonderful meals and experiences are often shared with family, we all too often miss the opportunity to also share them with friends.  

 

In communities such as ours, where Judaism is a minority religion and many customs are unfamiliar, the simple act of asking a neighbor or friend to join you for dinner, and your approach to a seder, could provide invaluable insight and friendship.  

 

As an extension of the learning and community aspects of the meal, please join us for a learning/teaching model seder which will be part of the FVJSchool programming on April 1st starting at 9:30am.  

 

While obviously not a ‘real’ seder in terms of timing or content, we hope that this model seder will inspire attendees to present their own seders in their homes over Passover, and to potentially think about whom they can help educate or welcome into their home along the way.  

 

FVJN is fortunate to have so many warm and welcoming members, and as we grow our own FVJN community, our family seders may well help to engage and enhance our community with others.     

 

A happy Passover (Pesach) to all,
Tammie