Jewish organizations are invited to submit their upcoming events to the our What’s Happening section. Events are placed on the Ledger website on Tuesday afternoons. Deadline for submission of calendar items is the previous Tuesday. Send items to: judiej@ jewishledger.com.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9

From the ICC Command Center: Anti-BDS Emergency Ops
Have a child in high school or college? Hear Jacob Baime and Megan Nathan, leading strategists in the war on today’s shifting forces of antisemitism, speak on Zoom on Nov. 9, 7:30 – 9 p.m., hosted by UJA/JCC Greenwich. Register and receive Zoom link at ujajcc.org.

Baime is executive director of Israel on Campus Coalition, a public affairs professional, and an expert on pro-Israel campus affairs. As former national field director with AI-PAC, he oversaw strategic campus initiatives and managed AIPAC’s national training platforms for college and high school students. He most recently served as area director in AIPAC’s New England Region.

Megan Nathan is managing director of the Israel on Campus Coalition (ICC) where she provides pro-Israel students with the tools to support Israel and fight BDS on campus. She worked at the US Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC) where she built coalitions of leaders from top NGOs, Fortune 500 companies, and the U.S. military to educate Americans about the importance of global development. Most recently, she worked at a crisis PR firm.

“Black Voters Matter” free webinar
LaTosha Brown, co-Founder and executive director of Black Voters Matter Social activist, political strategist, and jazz singer, will discuss “Black Voters Matter: Our Obligation to Democracy and Equality,” in collaboration with Open Visions Forum. The webinar is free, but registration is required. Sponsored by the Bennett Center for Judaic Studies of Fairfield University. For more information, contact Jennifer Haynos at bennettcenter@fairfield.edu or (203) 254-4000, ext. 2066.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 10

Christian Kabbalists of 17th Century Europe
Max DuBoff, a PhD student in Classics and Philosophy at Yale University, will explain how some European Christians became interested in Kabbalah to address puzzles about the nature of God and creation; via Zoom, sponsored by Congregation Beth El – Keser Israel (BEKI), 85 Harrison St., New Haven. To request the Zoom link: office@beki.org or (203) 389.2108  x114

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11

Author Elyssa Friedland to speak at Virtual Book Club
Author Elyssa Friedland will discuss her new book Last Summer at the Golden Hotel, in conversation with Rebecca Anikstein, at the next Virtual Book Club meeting, hosted by UJA-JC Greenwich on Nov. 11 at 7:30 p.m. on Zoom. Friedland is the author of four novels. She attended Yale University and Columbia Law School, and worked as an attorney until turning to writing full time. She currently teaches creative writing at Yale. Attendance is FREE. To register or for more information: ujajcc.org. 

10th Annual Saul Cohen-Schoke JFS (Virtual) Lecture
Rabbi Steve Z. Leder will discuss “If You Have to Go Through Hell, Don’t Come Out Empty-Handed” as keynote speaker of the 10th Annual Saul Cohen-Schoke JFS Lecture, presented by Schoke Jewish Family Service of Fairfield County. Co-sponsored this year by the Stamford JCC, the virtual lecture will take place on Nov. 11 at 7:30 p.m. Rabbi Leder will discuss finding meaning in all sorts of painful losses: How can individuals transform loss into more than just loss? How can suffering be more than just painful? What do the sages teach about transcending pain and loss? 

Currently senior rabbi of the Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles, Rabbi Leder is the author of four books including The Beauty of What Remains; How Our Greatest Fear Becomes Our Greatest Gift and More Beautiful Than Before; How Suffering Transforms Us. Newsweek Magazine twice named him one of the ten most influential rabbis in America.  For more information or to register, visit: https://www.ctjfs.org/saul-cohen-jfs-lecture/

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 14

Rabbi Jacob Schacter to speak at West Hartford Kristallnacht commemoration
Author and historian Rabbi Dr. Jacob J. Schacter will discuss “Commemorating Kristallnacht: An Obligation to Remember,” as keynote speaker at the 4th Annual Margot Jeremias Memorial Kristallnacht Commemoration Lecture on Nov. 14, 7:30 pm. The lecture will be held at Young Israel of West Hartford, 2240 Albany Ave, and will also be streamed live on Zoom at YoungIsraelWH.org/Zoom. It will be co-hosted by the Young Israel and Voices of Hope. 

Rabbi Dr. Jacob J. Schacter is a professor of Jewish history and Jewish Thought and senior scholar at the Center for the Jewish Future at Yeshiva University. He previously served as dean of the Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik Institute in Boston. A prolific writer, he is author of the award-winning A Modern Heretic and a Traditional Community: Mordecai M. Kaplan, Orthodoxy, and American Judaism, The Lord is Righteous in All His Ways: Reflections on the Tish‘ah be-Av Kinot by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik (2006). He is currently completing a new Hebrew edition of the autobiography of Rabbi Jacob Emden, an 18th century Jewish figure.

Admission is free. For more information, visit youngisraelwh.org. 

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 13

Funny man Alan Zweibel in Stamford
Author and funny man Alan Zweibel will discuss his new book Laugh Lines at the Stamford Jewish Community Center, 1035 Newfield Ave., on Nov 13 at 7:30 p.m. The event, hosted by the JCC and United Jewish Federation of Stamford, New Canaan and Darien, will be moderated by Alan Weiss.will be held in person. A Zoom option will be available. The event is free; sponsors at $50 per household will receive a wine and cheese gift bag and will be invited to meet and greet Zeibel at 7 p.m. For information: dianesloyer@ujf.org or cfreeman@stamfordjcc.org. To register: uff.org/alan.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 15

Israel on Campus: What to Know before You Get There
Lappin Foundation’s Teen Antisemitism Task Force invites Jewish high school juniors and seniors to Israel on Campus: What to Know before You Get There. The program will take place on Monday, Nov.15 at 7:30 p.m.on Zoom. Stephanie Margolis, New England High School Coordinator at StandWithUs, will explore transitions and trends from high school to college campus and ways to navigate difficult conversations. The program is FREE. Register at LappinFoundation.org. For more information, email Sharon Wyner at swyner@lappinfoundation.org.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16

Making Bloomfield Home
A panel including Steve Aronson, David Baram, Michael Cohen, Miriam Fleishman, Sheila Frankel, and Henriette Herzfeld, will share reflections on the Jewish history of Bloomfield, memories of growing up in town, and aspects of synagogue and community life on Nov. 16, 7:30 p.m. Moderated by Rabbi Debra Cantor. Join us to share your own recollections.  At B’nai Tikvoh-Sholom in Bloomfield. Co-hosted by The Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford and The Neshama Center for Lifelong Learning at B’Nai Tikvoh-Sholom. For more information or to register: jhsgh.org.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17

Voices of Hope 13th Anniversary Celebration
Sharone Kornman will be the L’dor V’dor honoree at the Voices of Hope virtual “Evening of Hope 2021” event marking the group’s 13th anniversary, to be held on Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. The event can be viewed on YouTube Live. In addition to the presentation of the L’Dor V’Dor award, the organization’s members and donors will also be honored. For more information or t oregister email info@ctoicesofhope.org, or call (860) 470-5591.

 THURSDAY NOVEMBER 18

Israel Trip Info Session
The Emanuel Synagogue (160 Mohegan Drive, West Hartford) will host an Israel Trip Info Session on Nov. 18, 7:30-9 p.m.,—Learn about unique Israel trip led by Emanuel Executive Director Kobi Benita. For more info, visit Emanuelsynagogue.org.

Novelist Sayed Kashua to speak at Wesleyan’s Contemporary Israeli Voices
Wesleyan University’s 19th Annual Contemporary Israeli Voices presents bestselling novelist Sayed Kashua on Nov. 18 at 8 p.m. Author of three well received novels and the creator of the hit TV series Arab Labor, Kashua will present “The Foreign Mother Tongue.,  in which he will discuss Arab identity, Palestinian identity and Israeli identity, and explore what it means to sit at a point of intersection between them. The Contemporary Israeli Voices series, sponsored by Wesleyan’s Center for Jewish Studies and organized by Dalit Katz, celebrates the voices of women and minorities. All presentations are free. To register, visit http://civ.site.wesleyan.edu.

“A History of Holocaust Trials? Under discussion in Fairfield
Lawrence R. Douglas, JD, will deliver a lecture entitled “A History of Holocaust Trials: From Nuremberg to Demjanjuk and Back Again,” to mark the 75th anniversary of the Nuremberg Trials  on Nov. 18 at 7:30 p.m. Lawrence R. Douglas, JD, James J. Grosfeld Professor of Law, Jurisprudence and Social Thought, Amherst College; author, The Memory of Judgment: Making Law and History in the Trials of the Holocaust (2001), The Right Wrong Man: John Demjanjuk and the Last Great Nazi War Crimes Trials (2016). The webinar is free, but registration is required. Sponsored by the Bennett Center for Judaic Studies of Fairfield University. For more information, contact Jennifer Haynos at bennettcenter@fairfield.edu or (203) 254-4000, ext. 2066.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20

Harmony Times Two in Concert   
The JCC in Sherman presents Harmony Times Two in Concert  featuring Noelle and Tyler and LUMOS, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m., Noelle and Tyler combine their unique vocal talents to bring you acoustic, harmonized covers of some of the best folk rock from the 60s and 70s. The singer/songwriter duo of Susanna Marker and Al Burgasser known as LUMONS, have been performing together continuously for more than a decade. Their special vocal harmonies accompanied by music written and arranged by them for guitar and violin (and other instruments) make for a unique sound spanning a wide range of style and content Reservations required. Tickets: $20/member; $25/nonmembers. Concerts will be held indoors. Masks are required, regardless of vaccination status. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit jccinsherman.org. our website  

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 21

Gershwin at the Mandell JCC
Israeli jazz pianist, vocalist and composer Guy Mintus performs an entire album of music dedicated to Jewish composer George Gershwin at the Mandell JCC, 335 Bloomfield Ave., on Nov. 21, 7 pm. Co-sponsored by Consulate General of Israel I New England Ted Kapan & Bobbie Woronow and Delamar Hotels. Mintus injects his trademark high-voltage energy, including rapid-fire piano fills and a pulsating jazz beat, to what’s normally a placid lullaby. (Read an interview with Guy Mintus in next week’s issue of the Jewish Ledger.) Tickets: $25/adults; $18/student. For more information, visit mandelljcc.org. 

Mark Oppenheimer, author of “Squirrel Hill,” in New Haven
Mark Oppenheimer, the author of five books, director of the Yale Journalism Initiative, and a host of the podcast Unorthodox, will discuss his latest book, Squirrel Hill: The Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting and the Soul of a Neighborhood, at 11 a.m., during the BEKI Sisterhood Book and Gift Fair. Admissin: FREE; masks required. At Congregation Beth El—Keser Israel, 85 Harrison St., corner of Whalley Avenue, New Haven. For more information: office@beki.org or (203) 389-2108  x114.

JTConnect Annual Pumpkin Pie Bake
Join Jewish teens in baking 150+ pumpkin pies to donate t local agencies for their Thanksgiving meals on Nov. 21, 11:30 a.m. at Congregation Beth Israel. Open to all teens in 8th-12th grades. Bring a friend. For more information or to RSVP: cara@jtconnect.org, (860) 727-6110.

Interfaith Thanksgiving Service in South Windsor
The Greater Hartford community is invited to join the annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Service hosted by Temple Beth Hillel and led by clergy members of different religions, on Monday, Nov. 22, 7 p.m., The service will be held online and in person (masks required) at Temple Beth Hillel, 20 Baker Lane, South Windsor.  The annual event will feature inspirational readings, remarks and music from Beth Hillel’s  Rabbi Jeffrey Glickman and Cantor Scott Harris, and many area clergy. The Rev. Anne Fraley of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in South Windsor will deliver this year’s sermon.

The service will be live-streamed  on www.tbhsw.org or on Temple Beth Hillel’s Facebook page: www.Facebook.com/tbhsw.  For more information, call (860) 282-8466, ext. 0, visit www.tbhsw.org, or email Rabbi Jeff Glickman at rabbi@tbhsw.org.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1

An Evening of the Gershwins
Join us on Dec. 1, 7 p.m., for an evening of music by the Gershwin brothers featuring the singing quartet of Rebecca Cooper, Marissa Cortese, Jacob Litt and Brian Rosenblum, who will be accompanied by a three-piece orchestra. Also back for an encore is Broadway producer Jack Viertel, who will give commentary on lyrics, plays and the history of George and Ira Gershwin. Hosted by UJA/JCC Greenwich. Proof of vaccination required. At Ferguson Library in Stamford. Tickets: $36/in advance; $50/at the door.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 5

In Concert with Mozart, Vivaldi & Chanukah 
A concert with Cantor Joseph Ness and Cantor Stephanie Kupfer on Dec. 5, 7 p.m.. Tickets: $25/ seniors (65+) and students; $2/FREE for children 12 & under. For tickets, visit: tinyurl.com/BacktotheMusic. Tickets also available at the door. Virtual tickets also available. At Beth El Temple, 626 Albany Ave. in West Hartford. Free parking, Handicap access.