Cruise with Waukesha cantor
WAUKESHA – The World Union for Progressive Judaism is hosting a Royal Caribbean Adventure of the Seas cruise in February of 2018 with Cantor Deborah Martin of Congregation Emanu-El of Waukesha.
“Igniting the Music of the Jewish Soul in the Caribbean” will sail Feb. 17-24, 2018. Martin and other Jewish musicians will be aboard, participating in a Curacao concert and leading song for Shabbat.
More information is available at ayelet.com/WUPJ or 800-237-1517, or from SpiritualLeader@WaukeshaTemple.org.
New cantor at Congregation Sinai
FOX POINT – Congregation Sinai is taking on a new cantor who chose the Reform movement and to join the Jewish clergy, to find deeper meaning for himself after a career in technology.
Richard Newman, 37, will join Congregation Sinai of Fox Point as the Reform synagogue’s new cantor. Newman completed a five-year graduate program at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York and received cantorial ordination on May 7. He will begin at Congregation Sinai on July 1.
“I grew up in a very traditional Jewish community back in the United Kingdom,” he said in an interview with the Chronicle. “It was only when I started to become part of the Reform movement … that I found an area of Judaism that made sense to me.”
Cantorial work has given him meaning in life that he was not able to find in his previous career in technology and software development, he said.
A native of Birmingham, United Kingdom, Newman is an exceptional tenor and he plays several instruments, according to the synagogue. As an undergraduate, he studied law; he also holds a master’s degree in IT and management and worked in software development. He received a master’s in voice at the Trinity College of Music in London.
“I’m very, very much looking forward to becoming part of the Sinai world,” he said.
Federation is again named a ‘Top Workplace’
MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee Jewish Federation has been awarded a 2017 Top Workplaces honor for the second year in a row by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The Top Workplaces lists are based solely on the results of an employee feedback survey administered by WorkplaceDynamics, LLC, a research firm that specializes in organizational health and workplace improvement. Several aspects of workplace culture were measured, including alignment, execution and connection, among others.
The survey revealed a strong belief in where the Federation is headed, how it’s going to get there, and the feeling that everyone is in it together, according to a Federation news release.
The Federation ranked seventh in the small companies category (149 or fewer employees).
Bullet hit a door
MILWAUKEE – A bullet hit one of the building doors at Yeshiva Elementary School on Friday, April 28.
The children were all safe and no one was injured, according to Milwaukee Jewish Federation.
Police investigated and have no reason to believe the school was a target, according to Federation. Federation employees were on site assisting with security and communications.
‘This Is Hunger’ open to all at Emanu-El
RIVER HILLS – The faces of hunger in America are both familiar and hidden from view, yet they are all too real and far too many.
To raise awareness about the prevalence of hunger in Milwaukee, Congregation Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun is partnering with MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger to bring a “This Is Hunger” exhibit here.
It features black and white portraits by an internationally renowned photojournalist and the stories of dozens of Americans who have had difficulty putting enough nutritious food on the table each day, according to the synagogue. Through digital and hands-on activities, “This Is Hunger” takes participants on a journey that draws them into the real-life circumstances of these individuals and deepens their awareness about who in America struggles with hunger and why.
When the 53-foot-long double expandable trailer is parked and open on both sides, it provides almost 1,000 square feet of interior space to take participants on a voyage of awareness and activism: to help them understand the stark reality of hunger in America and to spark their commitment to taking action, according to organizers.
Inside the truck, the experience is divided into two parts. First, participants are invited to sit at a communal table and virtually “meet” real people struggling with hunger. At the end of part one, participants are invited to engage in activities that deepen their awareness about the complexities of being hungry and join MAZON in educating the rest of our nation and advocating for change.
“This Is Hunger” will be at Congregation Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun, 2020 W. Brown Deer Road, Milwaukee from June 22-25. Visit ThisIsHunger.org or contact Reenie Kavalar, at rkavalar@gmail.com or 414-228-7545.
‘Wonder Woman’ film opening with Israeli
“Wonder Woman,” starring Israeli actress Gal Gadot, opens in movie theaters nationwide June 2.
Among the theaters showing the film are Ipic Theaters at the Bayshore Town Center, AMC Mayfair Mall, Marcus Southgate and Madison’s Marcus Point Cinemas.
Rosenblatt exhibit opening at Jewish museum
MILWAUKEE – “Moments & Markers: An Adolph Rosenblatt Retrospective” will be open June 16 – Aug. 27 at Jewish Museum Milwaukee, 1360 N. Prospect Ave.
The exhibit will feature the work of Adolph Rosenblatt, an artist known for creating and painting sculptures of local people and places.
Rosenblatt, of Shorewood, died Feb. 16 of natural causes, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He was 83.
From paintings and drawings to bronze cast works, ceramic figures, sculptural tableaus and large-scale installations, Rosenblatt’s pieces offer a unique window into both historic and contemporary life, according to the museum.
Jewish Museum Milwaukee, a program of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, can be reached at 414-390-5730 or visit JewishMuseumMilwaukee.org.
Twelve hours of rocking to stop suicide
MILWAUKEE – Ben Slowey, of the Milwaukee-area chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi, took part in a “Rock-a-thon” on Tuesday, May 9 at the campus union.
He said he was rocking back and forth in a chair for 12 hours straight to raise money for suicide prevention awareness. He has struggled with mental disorders and he knows others who also have, he said.
Proceeds collected from passerby students and faculty on campus were to go to the American Society for Suicide Prevention. In all, students raised $785, Slowey said.
“I could do this all day,” Slowey told TMJ4 at the time. “Which I actually am, literally all day.”
‘The Wedding Plan’ film opened in Milwaukee
MILWAUKEE – “The Wedding Plan” is a comedy about a young woman with an elaborate wedding planned – and just one month to find a groom.
The Israeli film, in Hebrew with subtitles, sets the plot in motion with the breakup of an ultra-Orthodox couple.
The film opens May 26 nationwide, with showings at the Landmark Downer Theatre in Milwaukee.
Edelmans will bike from Auschwitz to Krakow
Starting from Auschwitz, in one day they plan to pedal the 55 miles from one of the darkest of places on Earth into a place of renewal, hope and light.
Richard and Nina Edelman of the Milwaukee area will bike from the Auschwitz concentration camp to the city of Krakow. They’ll be part of “The Ride for the Living,” a fundraiser for the Jewish Community Center of Krakow, Poland.
“We cannot bring back our family who perished in the Holocaust, but we can commit to join the positive energy in reviving Jewish life once again in a place where it was all but snuffed out,” said Nina Edelman in an email.
The Edelmans have pledged to match donations made in their name up to $10,000.
To donate or for more information visit CrowdrRise.com/2017RidefortheLiving (which charges a fee, according to the Edelmans) or FriendsOfJccKrakow.org/Ride-For-The-Living (include a note in the comment section that it is “for the page” of Richard and Nina Edelman).
State Assembly: May is Jewish American Heritage Month
MADISON – Assembly representatives Lisa Subeck, Daniel Riemer and Jonathan Brostoff introduced a Joint Resolution to declare May as Jewish American Heritage Month.
“Representative Subeck, Representative Riemer, and I are proud Jewish Wisconsinites and we have been given the honor to represent this great state,” said Brostoff in a statement. “We know it is important to recognize the key role Jewish Wisconsinites have played in our state’s history. Since our arrival in Wisconsin, Jewish immigrants have been important to the success and to the shaping of Wisconsin through the sharing of our religious traditions, civic engagement, philanthropy, business establishment, and more.”
The Assembly passed the resolution in May.
Brostoff represents much of Milwaukee’s East Side; Riemer, a swath of the Milwaukee area’s South Side and Subeck, western Madison. All three are Democrats.