Dutchess County Jewish Federation and Rhinebeck Reformed Church unite for a Unique Pairing
A unique local collaboration between a Jewish organization and a Rhinebeck church is bringing together the community with special programming. The Jewish Federation of Dutchess County (JFedDC ) and the Rhinebeck Reformed Church are sponsoring a speaker series along with Lunch and Learn talks and movie screenings in a show of unity that is aimed at bridging the cultural and political divides that have become part of our national headlines.
Karen Hochhauser, Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of Dutchess County and Pastor Luis Perez of the Rhinebeck Reformed Church in Rhinebeck have put together a series of events that are meaningful, fun and free. “I believe that the ethics, values and spirituality embedded in Judaism and in Christianity offers us with battle-tested resources for our trying times, and I believe that experiencing a sense of authentic community, which we universally crave for, requires a commitment to learn from each other, serve each other, and support each other through acts of unabashed hospitality,” stated Pastor Perez.
Kicking off the Faith, Media and Society programming on September 8th at 3:00 p.m. is Yardena Schwartz, award-winning American journalist based in Tel Aviv, who will be sharing her insight in a lively discussion: “Reporting From The Most Reported Place On Earth: How an American journalist tells the complex story that is Israel”. Schwartz’s work has appeared in National Geographic, Rolling Stone, The New York Times, Newsweek, Time, Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, Pacific Standard Magazine, US News, USA Today, Tablet, Haaretz, The Forward, The Daily Beast, and elsewhere. She has reported from Israel and the West Bank, Morocco, Nepal, Ukraine, Poland, and the United States. Yardena previously worked at NBC News in New York, including stints at The Today Show, Nightly News, and Andrea Mitchell Reports. Registration to the event at the 300 year old Rhinebeck Reformed Church is required as seating is limited. Tickets can be found at https://events.r20.
On September 15th, JFedDC and the Rhinebeck Reformed Church will present the first of their free Lunch and Learn Lecture Series led by Dr. Bruce Chilton of Bard College. “The Rise of Hate – the Jewish and Christian Response” will investigate the thoughts of four key Jewish and Christian theologians: Martin Buber, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Hannah Arendt, and Martin Luther King. Attendees will be treated to a complimentary luncheon, discussion and question and answer session starting at 12:30 pm at the Church. There will be monthly lectures as part of this series featuring Dr. Chilton.
Bard College will join in the collaboration on the November 5th Film and Faith series with a viewing of “The Presence of Their Absence”. The movie tells the story of Fred Zaidman, a Los Angeles son of Holocaust survivors, on a journey of discovery to trace his roots and “inherited trauma”. Armed with the determination and perseverance to push his limits, and only scant clues from his late parents, Fred ventures into a world of unknowns. As he finds his roots in the ashes of the Shoah with helpers abroad, and a Baptist minister from Atlanta, Georgia, Fred unshackles his own pain, and through the puzzle of his ancestral past he reconstructs his future. Donna Kanter, the film’s director, will be present. More details on the limited seating event will be forthcoming.
“We at the Jewish Federation of Dutchess County are excited to be collaborating with the Rhinebeck Reformed Church and Bard College. Today, more than ever, it is important to build community, strengthen relationships, and work together towards a more supportive and united community. The more knowledgeable we are of each other, the stronger we all become as we grow and learn together,” said Jewish Federation Executive Director Karen Hochhauser. For more information on this and other events, you may visit: www.JewishDutchess.org
