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Winter Programming

Our community is active this winter with plenty to keep us warm, connected, and sustained. We'll be indoors, outdoors, and virtual, to suit a wide range of comfort, access, and ways to engage.

This program list is in progress, please check back for updates and additions, or visit our home page to subscribe to our weekly e-mail bulletin for the latest upcoming events.

Quick links to sections below:
Community Engagement
Learning for Adults
Rimonim: Youth & Family
Prayer and Ritual Life

 

Community Engagement

Walking Tour of Washington Heights: "From Aaron Burr to Malcolm X"
NEW DATE: Sunday, March 6, 11am
Pre-registration at this link is required by 3/5 at 11:55pm
Cost: $15/person

Scavenger Hunt for Adults
Sunday, February 13, 2pm

Pre-registration at this link is required by sundown on 2/11
Put on your thinking caps and your searching shoes... we're scavenging! Join a team, solve clues, and explore the hidden gems of Washington Heights. The winning team will get a prize, but the real prize is the friends we make along the way. Scavenger hunt will involve about an hour of walking/moving, and all clues are in accessible locations. Snacks and schnapps to follow.

Free Write Farbrengen: "Don't Postpone Joy"
Tuesday, February 15, 7pm
Zoom link
Join host Matthew Lowe for a virtual event called "Free Write Farbrengen", where we'll meet to do some Biblical text study and creative writing. The theme will be "Don't Postpone Joy" in honor of Purim Katan, and we'll read and respond to texts related to happiness and patience. This is NOT a workshop for critiquing each other's writing; the goal is to enjoy ourselves being creative and thoughtful together!

Trivia Game Night
Thursday, March 3, 7pm [more info to come]

Winter Hike and Hot Chocolate in Inwood Hill Park
[more info to come]

 

Learning for Adults 

Jewish Wisdom for Surviving Winter
Tuesday, December 21, 8:15 PM

Zoom link
Learning and discussion with Rabbi Guy Austrian on the Winter Solstice! We might feel the approach of winter with a sense of dread, danger, or the doldrums. We'll see how Jewish texts confront winter through midrash, halachah, and liturgy. And we'll try to distill some sage advice for getting through it.

Spiritual Themes of the New Months
TEVET: Tuesday, December 6, 8:15 PM
SHEVAT: Wednesday, January 5, 8:15 PM
ADAR: Tuesday, February 1

Zoom link
Around each Rosh Chodesh, the start of the Jewish month, FTJC Student Clergy Intern Naomi Zaslow will be offering a mix of text learning and reflective practices, to explore major themes and spiritual modalities of the month.

Tu Bishvat Seder (Virtual)
Sunday, January 16, 8:00-9:00 PM

Pre-registration requested to get a list of materials to prepare.
Zoom link
Modeled on the Passover Seder, the Tu Bishvat Seder celebrates the "New Year for the Trees" and includes drinking four cups of wine and eating fruits representing the four Kabbalistic "worlds". Participants who register will get a list of foods and drinks to bring to this virtual Seder. Our talented presenters will offer learning through music, art, poetry, and ritual.

Coffee and Halachah
[dates to come]

[Zoom link to come]
Learning with FTJC member and rabbinical student Jamie Weisbach. Two sessions.
 

Rimonim: Youth & Family 

Shabbat Yoga (newborns to 3)
Saturday, February 12, 2:00 PM - 2:45 PM
Location: Bennett Park
Our Zera'im group and their grownups bundle up and get together for movement-based fun outdoors with Yoga educator Pam Skop.

Shabbat in Motion (PreK-2nd Gr)
Saturday, January 29, 10:30-11:15 AM
Saturday, February 26, 10:30-11:15 AM
Hebrew Tabernacle's Classroom 2

This is an opportunity for our Nitzanim to learn more about shabbat, the weekly parsha, and holidays through movement and games, led by Dani Apple.

Havdalah Hang (6th-8th Gr)
Saturday, December 18, 5:30 PM
Saturday, January 22, 6:00 PM
March and April dates to come
Hebrew Tabernacle

Anafim, our middle-school cohort, now has a monthly “Havdalah Hang” social event in the HT Social Hall with games, gaga, crafts, and snacks (to-go)!

Thank-You Visits to Public Workers
Friday, December 24, 10:00 AM
Meet at 181 St. and Fort Washington Ave., NE corner​​​

In town on the morning before Christmas? Join Rimonim kids and their grownups in bringing baked goods and gratitude to public workers who are on the job while others take a holiday. We'll walk around the neighborhood for approximately an hour, stopping at subway booths, bus stops, the police station, the firehouse, and maybe more! Please bring a treat to distribute, homemade or store-bought. All are welcome. RSVPs to youth@ftjc.org or just join us that morning!  

Tu Bishvat for Children and Families
Saturday January 15 and Monday January 17

Visit our Tu Bishvat page to find in-person programming for each of our age groups, incorporating themes of personal growth and protecting the environment.

MLK March On! Family Field Day with PJ Library
Monday January 17, 10:30 AM - 11:15 AM
The track/field next to the Y at 54 Nagle Ave.

We invite Zera'im families to join in on activity stations! All families are welcome, best for ages 5 and under. Click here to register for the event.

MLK Service Project: Packing Food for City Meals on Wheels
Monday January 17, 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Courtyard outside the Y's Wien House, 60 Nagle Ave.

Bringing Light to Darkness: A MLK Day of Volunteering @ Y of Washington Heights and Inwood. Program will take place by pod, outdoors, socially-distanced, and masked. Please also bring a non-perishable food for donation to our local Community Fridge (181st and Ft. Washington Ave). Best food to donate is food that can used without cooking and accessed without a can opener. Please sign up for shifts by by age cohort: Nitzanim (PreK-2nd Grade) 1:00-2:00PM, Shorashim (3rd-5th grade) 12:00-1:00PM, & Anafim (Middle School) 2:00-3:00PM. Click here to register for the event. 

Scavenger Hunt for Children and Families
date and time to come
[location to come]

[description to come]  

Singing and Hot Chocolate in the Park
date to come
location to come

[description to come]  
  

Prayer and Ritual Life 

Kiddush Levanah and Hot Chocolate
Saturday December 11, 8:30 PM
Saturday January 8, 8:30 PM
Saturday February 5, 8:30 PM

Location: Bennett Park
Joining togther to bless the new moon with prayer and song! If it's cloudy and the moon is not visible, we'll gather anyway for hot chocolate. In case of rain, the program is unfortunately canceled.

Havdalah on Zoom
Third Saturdays
Saturday, December 18, 5:30 PM
Saturday, January 15, 5:50 PM

Saturday, February 19, 6:30 PM
Zoom link
Rabbi Guy and student clergy intern Naomi Zaslow bring us together with blessings, music, words of Torah, and a round of quality schmooze time in community.

 

Fri, March 29 2024 19 Adar II 5784