Join us for our Shavous Celebration – Blintzes and Books

“Blintzes and Books” is our traditional Jewish holiday Shavuot celebration.  The spring holiday is a time for dairy foods and for celebrating Jewish – and world – literature, based on the legend that the holiday commemorates the giving of the 10 commandments, the beginning of Jewish literature.

TVCJ will celebrate the holiday with a potluck brunch and program from 10:30 am to noon on Sunday, May 24 at a member’s home in Pleasanton.  Participants are asked to bring a dairy brunch dish to share and have in mind a book they enjoyed reading in the past year.  Each participant will briefly discuss his or her book recommendation.  Adults and children are welcome, as are contributions of favorite toppings for blintzes.  Suggested donation for non-member adults is $5.

Join us for our Fall Holiday Events!

Celebrate the holidays in a Secular Humanistic way that that’s authentic both to Jewish culture and to your own beliefs.

Sunday, September 14: Decorate plates for apples and honey (ages 5-13) and learn aboutthe history and customs of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. 10 a.m. at Aran’s Art in Castro Valley. $15/plate for kid’s activity. Reservations requested so we will have enough materials.
W
ednesday, September 24: Rosh Hashanah celebrations. 7 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Livermore. One-hour program of music and readings. Kids welcome. Suggested donation $15/non-member adult.

Saturday, October 4: Yom Kippur observance. 2-5 p.m. at the Bothwell Arts Center in Livermore. Program of music and readings followed by guest speaker Amer Araim discussing the history and politics of the Middle East. A memorial ceremony follows the discussion. Suggested donation $15/non-member adult.

If you decide you belong with us and become a member, your donations will be applied to your membership fees.

For more information and reservations 925 485 1049 or reservations@tri-valleyculturaljews.org.

Atheism 2.0

An interesting segment of this week’s TED Radio Hour on NPR. In this segment, Alain de Botton explains what he calls “Atheism 2.0”. It sounds quite similar to what TVCJ does. Click this link and then click on “Listen to the Story”.

http://www.npr.org/2013/11/22/245957052/what-can-atheism-learn-from-religion

 

Jewish Culture School Happenings – January 5, 2014

Today at Jewish Culture School we continued our study of the Golden
Age of Spain by making Eggplant/Caper salad…it was a big hit! We
also made mosaics to represent the architecture of the time and
tested our knowledge of the smells and sights of a variety of spices
as the Jews were involved in the spice trade. Of course we sang and
listened to a ballad from the time period and talked about music in
Spain as well. We also shared ways that we filled our own buckets by
filling those of people around us. We started talking about how it
feels to help people we don’t know as well as our family members.

AJWS’s Global Justice Rabbinic Fellowship

TVCJ joins the American Jewish World Service in urging you to get involved in a movement here in the U.S. that aims to end violence against women and girls, stop hate crimes against LGBT people, and hasten the end of child marriage around the globe.

Join @AJWS for a celebration of #Chanukah and the launch of its new campaign promoting the rights of women, girls and LGBT people worldwide on December 9 from 7-9PM at Brick and Mortar Music Hall in San Francisco!
Space is limited, so reserve your space today!

http://bit.ly/1c6ONlt