CPR and AED Training
Nina Chandler, NREMT, AHA BLS Heartsaver, FA CPR Instructor returns to BHC to help us refresh our emergency response skills, and teach new attendees lo perform CPR and use BHC’s Automated External Defibrillator (AED) equipment.
During this CPR class, students can expect to learn the proper techniques for administering CPR and using an AED, as well as how to recognize the signs of a heart attack or stroke.
Ms. Chandler will demonstrate the proper steps and then help us practice and refine our skills.
The class is limited to 10 students. The fee is $100; financial aid is available.
Find details on event and register here.
Shabbat Morning: Services and Torah Study In the Sanctuary and by Zoom
10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Shabbat Morning Services
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Torah Study with Rabbi Kirshbaum
Torah services September 7 and October 5.
Request Zoom link here.
Shabbat in the Sanctuary - and by Zoom
Join us for Kabbalat Shabbat in the sancutary and by Zoom, so that all of our devoted regulars can be there!
Look for more details in our email messages.
White Mountain Jewish Film Festival - The Producers
6:00 pm Patio Party | 6:30 pm Guest Speaker | 7:00 pm Film Begins
The Producers
A 1967 American satirical dark comedy cult classic movie written and directed by Mel Brooks. The movie tells the story of a theatrical producer and an accountant who want to produce a Broadway musical, but they want it to fail. They take more money from investors than they need and plan to abscond to Brazil as soon as the play closes, only to see the show turn out to be a hit.
Speaker - Rick Winston
Rick Winston was the co-owner of Montpelier’s Savoy Theater for 29 years, and was Programming Director for the Green Mountain Film Festival for 14 years. He has taught film history at Burlington College, Community College of Vermont, Goddard College, and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, and has made presentations throughout Vermont on film history.
Patio Party Hosts - Lucy Goodhart and Gordon Bennett
Shabbat Morning: Services and Torah Study In the Sanctuary and by Zoom
10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Shabbat Morning Services
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Torah Study with Rabbi Kirshbaum
Torah services held July 6, July 10, August 17, September 7 and October 5.
Request Zoom link here.
Shabbat in the Sanctuary - and by Zoom
Join us for Kabbalat Shabbat in the sancutary and by Zoom, so that all of our devoted regulars can be there!
Look for more details in our email messages.
Friday Walking Group: Mount Agassiz
Get the bug spray and sunscreen out so we can start enjoying nature!
August 30: Mount Agassiz, Bethlehem
Mount Agassiz is a short, steep hike (1.5 miles round trip) that leads to a stunning view from the summit. (We might choose to explore a different route to the top. The dirt bike trail is slightly longer but not as steep. Details will follow.)
We will meet at 9:30 AM
Everyone is welcome. We’re looking forward to seeing both old and new faces!!!
Sharon Heyman leads the walks. Contact her here.
White Mountain Jewish Film Festival- No Name Restaurant
Patio Party Hosts: Lucy Goodhart and Gordon Bennett
No Name Restaurant
To save the synagogue of the once largest Jewish community in the world from being shut down, Ben, an ultra-Orthodox Brooklyn Jew visiting Jerusalem, is sent to Egypt to be the desperately needed tenth man for the ceremonies of Pesach. Having missed his plane and been kicked off the bus in the Sinai Desert, his last hope is Adel, a grumpy Bedouin looking for his camel.
Guest Speaker Luzer Twersky is the Star of "No Name Restaurant"
Luzer Twersky is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his role in the film Felix and Meira, for which he garnered a Jutra Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor and won the Best Actor award at the Amiens International Film Festival[3] and the Torino International Film Festival.[4]
Luzer Twersky, Guest Speaker
Born and raised in Brooklyn as a Hasidic Jew, Twersky left the community in 2008, after struggling with his faith.[
He began acting in 2010, later appearing in Where Is Joel Baum?, the television series Transparent, the HBO show High Maintenance, and the Netflix documentary One of Us, where directors follow him years after he leaves his Hasidic community in Brooklyn, New York. Twersky has played the Baal Shem Tov in the Ukrainian film «Dovbush»
Shabbat Morning: Services and Torah Study In the Sanctuary and by Zoom
10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Shabbat Morning Services
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Torah Study with Rabbi Kirshbaum
Torah services held July 6, July 10, August 17, September 7 and October 5.
Request Zoom link here.
Shabbat in the Sanctuary - and by Zoom
Services following Sounds in the Sanctuary concerts begin at 6:30 pm.
For local congregants who would like to get together before the start of our summer season, we are offering an in-person, Kabbalat Shabbat service on Friday, June 7th at 5pm in the shul.
The service will be hybrid, so that all of our devoted regulars can be there! If the experiment works, we will hold a second in-person service on June 21st.
Look for more details in our email messages.
Sounds in the Sanctuary 2024 - Michael Arnowitt
Mr. Arnowitt will peform:
Johannes Brahms: Intermezzo in B minor, Op. 119 No. 1
Gyorgy Ligeti: Étude No. 2, Cordes à vide (Open strings) and Étude No. 10, Der Zauberlehrling (The sorcerer’s apprentice)
Victoria Poleva: Ischia Island
Igor Stravinsky: Two selections from the music to his ballet Petrushka
Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata no. 32 in C minor, Op. 11
Michael Aronwitt
Returning pianist Michael Arnowitt will present the closing performance of the series on August 23rd.
Michael’s musical landscapes and sense of touch at the keyboard have delighted audiences around the world, from his home in Vermont to Canada, Korea, Russia, and many European countries.
His life and music are the subjects of a documentary film, “Beyond 88 Keys” (2004), which has been broadcast on public television and shown at festivals in Europe and the United States.
His many unique creative projects include “If Music Be the Food of Love,” a program of classical and jazz music about food, simultaneously serving to the audience the food tastes that inspired the composers. For another intriguing collaboration, he combines his piano improvisations with the live creation of paintings on stage by visual artists.
As a distinguished event organizer, he directed the Vermont Millennium Music Festival chronicling music from the year 1000 to 2000, and a number of large-scale fundraisers for humanitarian aid for Balkan and Syrian war refugees
Books of Jewish Interest: All About Me! by Mel Brooks
All About Me! moderated by Dave Goldstone
IFor anyone who loves American comedy, the long wait is over. Here are the never-before-told, behind-the-scenes anecdotes and remembrances from a master storyteller, filmmaker, and creator of all things funny.
All About Me! charts Mel Brooks’s meteoric rise from a Depression-era kid in Brooklyn to the recipient of the National Medal of Arts. Whether serving in the United States Army in World War II, or during his burgeoning career as a teenage comedian in the Catskills, Mel was always mining his experiences for material, always looking for the perfect joke. His iconic career began with Sid Caesar’s Your Show of Shows, where he was part of the greatest writers’ room in history, which included Carl Reiner, Neil Simon, and Larry Gelbart. After co-creating both the mega-hit 2000 Year Old Man comedy albums and the classic television series Get Smart, Brooks’s stellar film career took off. He would go on to write, direct, and star in The Producers, The Twelve Chairs, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Silent Movie, High Anxiety, and Spaceballs, as well as produce groundbreaking and eclectic films, including The Elephant Man, The Fly, and My Favorite Year. Brooks then went on to conquer Broadway with his record-breaking, Tony-winning musical, The Producers.
Meetings are open to anyone, and everyone interested in participating in a reading group. Join by Zoom here
Shabbat Morning: Services and Torah Study In the Sanctuary and by Zoom
10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Shabbat Morning Services
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Torah Study with Rabbi Kirshbaum
Torah services held July 6, July 10, August 17, September 7 and October 5.
Request Zoom link here.
Shabbat in the Sanctuary - and by Zoom
Join us for Kabbalat Shabbat in the sancutary and by Zoom, so that all of our devoted regulars can be there!
Look for more details in our email messages.
Friday Walking Group: Mushroom Walk with Roz
Get the bug spray and sunscreen out so we can start enjoying nature!
August 16: Bretzfelder Park Mushroom Walk, Bethlehem
Everyone looks forward to searching for mushrooms, especially with Dr. Roz Lowen, BHC’s incredibly knowledgeable mycologist, leading the way. There are possible several trails at Bretzfelder. Our walk will depend on where we most likely will find mushrooms!
We will meet at 9:30 AM in the Bretzfelder Park Parking Lot on Prospect Street, about one mile from Route 302 on the left.
Everyone is welcome. We’re looking forward to seeing both old and new faces!!!
Sharon Heyman leads the walks. Contact her here.
White Mountain Jewish Film Festival - Broadway Danny Rose
6:00 pm Patio Party | 6:30 pm Guest Speaker | 7:00 pm Film Begins
Danny Rose (Woody Allen), a hopeless New York talent agent, is a tireless workhorse for his eccentric, unimpressive acts. When Rose signs has-been lounge singer Lou Canova (Nick Apollo Forte), he knows he has to go to great lengths to keep his new client, which means escorting Canova's mistress, Tina (Mia Farrow), to the singer's shows. The only problem is that her ex-boyfriend is a jealous gangster who thinks Rose is her new man and wants revenge.
Speaker - Rick Winston
Rick Winston was the co-owner of Montpelier’s Savoy Theater for 29 years, and was Programming Director for the Green Mountain Film Festival for 14 years. He has taught film history at Burlington College, Community College of Vermont, Goddard College, and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, and has made presentations throughout Vermont on film history.
Patio Party Hosts - Bonnie Michaels and Michael Seev
Shabbat Morning: Services and Torah Study In the Sanctuary and by Zoom
10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Shabbat Morning Services
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Torah Study with Rabbi Kirshbaum.
Torah services held July 6, August 10, August 17, September 7 and October 5.
Request Zoom link here.
Shabbat in the Sanctuary - and by Zoom
Services following Sounds in the Sanctuary concerts begin at 6:30 pm.
For local congregants who would like to get together before the start of our summer season, we are offering an in-person, Kabbalat Shabbat service on Friday, June 7th at 5pm in the shul.
The service will be hybrid, so that all of our devoted regulars can be there! If the experiment works, we will hold a second in-person service on June 21st.
Look for more details in our email messages.
Sounds in the Sanctuary 2024 - Lysander Piano Trio
Violinist Itamar Zorman, pianist Liza Stepanova, and cellist Michael Katz of the Lysander Piano Trio
The Trio will perform:
Rachmaninoff: Trio élégiaque, No. 1 in G Minor
Bongani Ndodana-Breen: Two Nguni Dances
Udi Perlman: Nostos: (new piece by an Israeli composer, commissioned by the Adele and John Gray Endowment Fund)
Franz Schubert: Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat Major, Op. 100
Lysander Piano Trio
The Lysander Piano Trio as been praised by The Strad for its “incredible ensemble, passionate playing, articulate and imaginative ideas and wide palette of colors” and by The Washington Post for “an uncommon degree of heart-on-the-sleeve emotional frankness” and “vivid engagement carried by soaring, ripely Romantic playing.”
The group formed at The Juilliard School, and is comprised of violinist Itamar Zorman, pianist Liza Stepanova, and cellist Michael Katz. Highlights of the past few seasons include a return engagement at Atlanta’s premier chamber music series at Spivey Hall, a multi-concert residency with Chamber Music Tulsa, a weeklong series of performances and educational activities at New Orleans’s Crescent City Chamber Music Festival, and appearances with Massachusetts’ Valley Classical Concerts.
The Lysander Trio also performed abroad in recent seasons, notably at Calgary Pro Musica in Canada, Pro Musica San Miguel de Allende in Mexico, and a tour of Israel.
The Lysander Piano Trio appears by arrangement with Dinin Arts Management & Consulting.
Tickets available at the door: $20 BHC Members, $25 General Public. Or online via our partners at Catamount Arts here.
John Farrell PhD - Rita's Son - Tells Tales of His Work in the Arctic
Dr. John Farrell, member Rita Farrell's son, is the Executive Director of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, an independent federal agency of Presidential appointees that advises the White House and Congress on Arctic research and works with executive branch agencies to establish and execute a national Arctic research plan. He will talk about his work developing international scientific cooperation in the Arctic.
His presentation follows the Books of Jewish Interest meeting, so plan to stay if you are a book club attendee.
Books of Jewish Interest: Yes, I Can Say That
Yes, I Can Say That: When They Come for the Comedians, We Are All in Trouble by Judy Gold, moderated by Sharon Heyman
In Yes I Can Say That, comedy veteran Judy Gold argues that "no one has the right to tell comics what they can or cannot joke about…. Laughter is a unifier. It's the best medicine. It's also the most palatable way to bring up seditious, subversive topics.” For Gold, nothing is more insidious than enforcing silence and repressing jokes—the job of a comedian is to expose society's demons, and confront them head-on, no prisoners allowed. In ten impassioned polemics, sheframes comedy as a tool of empowerment, a way to reclaim hateful rhetoric and battle the democracy-crushing plight of censorship.
Register for Zoom here.
Meetings are open to anyone, and everyone interested in participating in a reading group. Contact the book club for details, to volunteer, or get Zoom login information.
Shabbat Morning: Services and Torah Study In the Sanctuary and by Zoom
10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Shabbat Morning Services
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Torah Study with Rabbi Kirshbaum
Torah services held July 6, August 10, August 17, September 7 and October 5.Request Zoom link here.
Shabbat in the Sanctuary - and by Zoom
Join us for Kabbalat Shabbat in the sancutary and by Zoom, so that all of our devoted regulars can be there!
Look for more details in our email messages.
Friday Walking Group: Mud Pond Trail, Jefferson
Directions to Mud Pond Trail. (About 25 minutes from Bethlehem)
1. From Bethlehem Hebrew Congregation, go right/west on Route 302.
2. Left on Maple Hill Road (Route 142N).
3. Go 4.8 miles (curvy, hilly road) to a stop sign. Turn right, which is now both 142 and 116N or 116E.
4. Continue 3.5 miles on 116 to Whitefield.
5. When you get to the “T” intersection in Whitefield (ice cream stand on right, gas station on left) keep following the signs for 116. (Go left at stop sign and then the first right at the flashing light onto 116).
Note: if you'd like to carpool, meet at 9:15 at the Whitefield Market and Deli parking lot, on the left.
6. Continue on Route 116 for another 5.9 miles to Mud Pond Trail (on the right).
OR you can enter Mud Pond Trail, Jefferson NH in your GPS.
Get the bug spray and sunscreen out so we can start enjoying nature!
August 2: Mud Pond Trail, Jefferson
The Mud Pond Trail is part of the Pondicherry trail system. It is an easy but beautiful 1.1 mile walk on hard packed dirt and gravel. It leads to an observation platform on the shore of Mud Pond.
We will meet at 9:30 AM in Whitefield to carpool or a little later at the trailhead.
Everyone is welcome. We’re looking forward to seeing both old and new faces!!!
Sharon Heyman leads the walks. Contact her here.
White Mountain Jewish Film Festival - Frisco Kid
6:00 pm Patio Party | 6:30 pm Guest Speaker | 7:00 pm Film Begins
Frisco Kid
Rabbi Avram Belinsky (Gene Wilder) lands in Philadelphia intending to travel to San Francisco, where he plans on starting a synagogue. Quickly relieved of his belongings by a group of con artists, Avram optimistically sets out alone on foot toward the Wild West. He gets into one scrape after another until he is rescued, in a way, by a compassionate horseman named Tommy Lillard (Harrison Ford). Unfortunately, Tommy may not be quite as heroic as he seems, and it is still a long way to California..
Stephen Soreff
Stephen Soreff, MD aka Doc Steve is a nationally known author, lecturer, and teacher in mental health services. He has authored ten books on the subject. He is president of Education Initiatives, LLC. He is President of Etz Hayim Synagogue in Derry, NH and on the Jewish Federation of New Hampshire board. He teaches in Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of New Hampshire (OLLI at UNH) a film series classes called Madness and the Movies and the Roots and Routes of Jewish Humor: What HeBrews. He has written and lectured about humor's healing power. He is an Information Volunteer for the Appalachian Mountain Club.
Patio Party Hosts:
Sharon Heyman and Barry Zitser
Robin and Tom Greenlaw