details
- Date
- time Eastern Time
- location Zoom
- cost Free
- organizer Hebrew College Prozdor
share with friends
description
Reconnect with your Prozdor classmates and other alumni at our virtual Hebrew College Spring Prozdor Reunion on April 27th from 7:30-8:30 p.m. EST. Join us for this special evening of learning with Prozdor teachers Mr. Norm Finkelstein, Mr. Matthew Lowe, and Rabbi Laura Bellows`18.
This event is open to all Prozdor grads — please share with your former classmates! We also encourage you to update your information so we can stay in touch as Hebrew College gets ready to celebrate our Centennial in 2022.
Breakout Sessions (You may choose one)
Inside the Golden Gate: When the Holocaust Came to America
with Mr. Norm Finkelstein, Prozdor alum and current faculty member
In 1944, at the height of World War II, 982 European refugees found a temporary haven in Oswego, New York. They had spent frightening years one step ahead of Nazi pursuers and death. They spoke nineteen languages, and, while most of the refugees were Jewish, some were Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Protestant Christians. From the time they arrived at the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter they began re-creating their lives. In the history of World War II and the Holocaust, this “token” save by President Franklin D. Roosevelt was too little and too late for millions. But for those few who reached Oswego it was life changing.
Life is Unpleasant – Wisdom from our Sages
Matthew Lowe, Prozdor faculty 2007-2017
When even the Rabbis say it would be easier if we hadn’t been created (Eruvin 13b), how do we live with that? A lesson with Matthew Lowe, who is now a therapist in NYC if you can believe it (you can).
How to Stay Hydrated While Crossing the Sea: What one Midrash Can Teach Us About Responding to Climate Change Today
Rabbi Laura Bellows, Director of Prozdor and Teen Learning
It was 1730 in the Ottomon Empire when Rabbi Yaakov Culi started printing the Me’am Lo’ez, intended as a user-friendly Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) commentary on the Tanakh for his rapidly assimilating community. In it he tells of no less than 50 miracles (including access for all to safe drinking water!) that helped the Children of Israel cross the Red Sea. Using the Me’am Lo’ez’s midrash at the sea as our source text, we will explore what wisdom it may offer for building a just, accessible, and climate resilient society today.