UJA Federation Brownstone Brooklyn Focus Group - Thursday, July 29, 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
UJA-Federation is conducting a series of key informant interviews and focus groups with Jewish residents of Brownstone Brooklyn, to learn about unmet Jewish needs and wants in our vibrant Jewish community.  A focus group will be held on Thursday, July 29, at 11am-12:30pm here at Brooklyn Heights Synagogue.  You are invited to share your own ideas and insights on Jewish life in your neighborhood and adjoining areas - questions that will be addressed include: What is the market for Jewish engagement and services in Brownstone Brooklyn?  What populations are most receptive and desirous of services?  (Consultant will focus on segmentation by age and a second segmentation defined as "seekers" for Jewish engagement, situationally needy and potential community activists).  Are there present or future local developments that may impact on the need or potential for service delivery?  What should be the geographical locus of services?  Who are potential stakeholders and partners of a future initiative?  How might UJA-Federation work with existing service providers, synagogues and organizations?  What would be the smart and strategic first steps to be undertaken as a key entry point for UJA-Federation to establish a meaningful foothold for communal engagement?  What assessment can be made of resources necessary to make an initial impact?  What is the process (plan of action) in order to proceed? 

New Member Reception - Wednesday, August 4, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
We are pleased to have welcome 40 new member households to our congregational family since June 2009 - some as recently as this month.  The membership committee is hosting a casual reception for our newest members on Wednesday, August 4 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.  Please stop by to have a glass of wine and introduce yourself -- after all, you're an important part of what brings new members to BHS in the first place.  Bonus: you will also have the opportunity to say hello to our new cantorial intern, Nancy Bach!  

SHABBAT AT BHS    

Every Friday - next session is September 24, 2010
11 am Welcoming Shabbat appropriate for infants and toddlers
Come together with family, friends and Rabbi Lippe every Friday for this sing-along Shabbat!  With kiddush of juice and challah - parents, grandparents, and caregivers welcome!

6:30 pm Shabbat Evening Services (free child care September to June)

Second Shabbat/ Simcha Blessings Shabbat: 2nd Friday of each month, beginning in September. Share your joys with the community! 

Shir Shabbat: 3rd Friday of each month is our musical service,  when our cantorial intern and the band lead us in joyful noise.

The First Friday of each month is often family-oriented, with students helping lead services.

Saturdays at 9:30 am
Chavurah for a quick Shabbat morning service followed by a lengthy discussion of each week’s Torah portion. All are welcome to share their insights, to learn with us, or to just sit and listen.

Tot Shabbat: Join other young families for lively music and activities, followed by a Kiddush of grape juice, challah and cookies.  Join us for a special summer Tot Shabbat on August 21 at 9:30 a.m.

at 10:30 am
B’nai Mitzvah Shabbat Morning Services on many Saturdays
Family Shabbat Services open to all but geared to families with children in 4th through 6th grades on November 14 & later dates

Here is a small sampling of the many different kinds of programs and events that fill our calendar:

List Family Lecture
A gift of learning to the Brooklyn Heights community in memory of Lawrence List, the biennial List Lecture brings outstanding speakers of international acclaim to share their work with us. This event is always followed by an elegant reception where you may meet our guest speaker and discuss ideas with your BHS friends. Always free and always open to the community.

Shul Inn
Our annual pajama party, chaperoned by a few hardy parent volunteers, when member children in grades 3 to 6 spend a Saturday night at the Synagogue.  We begin with Havdalah and continue with movies, games, more movies, and maybe a little sleep.  We end with a big breakfast, and those who are not too groggy to handle wrapping paper spend a couple of hours after breakfast helping to wrap the presents that have collected during our annual holiday Toy & Coat Drive. 

The Shul Inn is a cozy experience for our children, different in tone from worship services, Religious School, and social events they come to with their parents; it gives them a chance to create social networks of their own, and to feel ownership of the building and the institution.

The Shul Inn is often held on the same night as the Brooklyn Kindergarten Society's annual Yuletide Ball, giving our active community-oriented parents child care coverage for their night out for a good cause, and their children an exciting night in here at the Synagogue.

At least once a year, we spend a Saturday evening, or an entire Shabbat, in a sort of Torah University, here in the Synagogue building. Our staff , congregants, and neighboring rabbis are invited in to teach hour-long classes on subjects of Jewish interest.  Classes are wide-ranging (examples: spirituality in the paintings of Mark Rothko, tales of the Golem, traditional text study, midrash poetry, history of Reform Judaism) and there are always at least two separate class sessions, as well as Havdalah, and of course opportunities for socializing and breaking bread (or matzah) together.  A learning opportunity for members and nonmembers.

Getting To Know You Dinners
A long-standing BHS tradition, our annual members-only Getting to Know You Dinners, on the last Saturday night of January, are emblematic of our warm and welcoming community. All members receive invitations in late December.  The evening begins at the Synagogue, with Havdalah, wine and hors d'oeuvres, followed by dinner at the homes of congregants who have volunteered their homes for the evening. The Membership Committee carefully arranges groups to introduce new and long-term members to each other, and to encourage cross-interest and cross-generational connections.

College Outreach helps students away at school mark Jewish time and celebrate festive Jewish holidays, by providing packages of  Jewish nourishments, both intellectual and edible.  College Outreach also maintains a database of BHS college students as a resource for the synagogue’s college-bound high schoolers.