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For over a century, a devoted group of Jewish Madisonians has cared for our community by preparing bodies for burial according to Jewish tradition. We rely on these volunteers, called the Chevra Kadisha (sacred colleagues), to come together on short notice and provide this critical service, called Taharat Met, regardless of Jewish affiliation or other Jewish engagement. It is a group that shows up because they understand our tradition’s wisdom around death and the need for Jewish community members to provide this service.

The time has come to rejuvenate our Chevra Kadisha. Most of the current group has reached the point where they need to pass the torch and train new volunteers who have the energy and physical capacity to do this important work. There is a pressing need for new volunteers.

Madison’s Chevra Kadisha, together with our community rabbis, invite all who are interested in learning what is involved and receiving introductory training to attend one (or both) of our upcoming Chevra Kadisha learning events, which will take place at Beth Israel Center. Following those events, if you are ready to take the next step, current Chevra Kadisha members will invite you to observe and assist in Taharat Met when the need arises.

If you are a Jewish member of the Madison community and think you may be able to help in this important community service, please join us!

RSVP or Express Interest: Rabbi Renée Bauer (rabbi@jssmadison.org, 608-424-4033) or Kristin Geil (kristin@jssmadison.org)

Come to One or Both Sessions (same content):

Friday, May 31, 2024 from 9:30am-11:30am and

Sunday, June 2, 2024 from 10:00am-12:00pm

Location: Beth Israel Center, 1406 Mound St, Madison, WI

For over a century, a devoted group of Jewish Madisonians has cared for our community by preparing bodies for burial according to Jewish tradition. We rely on these volunteers, called the Chevra Kadisha (sacred colleagues), to come together on short notice and provide this critical service, called Taharat Met, regardless of Jewish affiliation or other Jewish engagement. It is a group that shows up because they understand our tradition’s wisdom around death and the need for Jewish community members to provide this service.

The time has come to rejuvenate our Chevra Kadisha. Most of the current group has reached the point where they need to pass the torch and train new volunteers who have the energy and physical capacity to do this important work. There is a pressing need for new volunteers.

Madison’s Chevra Kadisha, together with our community rabbis, invite all who are interested in learning what is involved and receiving introductory training to attend one (or both) of our upcoming Chevra Kadisha learning events, which will take place at Beth Israel Center. Following those events, if you are ready to take the next step, current Chevra Kadisha members will invite you to observe and assist in Taharat Met when the need arises.

If you are a Jewish member of the Madison community and think you may be able to help in this important community service, please join us!

RSVP or Express Interest: Rabbi Renée Bauer (rabbi@jssmadison.org, 608-424-4033) or Kristin Geil (kristin@jssmadison.org)

Come to One or Both Sessions (same content):

Friday, May 31, 2024 from 9:30am-11:30am and

Sunday, June 2, 2024 from 10:00am-12:00pm

Location: Beth Israel Center, 1406 Mound St, Madison, WI

Join us for a market featuring crafts and treats from around the world! All items are handmade by refugees, immigrants and other community members right here in Dane County. All are welcome, and entry is free. Please note, most vendors are cash-preferred.

The Summer Levy Series has become a welcoming of summer, and an occasion to socialize, share a wonderful meal, and feed our minds with a variety of inspiring presentations and discussions. Please join us. The program and menu for this event is below – call 608-442-4081 to register at a cost of $25 per person. 

Adam Schrager – “The Principled Politician: A Story of Courage”

One man’s courage offers timeless lessons for us all. In this presentation, Adam Schrager tells the story of Ralph Carr, who was drafted to run for governor of Colorado in 1938, turned down the chance to run as a vice presidential candidate in 1940, and was being discussed as a “future presidential candidate” by newspapers in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. Carr became a national figure when, after Pearl Harbor, he defended the constitutional rights of Japanese-Americans and stood against internment. His outspoken and unpopular stance would cost him greatly, both personally and professionally

Adam Schrager is the author of four books, including “The Principled Politician,” which led to Colorado lawmakers naming the state’s new justice center and a state highway after its subject, former Gov. Ralph Carr. Schrager has an undergraduate degree in American History from the University of Michigan and a graduate degree in Broadcast Journalism from Northwestern University.

Lunch: Nakoma salad, dinner rolls & mini muffins, Pesto Crusted Walleye or Roasted Vegetable Napoleon, jasmine herbed rice, steamed asparagus. Dessert: Tiramisu

Please join your neighbors, volunteers and Jewish Social Services staff for candle lighting, challah, wine, songs and discussion to usher in Shabbat, along with the opportunity to recite Kaddish. We look forward to spending this special time together with you! We celebrate Shabbat at Capitol Lakes on the first Friday of each month, led by JSS Rabbi Renee Bauer, with assistance from JSS Staff and UW-Hillel student volunteers.

No tickets or registration required – if you have questions on the event, please contact Paul Borowsky at 608-442-4083.

Join JSS social workers Maya Garbuz and Kate Shenker for our monthly Memory Cafe! A meeting place for designed for people experiencing memory issues, dementia, or Alzheimer’s disease and their caregivers. Socialize, find support and build community without the stigma associate with dementia. Each month, we have a different presenter come in to lead activities with the group, plus snacks and a short stretching/movement activity. All are welcome at this free event.

The Summer Levy Series has become a welcoming of summer, and an occasion to socialize, share a wonderful meal, and feed our minds with a variety of inspiring presentations and discussions. Please join us. The program and menu for this event is below – call 608-442-4081 to register at a cost of $25 per person. 

Erin Faigin – “I Don’t Want To Say a Valley Girl is a ‘JAP’: The San Fernando Valley, Valley Girls, and Postwar Jewish Upward Mobility” 

Erin Faigin will describe the relationship between the Valley Girl of the 1980’s and the Jewish American Princess as a way to understand postwar American Jewish upward mobility. Her research explores the relationship between upward mobility, misogyny, and antisemitism in the imagined and real lives of American Jewish women during the Reagan years and beyond. By looking at popular media (SNL, Valley Girl, Clueless), national scandal (the Monica Lewinsky tapes), and lived experience (including that of the nose job), Faigin’s research demonstrates the limits of the assimilationist paradigm to explain postwar American Jewish history. Even in Los Angeles, even blonde, Jews suburbanized as Jews.

Faigin herself hails from the San Fernando Valley of Valley Girl fame, but she has lived in Madison since 2017. She is a PhD candidate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in American Jewish History and has written and researched diverse topics such as Utah’s Yiddish utopias, Chicago’s interwar Jewish bookstore culture, and now, the Jewish American Princess.

Lunch: Seasonal fruit plate, dinner rolls & mini muffins, Mahi Mahi with toasted kale Buerre Blanc or Sun-dried tomato and asparagus quiche in puff pastry, Yukon Gold potatoes, green bean bundle wrapped in carrot. Dessert: Dark chocolate ganache three-layer cake

Join us for a celebration of community – including our clients, staff, volunteers, and organizational partners. We will have delicious food, games, speakers, music and a great time! All are welcome.

The Summer Levy Series has become a welcoming of summer, and an occasion to socialize, share a wonderful meal, and feed our minds with a variety of inspiring presentations and discussions. Please join us. The program and menu for this event is below – call 608-442-4081 to register at a cost of $25 per person. 

Dan Barker: “Faithful and Not-So Faithful: Some Favorite Jewish Composers and Songwriters” 

Many famous Jewish composers and songwriters were secular, not believing, but most showing some caring and appreciation of their Jewish heritage and community. Some were atheists and agnostics. But a few were not. Harold Arlen, son of a Cantor, never claimed to be a nonbeliever, though he did marry a Catholic. We don’t know if Dorothy Fields was a believing Jew, but in the absence of any statements from her, we might assume she was, at least nominally. And we do know some Jews who, like Aaron Copland, had no interest or little knowledge of the faith — Leonard Bernstein called him a “fake Jew.”

Dan Barker is a talented pianist and composer who never fails to impress us with his musical stylings as well as the breadth of his knowledge about popular American composers. Dan Barker graduated from Azusa Pacific University with a degree in Religion and was ordained as an evangelist minister at the age of fifteen. He became a “freethinker” in 1983 and is now the co-president of the Freedom from Religion Foundation.

Lunch: Caesar salad, assorted artisan rolls & mini muffins, Broiled tilapia with caper picatta sauce or Goat cheese and spinach strudel, barley pilaf and steamed carrots. Dessert: Door County cherry pie a la mode