Over the next few weeks you should be hearing a lot about an upcoming concert that will be taking place at EMJC. On November 18th, at 8:00 pm, Club Oasis will be presenting An Evening of Ladino Music. Here's a little background on the material:

Ladino, or "Judeo-Spanish," is a Romance language derived mainly from Old Castilian (Spanish) and Hebrew. It is often said that Ladino is to Spanish what Yiddish is to German; both are medieval dialects of their respective "host" languages. Ladino developed during the Golden Age of Spanish Jewry, in the centuries prior to the Expulsion of 1492, and was carried to various parts of the world by Jews and Conversos fleeing persecution. The exiles carried it to the far corners of Europe, where it continued to change and develop over the centuries, morphing and adapting to whatever new environment its speakers would find themselves in. Ladino is closely related to Spanish, but has words and terms mixed in from Hebrew, Portuguese, French, Turkish, Greek, and South Slavic languages (depending on where the speakers resided). Modern-day speakers of Ladino are almost exclusively Sephardic Jews residing in various parts of the world, though the language is spoken less and less and is in danger of extinction.

Over the centuries, Ladino-speaking Jews developed a rich folk-music tradition. The songs fall into different categories; most are love songs – melodramatic laments of spurned lovers ("Farewell, my dear one. I do not want my life – you have embittered it...") and penniless but happy brides ("The bride has no riches. May they have good luck... May they have joy and prosper and always be happy..."); there are also songs on biblical and Jewish historical themes – stories of the forefathers and other Jewish heroes; and there are songs to fit liturgical purposes ("Buena Semana" – wishes for "a good week" to be sung after Havdalah at the end of Shabbat, and of course "Non com Muestro Dio," or, in Hebrew, Ein Keloheinu). The songs are charming – perhaps not meant to be taken too seriously, perhaps meant to be heard and appreciated with a glass of strong wine in hand and a son or daughter to turn to mid-song and say "see what can happen if you're not careful!" The large repertoire of Ladino folk-songs represents a unique and delightful chapter in the musical history of our people.

We owe this concert largely to the energy and talent of Marjorie Sanua, an EMJC member, a wonderful soprano, and a Ladino enthusiast. Marjorie and I have been working on arranging and rehearsing a set of Ladino songs for the past year and a half, and are greatly looking forward to presenting them at last. To help us out, we have conscripted three top-notch musicians. East Midwood's own Ben Lapidus is a world-renowned Latin Jazz musician. His own band, Sonido Isleño, has recorded on EMI Capitol, played on CBS – The Morning Show with Bryant Gumbel and Jane Clayson, and performed at various high-profile jazz venues in the U.S. and Europe. He has played and recorded with many of the leading Latin Jazz players working today. His primary instruments are the Cuban Tres and the Puerto Rican Cuatro, instruments well suited to the spirit of Ladino music. (Click here to read an article about Ben that appeared in The Forward in October 2005.) Jeremy Brown is a well-known violinist on the New York Jewish music scene. He has performed with many groups including Art Bailey's Orkestra Popilar and Frank London's Klezmer Brass All-Stars. He is also a composer whose original music is featured on the CD This Year in St. Louis. Ira Epstein, percussionist and vocalist, played with the celebrated Jewish music group Tayku which was the brain-child of Matthew Lazar and David Burger. Ira sings and percusses with the Brooklyn Jewish Community Chorus.

An Evening of Ladino Music promises to be a wonderful night of music. Bring your friends and family and see what a bunch of Ashkenazi Jews do with the musical legacy of their Sephardic brethren.

Tickets are on sale now for $25 (general admission) and $20 (students and seniors), and are free for children 12 and under. Order by check by filling in and mailing in the form available in the November Bulletin or by coming into the office, or use any major credit card (an EMJC first!) online or by phone, 24/7, at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/8447 or 1-800-838-3006 to have tickets mailed to your door! For more information, call the Center office.

Adio,
Cantor Sam Levine

EMJC's popular celebration of the coming new month will take place on Friday evening, November 17th, at 6:00 pm.

The monthly celebration, generally occurring on the Shabbat preceding Rosh Chodesh, is a family-friendly event featuring a traditional Shabbat dinner at the conclusion of the Friday evening Kabbalat Shabbat service, and a kiddush luncheon following the morning service.

Join us this month, and plan to be with us throughout the year for these special occasions. The scheduled dates for this year's congregational Shabbat dinners are November 17th, December 22nd, January 19th, February 16th, March 16th, April 13th, May 11th, and June 8th.

This month, for the first time, we are accepting reservations online by credit card (you can also use the tear-off in the Bulletin to reserve seats by mail with a check, or come into the Center office):

From Synagogue to Church: Converted Brooklyn Houses of Worship, an exhibition of photographs taken by Center member Ellen Levitt, will be on display at the Brooklyn Historical Society, 128 Pierrepont Street (map it!), from Wednesday, November 15th through February 11th, 2007. (Admission: $6, $4 seniors and students, free for children under twelve.)

The "ex-shuls" depicted in the exhibit are located in Brownsville, East New York, Flatbush, East Flatbush, Weeksville, and Gravesend. Many of these buildings still retain Judaic iconography in the masonry, stained glass windows, and other architectural or structural elements. Among the synagogues in the exhibit is Congregation Shaare Torah, which merged with EMJC in 1979.

Some photos from the exhibit can be found online here, including one of the former Congregation Shaare Torah. Writes Levitt,

In the early 1990s I took photographs of a former synagogue near the Sears in Flatbush. Formerly Kesser Torah (Crown of Torah), where my mother and her older sister attended Hebrew School, it became a church. For some years the church retained a few old synagogue symbols, including the corner stone with the founding date, and the name "Kesser Torah" in Hebrew. I went back to reshoot photos there in July 2004 and was saddened to see them gone, painted over, sheered off. A car pulled up and a woman spoke to me; she was the wife of the pastor who led the church. She told me they had gotten rid of the synagogue symbols "years ago," but was vague with details.

Over the years I have searched out former synagogues in Brooklyn-- "ex-shuls"-- to take their photos and seek out what Jewish symbols still peek through. Many of these ex-shuls have become churches. Others became day care centers, community centers, or are just shells. The Jewish population of certain Brooklyn neighborhoods has for the most part vanished (East Flatbush, Brownsville, Bedford-Stuyvesant, etc.) The buildings hang on in different incarnations. The following ex-shuls depicted are in Flatbush and the surrounding areas. I have seen and photographed other ex-shuls in other neighborhoods. I have asked older Jews for tips on such buildings. On a few occasions (particularly in Coney Island) some former shul buildings have had all Jewish references removed.

For more information contact the Brooklyn Historical Society, at 718/222-4111 or brooklynhistory.org.

The Interfaith Committee of East Midwood Jewish Center, Our Lady of Refuge Roman Catholic Church, and Baitul Jannah Mosque are happy to invite all to our sixth annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Service at Our Lady of Refuge Roman Catholic Church, Ocean Ave. and Foster Ave., on Sunday, November 19th, at 4:00 pm (map it).

When you come, please bring a non-perishable canned or packaged food donation for the Our Lady of Refuge Food Pantry. For more information call the Center office, 718/338-3800.

Also, click here to check out our feature on last year's Interfaith Thanksgiving Service.

Have you made your contribution to the Kol Nidre Appeal, or followed up on your KNA pledge?

If you have, we are very grateful and thank you for your generosity.

If you have not, please don't put it off any longer. The East Midwood Jewish Center needs you. We depend on this annual appeal to maintain our beautiful, historic building, to provide services every day of the week, to continue to offer a varied program of adult education, to assure a Jewish education and social and recreational activities for our children and grandchildren, and so much more.

The East Midwood Jewish Center is the largest and most dynamic Conservative synagogue in Brooklyn. Help us maintain our status as the flagship of the Conservative Movement in the borough.

The Center is always here for you. Show your support in a tangible way. Contribute, as generously as you can, to the Kol Nidre Appeal. Use the donation form in the Bulletin to donate by mail with a check, or donate securely online with a credit card via our donations page.

Do you love to sing?
Do you find yourself humming a tune in the oddest places?
Tired of hearing your friends, brothers or sisters say "don't quit your day job" every time you sing along with the radio?

Well, we've got the answer!

Come join Kol Hayeladim: The East Midwood Jewish Center Kids' Choir, the newly-formed children's chorus directed by Cantor Sam Levine.

Meeting Tuesday afternoons, beginning November 21, from 3:45 - 4:15 PM, in the Fersko Room (3rd floor, opposite the Main Sanctuary).

Have any photos of past events at East Midwood? Show off your photographic eye, share your capturing of the decisive moment, and impress your friends. Submit photos to our site and we'll post them in the photo gallery.

If you're not a member, consider joining us at East Midwood! We need your continuing support to continue to provide our wide range of synagogue programming.

East Midwood is first and foremost a place to worship, offering traditional Jewish observance with modern values, including daily prayers, Shabbat and holiday services, and children's services. Our Talmud Torah, High School of Hebrew Studies and Adult Education programs further our collective goal of exploring and protecting our Jewish heritage. On top of all that, we provide a bevy of social activities each and every month, including concerts, movies, our congregational choir, Sisterhood and Men's Club events, Kadima/USY youth events, and seasonal events like our Passover Wine Tasting.

Membership includes up to two free tickets for the High Holidays, a 50% discount on annual membership dues for the first year, free Talmud Torah tuition for up to two children during your first year of membership, and an invitation to you and your family to join us for one of our monthly Shabbat dinners.

Join us today. For more, check out our full-color membership brochure (PDF, 264k) and membership application (PDF, 104k).

This year, we will be hosting our New Year's Eve Celebration in our beautifully redecorated Grand Ballroom. Featuring a gourmet dinner, dancing, party favors, and music by Yoni Avital, we plan to ring in the new year with style! To order online via credit card, please click here.

Happy Thanksgiving!