Dinner registration has closed.  6:00 p.m. Shabbat Dinner catered by Parties by Panache. Menu: Greek Chopped Salad, Greek Chicken w/ Preserved Lemon & Olives, Couscous Pilaf, Sautéed Seasonal Veggies - carrots, green beans, cauliflower, zucchini, yellow squash. Vegetarian Entree - Delicata squash with chickpeas and lentils. Cost: $25 Adults; $15 Children. 

7:00 p.m. Rabbi Rachlis and Cantor Braier will lead “Shabbat Alive” services, our jazz and pop service with a band, during which Rabbi Jeffrey Schein, former Executive Director of the Mordecai Kaplan Center for Jewish Peoplehood, will speak on “Reconstructionism Today: Fractured Dialogues – Understanding Polarization In Our Jewish And American Thought Worlds.”  Before Mourner’s Kaddish, we’ll remember the tragic murders at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, six years ago. The Hebrew date for their yahrzeit falls on Monday evening, which is both November 18 and the 18^th of Cheshvan. Our Shabbat Alive Musicians are sponsored by Gilbert Gluck and Catherine Bradley.

Deborah Tannen called it the “argument culture” in 1998.  Ezra Klein explored it in “Why We Are Polarized” in 2020, and, most recently, in 2024, Frank Bruni of the New York Times described it as “The Age of Grievance.”

We Jews often think of ourselves as too sophisticated for such polarities. Yet, we compete fiercely in the marketplace of Jewish ideas to lift our own understanding of Judaism above others.  It happens in the Reconstructionist movement, as well.  Let's explore why such behavior would have Reconstructionism Founder, Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, turning in his grave. Discover how the enduring value of Mordecai Kaplan's thought and the Center that is devoted to discovering his ongoing relevance to 21^st -century Judaism – The Mordecai Kaplan Center for Jewish Peoplehood – rests in resolving polarities within a Jewish concept of shlemut (wholeness).  In other words, what is Reconstructionism today!

Rabbi Jeffrey Schein is a graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (1977) and Temple University’s doctoral program in curriculum studies (1980).   He has authored 10 books and over 50 articles on Jewish education and Jewish life.  In 2002, he was the first non-pulpit Rabbi to receive the RRA’s Ira Eisenstein Prize for distinguished community service.

For 15 years, Rabbi Schein was the director of education programs in synagogues.  From 1984-2004, he was the national education director of the Reconstructionist movement.  From 1991-2014, he guided over 100 students through the Master’s program in Jewish education at the Siegal College in Cleveland.

From 2015 to the present, he was a board member of the Mordecai Kaplan Center for Jewish Peoplehood and their Senior Consultant for Jewish Education.  From 2022 to 2024, he was the executive director of the Kaplan Center. Sponsored by Dr. Steven and Rena Stone.

Register below. Click here to watch services via live stream from your home, or access the video at a later time.