Viewpoints

The Viewpoints Committee celebrates the rich diversity of the Jewish community. Viewpoints presents a wide variety of programs that help the congregation grow and learn together about different segments of our family, especially the interfaith, Jews of color, and the LGBTQ communities. These programs involve speakers, films, readings, and performance artists who hail from a wide spectrum of backgrounds. The one recurring program that Viewpoints sponsors is our Pride Shabbat in June. At that Shabbat service, there are special readings and speakers that highlight the LGBTQ Jewish experience.

The Viewpoints Committee offers a variety of films and speakers to the Temple Emeth community.

As part of our efforts to raise awareness of the minority, LGBTQ, disabled, and interfaith communities, the Viewpoints Committee sponsors a program of DEI groups. The Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) groups are small discussion groups, whose purpose is to enable us to understand how others experience life at Temple Emeth. Reading and assessment materials are used to facilitate the discussions.

Programs for 2024-25
 

Introduction to LGBTQ+ Jewish History
Sunday, November 17, 2024
Viewpoints is sponsoring a program from the organization, Keshet, a group representing LGBTQ+ Jews. Rabbi Lonnie Kleinman, Associate Director of Education and Training for Keshet, will speak on Introduction to LGBTQ+ Jewish History and Belonging and Inclusivness for Loved Ones. Keshet works for the full equality of LGBTQ Jews and their families in Jewish life. Prior to joining Keshet, Rabbi Kleinman served as a chaplain resident at the Hospital at the University of Pennsylvania, where she met and journeyed alongside patients and families. They were also the fellowship coordinator at Tribe12, where they brought a queer lens to programming. They hold a BA in Religious Studies and Art History from Lewis and Clark College, and a MA in Hebrew Letters and Ordination from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College.
 

Disability Shabbat
Friday, February  7, 2025, 8:00 p.m.
February is Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance, and Inclusion Month, a unified initiative to raise disability awarenessk and support efforts to foster inclusion in Jewish communities worldwide. This year's Disability Shabbat will feature guest speaker Rabbi Rebecca Einstein Schorr, who will speak about her personal experiences and heartfelt reflections about life with her son, offering a unique perspective of love, resilience, and understanding

Shoah Program
Sunday, April 6, 2025, 2:00 p.m. 

Viewpoints is sponsoring the Israeli film, 999: The Forgotten Girls. This film was adapted into the movie from the book by historian Heather Dune Macadam. This documentary sheds light on a wrenching true story of the nearly 1,000 young Slovak Jewish women, who were asked by their government to do volunteer work. They were instead illegally deported to Auschwitz on what was the first Jewish transport to the Nazi death camp. This movie tells stories of a small group who survived against all odds,

Pride Shabbat
 Friday, June 13, 2025, 8:00 p.m.
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Pride Month is celebrated each June to honor the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan, which was a tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States. The purpose of the commemorative month is to recognize the impact that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals have had on history locally, nationally, and internationally. Temple Emeth celebrates each year with a special service featuring special readings and music.

This year will feature music performed by Josh Kohane, a long-time member of Temple Emeth whose career in musical theater started when he performed a stirring rendition of the Lion King for his mother's camera at age three. He has been singing and dancing ever since and delighting audiences in Chicago, New York City, and at Temple. The service will also include a talk about growing up Jewish and Gay by Temple member Jeremy Lent, a Teaneck activist, Executive Director of the Teaneck International Film Festival, and Director of Special Projects for the Puffin Foundation.

The Viewpoints Committee welcome your suggestions about future programming. Email viewpoints@emeth.org.