Purim Party: Masquerade, Mingle, Munch!

This Saturday

Purim Party
February 27th at Pratt Chapel, Chapel Hall

Performance by “Eight is never enough!”
‘NYC ! Rated professional improv musical comedy theatre show’

Meggilah : Book of Ester reading at 7.45pm
Party at 8pm

Plus: Pratt Radio DJing and a Serious Buffet Dinner.

Come in Costume, Everybody welcome.
Masquerade, Mingle, Munch!

Pickle-tures from Kosher Pickle Making

Last Tuesdays Kosher Pickle making party was a huge success. I must thanks everybody involved especially the Pratt Jewish Student Union and our sponsor rabbipickle.com Here are some pickle-tures of the event, enjoy.

Midnight Breakfast Pic’s

Would like to give a shout out to all the volunteers who helped makes waffles at Midnight to feed a bunch of Jewish starving artists!

Brooklyn Book Festival 2009 Program

Simcha set to appear at the Brooklyn Book Festival 2009 Program

Update
The Brooklyn Book Festival 2009 was a huge success i’d like to thank everybody that came along and showed their supported. Heres a photo of me reading from the main stand.

September 13th 2009
Brooklyn Book Festival 2009 Program
Main Stage – Borough Hall Plaza
4:00 p.m. Obsessive Fun. Rabbis who write, gamers, comics and karaoke-ists. Authors Rabbi Simcha Weinstein (Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century), Ethan Gilsdorf (Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks), Brian Raftery (Don’t Stop Believin’) and Eddie Sarfaty (Mental) let their obsessions entertain you.
Read more

Jewish Student Union To Be Built at Pratt

Construction has begun on a 2,000-square-foot storefront which will serve the 5,000 Jewish students enrolled at five Downtown Brooklyn colleges. The largest of those schools, the prestigious Pratt Institute, with 1,000 Jewish students, has the third highest percentage of Jewish students in the nation.

Before Chabad arrived, it was also the largest Jewish student population without an official organization on campus. Chabad’s current home, housed in the one-bedroom apartment of Rabbi Simcha and Ariella Weinstein, is a 30-minute walk from the Pratt campus.

Chabad is the outreach arm of the Lubavitch Hasidic sect, headquartered in Crown Heights. Unlike other Hasidic groups, Chabad actively seeks to engage non-affiliated Jews.

Clearly, says, Rabbi Weinstein, who is also affiliated with Congregation B’nai Avraham in Brooklyn Heights, “It was time to take things to the next level.” His students agree. The new space is being created almost entirely by members of the Pratt community. The architecture, interior design, murals, and furnishings have been fashioned by students who want to see their Jewish Student Union grow.

“I like for things to be grassroots: by the students and for the students,” the rabbi explains. “When they are involved, a sense of ownership develops. It is like the construction of the Temple in Jerusalem in which everyone had a part. Truthfully, without the students, nothing would happen.”

Brian Schulman is a sophomore at Pratt. Together with another architecture student, Eric Moed, he designed the interior of the Myrtle Avenue storefront. The new building is eco-friendly. “We want to keep the space as simple, raw, and minimal as possible. It will be used for many different purposes,” he explains, “including a synagogue, gallery, event space, and kitchen.”

The new space is being created almost entirely by members of the Pratt community. The architecture, interior design, murals, and furnishings have been fashioned by students who want to see their Jewish Student Union grow.

“The best way to tackle the design problem here was to leave the space open,” agrees Moed, also a second-year student. “The Jewish Student Union’s mission is much broader than simply having Shabbat dinners or services. Our whole message is to fuse our cultural outlook with our Jewish identity, so that they should become one entity. This is the first and only place in this neighborhood where Jewish people can network and build a community.”

Moed’s connection with the area dates back over half a century. His grandfather, Leon Moed, principal at Moed De Armas & Shannon and advisor to this project, graduated from Pratt in 1954. When he attended, explains his grandson, Pratt was a commuter school. “Jewish life on campus did not exist. It is only really recently that Jewish life became available, forget thriving.”

The many students designing its interior are putting a piece of themselves into the structure. “My artistic talents are the way I serve God,” reveals senior Elke Sudin. “When I draw I sense that the creative flow is not me, it is coming from a vessel that is greater.”

“Brooklyn is the epicenter of a Jewish art renaissance,” declares Weinstein. “It is an incubator for the cultural revival of Jewish life and art. I want this new space to be a gallery to screen movies, host poetry and book readings, and display art. Our students should be able to express their Judaism through the arts.”

by Clinto Hill for Brooklyn Eagle published online 04-21-2009

Book Tour

11/3/2008
Denver, CO
Topic: Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century

11/5/08
Gainesville Chabad
Topic: Up, Up and Oy Vey! How Jewish History, Culture and Values, Shaped the Comic Book Superhero

11/9/2008
American Jewish University, Los Angeles, CA
Topic: Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century

11/11/2008
Cherry Hill, NJ
Topic: Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century

11/13/2008
San Diego, CA
Topic: Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century

11/15/2008
Vir. Beach, VA
Topic: Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century

11/16/2008
Detroit, MI
Topic: Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century

11/18/2008
St. Louis, MO
Topic: Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century

11/19/2008
Fort Lee, New Jersey
Topic: Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century

12/2/08
Chabad of MD
Topic: Up, Up and Oy Vey! How Jewish History, Culture and Values, Shaped the Comic Book Superhero

12/3/2008
Tenement Museum, NY NY
Topic: Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century

12/4/2008
Richmond, VA
Topic: Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century

12/9/2008
Chabad of Flamingo
Topic: Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century

1/14/2009
Barnes & Noble, 106 Court Street Brooklyn Heights
Topic: Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century
Start 7pm

1/25/2009
Houston, TX
Topic: Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century

1/31/2009
Emunah
Topic: Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century

2/1/2009
Congregation Beth Israel, Greater Hartford
Topic: Up, Up and Oy Vey! How Jewish History, Culture and Values, Shaped the Comic Book Superhero

2/8/2009 12.15-1.15pm
New York Comic Con
Jews and Comics: A Cottage Industry
Rabbi Simcha in discussion with writers Arie Kaplan, Danny Fingeroth and comic book creators Al Jaffee and Jerry Robinson.

2/17/2009
Queensborough Community College
Holocaust Resource Center and Archives, Bayside, NY 11364

2/19/2009
Aliya Institute
525-527 E New York Ave, Brooklyn

5/26/2009
topic: comedy and cocktails 
Soho center for jewish life

6/5/2009 9:00PM (sharp)
JCC in Manhattan,
334 Amsterdam Avenue @ 76th St. NY, NY
To register, call the JCC: 646.505.5708
and ask for the “NEW SHABBAT TABLE DINNER”
or register online

8/14/2009
National Jewish Retreat
Hyatt Regency,
Greenwich CT
Topic: Up, Up and Oy Vey
www.jewishretreat.com

9/13/2009
Brooklyn Book Festival 2009 Program
Main Stage – Borough Hall Plaza
4:00 p.m. Obsessive Fun. Rabbis who write, gamers, comics and karaoke-ists. Authors Rabbi Simcha Weinstein (Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century), Ethan Gilsdorf (Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks), Brian Raftery (Don’t Stop Believin’) and Eddie Sarfaty (Mental) let their obsessions entertain you.

10/19/2009
Oxford College of Emory University,
Atlanta
Topic: Up, Up and Oy Vey
www.oxford.emory.edu
Download the EBrochure here

11/6/09
Chabad Community Center of Pacific Palisades
15207 W Sunset Blvd
Pacific Plsds, CA 90272-3567
(310) 454-7783
http://www.chabadpalisades.com/

11/8/2009 2pm
The Walters Art Museum
Graham Auditorium
600 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
Phone: 410-547-9000 ext.236
Fax: 410-837-4886
Topic: Up, Up and Oy Vey: How Jewish History, Culture, and Values Shaped the Comic Book Superhero
Rabbi Weinstein will discuss the relevance of a hero in film and life as created by co-authors Jerome Siegel and Joseph Shuster during the rise of fascism in 1930s Europe. A reception follows the book signing.
Pre-registration recommended
Register by clicking here
www.thewalters.org

11/9/09
Chabad of the Conejo
30345 Canwood Street
Agoura Hills, CA 91301

12/19/2009
Emunah of Teaneck
Topic: Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century

12/25/2009
Congregation Kehilath Jacob
THE CARLEBACH SHUL
305 West 79th Street New York NY 10024
Topic: Shtick Shift
http://www.carlebachshul.org/

1/16/2010
Chabad of Port Washington
Topic: Up, Up and Oy Vey!

1/31/2010 3pm
Holocaust Museum and Study Center
17 South Madison Ave
Spring Valley, NY 10977
http://www.holocauststudies.org/
Topic: War Time Motivation: Superheroes & the Holocaust

5/28/2010
Suffolk Y JCC in Commack
Topic: Up, Up and Oy Vey!

Additional dates to be announced soon.