Beth El – Keser Israel Events for August 2025
Tisha BeAv Programming
BEKI’s traditional Eicha service will be held Saturday night, Aug. 2. Eicha will be repeated with shacharit on Sunday morning, Aug. 3. Three presentations by congregants will follow. Bruce Spierer will speak on “Acceptance, Grief, and the Possibility for Renewal: Tisha B'Av as a Spiritual Practice.” Jay Sokolow will present “The Talmud’s account of the root of destruction—Kamtza and Bar Kamtza.” Then Steven Fraade will speak on Rabbinic responses to the destruction of the second temple. Details at beki.org.
Jennifer Quaye-Hudson
Jennifer Quaye-Hudson, Advocacy Director of Open Communities Alliance (OCA), will speak at BEKI on Saturday, August 2. Register for this event at office@beki.org. Founded in 2013, OCA is a civil rights organization that works to redress generations of discriminatory actions and policies based on race, ethnicity, and income in order to create open and inclusive housing opportunities in historically exclusionary communities. Sabbath rules will be observed.
Summer Art Exhibitions
Photographs of designs by Amy Reichert are on display in BEKI’s upstairs gallery space. She is not only an award-winning architect, but also a designer of Jewish ritual objects for both synagogues and homes. Reichert, a graduate of Yale University, where she received her B.A. and Master in Architecture, currently teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Work by New Haven artist Helen Rosenberg, who majored in fine art at the University of Vermont, is on display in the downstairs gallery space. She has worked in oil, watercolor, pencil, pastel, and lithography.
To arrange a time to visit either exhibition, email office@beki.org.
Children’s Programs
BEKI’s K-6 religious school, called BINA, is accepting registrations from member and non-member families through the BEKI office, 203.389.2108 x114 or office@beki.org. School resumes in September.
Children's Havura, K-2 Kehila, and Junior Congregation, all led by parent or grandparent volunteers, meet each Saturday, including during the summer. For more information, consult Education Director Annie Norman-Schiff at anormanschiff@beki.org.
<span class="fineprint">BEKI is located at 85 Harrison Street (corner of Whalley Avenue - Route 63 - in Westville)</span>
