Shames JCC

Free Massages
2023-12-11 10:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York)
Get a free 10 minute massage at the J! Michelle Pachon has been a New York State Licensed Massage Therapist for nine years now. She specializes in Swedish, CTT (deep tissue), Sports massage and Myofascial release. It’s her goal to help people on their journeys to finding a pain free/manageable life, and she will be offering complimentary services to JCC members!

Kitty Cuddle Session
2023-12-11 13:00 - 14:00
Come spend an hour socializing with kittens and watch your cares melt away! Animal therapy and rescue organization Rock n’ Rescue is bringing a group of adorable (and adoptable!) kittens to the JCC for a mutually good time. Participants can sit on the floor or on chairs; all toys and supplies are included. This session is for adults only and space is limited.
Suggested donation $10 (all monies go directly to Rock and Rescue)

From Baptism to B’ Mitzvah: exploring Rituals in Judaism and Christianity
2023-12-12 10:00 - 11:00
Coming of Age: Confirmations and B’Mitzvahs
Rev Garth Evans, St. Barnabas, and Rabbi Jay Stein, Greenburgh Hebrew Center
These discussions by two clergy leaders will explore lifecycle events and rituals through the lens of two different faiths. Across diverse religions and cultures, there are ceremonies and traditions acknowledging a child’s maturation and entrance into adulthood. We will examine how Jews and Christians mark these transitions and how the communal responsibilities of young adults in each faith develop and evolve.

CANCELED Create an NFL Football Bracket (with prizes!)
2023-12-12 13:00 - 14:00
Love football? How well can you predict the outcome of a game? On Dec. 17, sixteen NFL games will be played; this program will help you come up with a bracket that is sure to succeed! Football enthusiast and analyst Ayan Adler will get you up to date about today’s NFL teams, including their recent successes and challenges, so you can predict which teams will win the upcoming weekend. How many will you guess right? Winners receive a small cash prize.
This program is lots of fun and no football experience (or passion) is necessary!

Wednesday Film Screening: The Levys of Monticello
2023-12-13 11:30 - 13:30
When Thomas Jefferson died in 1826, he left behind a mountain of personal debt, which forced his heirs to sell his beloved Monticello home and all of its possessions to the Levy family. The Levys of Monticello tells the little-known story of this family, which owned and carefully preserved Monticello for nearly a century. The remarkable story of the Levy family also intersects with the rise of antisemitism and stain of slavery that runs throughout the course of American history.

Latkes, Lights, and Live Music!
2023-12-13 18:30 - 20:00
Adults of all ages are invited to enjoy crispy latkes and a show-stopping toppings board by Kate Sonders Solomon as we toast the 7th night of Hanukkah together. Local Americana band The Sweet Vermouths will play old and new Hannukah favorites along with other uplifting holiday music. BYO chanukiyah for a community lighting at 7 pm!
By donation for members; $18 for non-members

Holiday Pop-Up: Handmade ceramics from local artist Maggie Chow
2023-12-14 09:00 - 12:00
Products for the homemade with non-leaded glaze, see here: https://ceramicsbymaggiechow.com/

Friday Night Sensory Friendly Swim
2023-12-15 18:00 - 19:30 | Shames JCC
Friday Night Sensory Friendly Swim
Join us for our monthly Friday night free-swim to families who have an immediate member with a special need. The pool will be exclusively reserved for this event, so that we can ensure a sensory-friendly pool environment for a fun family night out!
Please note:
-We ask that at least one person over the age of 18 accompany the individual with a supportive need to ensure safety.
-Swim levels will be determined upon arrival. For those who wish to swim in the deep end, a swim test will be conducted.
-If your family member needs 1:1 assistance, we ask that you please come prepared to get in the pool with them or ensure they are accompanied by someone in the pool over 18 who can support their needs.

Israeli Culture Connection
2023-12-19 11:00 - 11:45
Come connect with our Shishin (Junior Israeli ambassador) Noy Laufer, born in Haifa. Her family currently lives in Moshav Avigdor, a small village 40 minutes south of Tel Aviv. Noy is spending her gap year after graduating high school working with different institutions. Noy will share her experiences and perspectives as an Israeli.
Light refreshments will be served.

Verve Book Club “The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder” by David Grann
2023-12-20 11:30 - 13:00
On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive,with an extraordinary tale to tell. They were survivors of His Majesty’s Ship the Wager, a British vessel that had left England in 1740 on a secret mission. The men, were marooned for months and traversed 2500 miles of storm-wracked seas. They were greeted as heroes.
But then…six months later, another, even more decrepit craft landed on the coast of Chile. This boat contained just three castaways, and they told a very different story. As accusations of treachery and murder flew, the Admiralty convened a court martial to determine who was telling the truth. The stakes were life-and-death—for whomever the court found guilty could hang.
David Grann unearths the deeper meaning of the events, showing that it was not only the Wager’s captain and crew who were on trial – it was the very idea of empire.

Israel at War: A Pivotal Moment
2023-12-20 19:00 - 20:30
Avi Melamed, Israeli intelligence analyst, will lead a special briefing on what led to the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas and potential outcomes for Israel and the region. This discussion and Q&A session will provide important context to the current state of affairs to increase understanding of why and how the war came to be–and what the future might look like.
Avi Melamed is a former Israeli intelligence official and senior Arab affairs advisor. He is the founder of Inside the Middle East, an apolitical non-partisan educational nonprofit providing analysis on current affairs. Ari is the author of Inside the Middle East: Entering a New Era. He has been a featured expert in the media including CNN, Newsweek, and USA Today.

Out to Lunch with the JCC: Medi Bistro Persian Cuisine
2023-12-21 12:30 - 14:00
$30 cash per person (taxes, gratuity, and parking validation included)
Join your fellow foodies for a delicious holiday lunch! Medi Bistro specializes in Persian and Mediterranean food served family style so everyone gets to share. Led by noted tri-state restaurateur Par Shakiban, Medi Bistro offers a sophisticated but accessible experience in a beautiful atmosphere. Your lunch will include a salad, eggplant appetizer, chicken and beef kabobs, and rice.
Please bring your appetite and $30 cash to pay at the restaurant; this covers all food costs, tax, and tip, and parking validation!
NOTE ON TRANSPORTATION: This event will be taking place at Medi Bistro, 50 Main Street, White Plains, NY 10606. Parking is metered but the restaurant will validate your ticket. If you need a ride to the restaurant from the JCC or have room in your car for others, please email cjacobs@shamesjcc.org when you register.
Location: 50 Main Street, White Plains, NY 10606

Feldenkrais Workshop
2023-12-27 18:30 - 20:00
Discover how you can move more intelligently, comfortably, intuitively, freely and powerfully in this all levels workshop. Join Feldenkrais Practitioner Doron Tadmor as he guides you through this fascinating, fun, and transformative somatic education method. Feldenkrais uses gentle movement and directed attention to help people learn new and more effective ways of living the life they want.
Participants have the choice of lying down on a mat or sitting on a chair. Feldenkrais is for every body! Please wear comfortable clothes and bring a yoga mat if you like. We will also have ones available.

Hot Topics
2024-01-03 11:30 - 13:00
FREE for members and non-members
Come discuss the week’s social and political issues with your fellow news enthusiasts. With timely and changing international, national, and local issues from the news arenas of government, arts, sports, science, and religion, we welcome all participants to voice their ideas. All points of view are welcome in this lively, thought-provoking, and civil discussion. Feel free to bring your lunch and/or a friend!

Challenging Times, Ageless Insights Climate Crisis: What Do Our Sages Say?
2024-01-05 10:00 - 11:30
Our ancestors lived their lives in sync with the environment around them. Their lives were tied to the agricultural cycles and moon phases. When the rain did not fall in its season, they prayed and fasted. We will unpack what our Jewish texts say about responding to environmental changes and how they are relevant to our present climate crisis.

Putin and the Roots of Russian Invasion (Part II)
2024-01-08 10:00 - 11:30
In this two-session series, Professor Jess Velona explores how Putin’s autocracy and invasion of Ukraine have strong parallels throughout modern Russian history. The discussion will examine how Tsarist and Soviet Communist regimes, for all of their differences, exhibited commonalities including a penchant for imperial expansion, suppression of ethnic and national traditions, and scorn for democracy and individual rights. We’ll explore how this culminated in the Gulag, the Great Terror, deliberate famine in Ukraine, the consequences of the Soviet collapse, and finally, how these events led to Putin’s fight to restore Russia’s imperial glory.
About the Presenter: Jess Velona has taught courses on Russian history, the Nazi regime, and other topics at Fordham University’s College at 60 and NYU’s School of Professional Studies, as well as African American history at CUNY’s College of Staten Island. He has been a Lecturer-in-Law at Columbia Law School since 2006. Jess graduated from Harvard College and received an MA in history from NYU before completing Columbia Law School. He was a law clerk for then-Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, As a one time candidate for public office in Manhattan and former aide to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Jess loves sharing his passion for politics and history with students and adult audiences across the New York metropolitan area.

The Rosenberg Trial: A Dramatic Transcript Reading
2024-01-08 13:00 - 14:00
In 1951, the US government accused Julius and Ethel Rosenberg of spying for the Soviet Union. The case reverberated around the world, damaging the relationship between the US and the USSR as well as sending shockwaves into an already traumatized Jewish community still recovering from the Holocaust. The Rosenbergs’ conviction and execution may be a familiar story to many– but the trial itself is not. In this program, Aytan Adler will lead participants in a dramatic reading of the edited trial transcript. Much like a table reading for a play, participants will be assigned parts (judge, attorney, plaintiff, etc.) with time for discussion. Bring your curiosity and creative spirit!

A Tree of Life: The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting
2024-01-10 11:30 - 13:30
A Tree of Life, directed by Trish Adlesic, recounts the aftermath of the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in US history. Through the lens of survivors, families, and the community that bore the brunt of this tragic event, the film paints a stark yet inspiring picture of resilience and unity in the face of hate. Running time is 80 minutes + time for discussion.

Foreign Affairs Discussion Group: Can the IMF Still Rescue the World Economy?
2024-01-10 19:00 - 20:15
The IMF is perhaps the most important and least understood global economic institution in the world today. But it has lost some of its mojo since the backlash against globalization started a few years ago—a globalization that it helped encourage through its free-market policy prescriptions. How relevant is it in a more shock-prone world that is increasingly nationalistic, protectionist, and anti-democratic? And what is it doing to address today’s serious global crises?

J Sports Academy Open House
2024-01-11 19:00 - 20:00
Questions about camp and want to learn more? Come meet camp leadership to hear more about our programs!
At J Sports Academy, young athletes will spend their summer receiving professional coaching, developing skills, and most importantly, having fun. Utilizing the extraordinary facilities of The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, J Sports Academy provides participants with four hours of training in either basketball, soccer, or tennis, along with swimming, sports electives, and other camp activities.

Moving To Stillness: A Special 90 Minute Yoga Class
2024-01-14 10:00 - 11:30
We are thrilled to offer you an opportunity to experience three of our yoga instructors simultaneously while moving you through three different genres of yoga. First, Lisa will take you through movement and breathwork to develop strength and mobility. Next, you will experience Yin yoga where Kimberly will guide you into gentle poses, allowing the body, mind, and emotions the time to settle and release. The final part of the class will be led by Bari, including postures, mantras, and delicious guided relaxation and sound healing.
Please bring a Yoga Mat and a blanket or large towel.

MLK Day of Service
2024-01-15 09:30 - 14:30
There is strength in numbers and power in shared purpose.
This MLK Day, January 15, 2024, the Shames JCC is joining UJA and a variety of partners from across New York to work together toward a stronger future for all.
Join us at the J for meaningful volunteer opportunities that will make a difference in the lives of individuals, our community, and the greater community to which we all belong. Families can decorate and pack “Blizzard Boxes”, which contain the makings of a complete meal, for food pantries around Westchester and the Bronx. Adults will work with our Generation Forward volunteers to sort medical supplies for the Afya Foundation to distribute to crisis settings around the world.
We have opportunities for all ages, in 90-minute shifts throughout the day.

Exploring Rituals in Judaism and Christianity Marriage and Divorce
2024-01-16 10:00 - 11:00
Join Rabbi Jay Stein of Greenburgh Hebrew Center and Reverend Gareth Evans of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church to explore marriage and divorce rituals through the lens of two different faiths.
In the Jewish tradition, marriage is called kiddushin, which means to make something holy. Sometimes, a couple cannot and should not stay together, therefore needing to uncouple. Just as both the Jewish and Christian faiths have a way of consecrating the union, both seek to find ways of permitting a couple to move on in the hopes that the love they once held for each other might direct them as to how to separate. Join us as we explore rituals and scriptures from both faiths to help people mark these milestones in their lives.
This lecture is a part of the From Baptism to B’ Mitzvah: Exploring Rituals in Judaism and Christianity series.

Out to Lunch with the JCC: O Mandarin Chinese restaurant
2024-01-17 12:30 - 14:00
Join your fellow foodies for our next lunch outing to the beloved O Mandarin Restaurant in Hartsdale! Your meal includes your choice of soup, lunch entree, plus tea or coffee. O Mandarin is known for its freshly prepared and creative Chinese cuisine served in an elegant dining room.
The menu is suitable for vegetarians and meat-eaters alike. The cost is $20 per person (to be brought in cash), and includes all taxes and gratuity. Bring your appetite and a friend, or come make new ones! These events are always lots of fun and are open to all.
$20 cash covers all food, tax, and tip
NOTE: We will be meeting at O Mandarin, 361 N Central Ave in Hartsdale, NY 10530, located in the same strip mall as H Mart. There is plenty of parking available. If you need a ride to the restaurant from the JCC or have room in your car for others, please email cjacobs@shamesjcc.org when you register.

Reel To Real Film and Discussion Series: Misery
2024-01-18 18:30 - 22:00
Join Scott Bloom, LCSW-R and film enthusiast, for the kick-off to a new series that explores cinematic themes and how they play out in real life. The first selection is Misery, directed by Rob Reiner and based on the book by Stephen King.
One of the more curious phenomena of our time and culture is fandom and the rise of we-ness–the fanatical affinity that people have for sports teams, rock stars, and celebrities. In Misery, danger awaits when psychic boundaries become so blurred that a person doesn’t know where fantasy begins and ends. Misery sets the stage for us to discuss the role of we-ness in our culture and how symbiotic relationships– with each other and within ourselves– are more pervasive than we care to acknowledge.
Program schedule:
6:30: Dinner available
7:00: Welcome & Introduction to the film
7:15: Film begins
9:00-10:00: Discussion (stay as long as you like!)
About the presenter: Scott Bloom has spent his 33-year career at the intersection of mental health, schools, and communities. He was the founding director of School Mental Health Services for the New York City Department of Education, where he built a city-wide system of mental health services and resources in over 1800 city schools to better serve the needs of 1.2 million students and families. Mr. Bloom has certification as a psychotherapist and a private practice and supervision in New York City. He is currently the director of special projects at New York Psychotherapy and Counseling Center.

Ossining Artist Alfred Algate and the Most Ambitious Exploring Expedition You’ve Never Heard Of
2024-01-22 10:00 - 11:30
Alfred Agate was the illustrator for one of the most ambitious and largest scientific exploratory expeditions that you‘ve never heard of – an epic voyage that sailed to South America, the South Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica, the West Coast of North America, the Philippines, and Indonesia. He was born in Sparta, now part of Ossining, and was a very successful portrait and miniature painter before he went to sea. In this image-packed talk, Ossining Town Historian Caroline Curvan presents a fascinating piece of little-known local history.
About the presenter: Caroline Curvan is the current Ossining town historian. She is also a professional researcher, writer, and Broadway stage manager, as well as a teacher of English composition, literature, and research at the college level. Caroline’s recent career highlights include co-authoring Croton Point Park: Westchester’s Jewel on the Hudson, serving as the lead researcher for the PBS/American Masters documentary Laura Ingalls Wilder: Prairie to Page, and being the stage manager for Broadway shows including The Kite Runner, The Collaboration, Kinky Boots, and Chicago.

Israeli Culture Connection with Noy
2024-01-23 11:00 - 12:00
Come connect with our Shishin (Junior Israeli ambassador) Noy Laufer, born in Haifa. Noy is spending her gap year after graduating high school working with different institutions. In a roundtable conversation, she will share her experiences and perspectives as an Israeli. Light refreshments will be served.

Games and More
2024-01-24 11:30 - 13:00
FREE for members and non-members
Grab a friend or meet a new one over a good game. We provide Scrabble, playing cards, Rummikub, Mah Jongg, Othello, chess, and more; you’re also welcome to bring your own. Feel free to bring your lunch!

Verve Goes to the Movies at Jacob Burns
2024-01-24 14:00 - 15:30
Shortlisted for Best International Feature for the 2024 Academy Awards®
Winner of the Grand Prix at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival
Commandant of Auschwitz Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel), along with his wife Hedwig (played by Anatomy of a Fall‘s Sandra Hüller), strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden next to the camp. Based on the novel by Martin Amis, The Zone of Interest forces us to take a cold look at the mundanity behind an unforgivable brutality. Running time 106 minutes.
Participants are responsible for their open transportation and carpooling is available – email cjacobs@shamesjcc.org by Jan. 21 if you want to share a ride.

Tu B’Shevat Pop-up
2024-01-25 15:00 - 17:00
Celebrate Tu B’Shevat, the Jewish Birthday of the Trees, with Yanira in the lobby! Join us for a joyful gathering as we plant parsley, a symbolic herb used at the Passover table. Let’s come together to honor nature and embrace the spirit of growth and renewal on this special occasion.
