Shames JCC

Words Matter: Fostering Healthy Relationships with Food
2023-02-15 18:30 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
Words Matter: Fostering Healthy Relationships with Food
When we talk about food, our language matters. It influences our relationship with food, and our families relationship with food. Join Nutrition Therapist Julia Vukicevic for a discussion that explores our language choices about food, analyzes how some of it came about and what it means,and presents tips for making language choices that foster a healthy and joyful relationship with food.
Julia Vukicevic, MS, RD, CEDRD-S is a Nutrition Therapist and Certified Eating Disorders Specialist in private practice in New York. Julia is passionate about helping people to rediscover self-trust, pleasure, and peace with food and their bodies. She incorporates principles of Intuitive Eating in her work, and strongly believes in utilizing a Health At Every Size® approach. Julia earned her Master?s in Nutrition Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, and her BFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

CO/LAB Theater Workshop
2023-02-12 14:15 - 15:45 | Shames JCC on the Hudson, 371 S. Broadway, Tarrytown, NY, 10591, United States
Co-Lab Theater Workshop
In this special workshop, CO/LAB Theater Company’s Teaching Artists provide high-quality theater programs for children and youth with disabilities. Participants will partake in a number of icebreaker games, learn new theater concepts, have the opportunity to develop new material, and perform for the group.

Journaling for Clarity and Growth: A Broad River Gathering for Women
2023-02-07 18:30 - 20:00
Journaling for Clarity and Growth: A Broad River Gathering for Women
Psychotherapist and author Jennifer Convissor will share how to start, deepen, and maintain a personalized journaling practice. She will share current motivational science, plus the benefits one can expect as a beginner, intermediate, and advanced journaler. She will also relate how to use journaling to road testing our resolutions for rightness of fit.
This event, facilitated by Laurie Hirsch Schulz, includes time for break out groups and prompted discussions as well as an opportunity to network with other women. Bring a notebook for journaling exercises and your flyers and business cards to promote your own businesses and projects.
During this workshop you will:
Gain insight into how to begin and maintain a journaling practice that works for you.
Hear how journaling helps develop self-compassion & the development of an inner “good coach”.
See how journaling helps improve focus, lessen reactivity and manage feelings.
Learn Jennifer’s recommendations for how, when, and where to journal, as well as how to journal when you don’t feel like journaling!
Experience how to use journaling to examine your resolutions for rightness of fit, by being in conversation with past, present, and future you.
Receive a special Broad River price of $15.98 for Journaling for Non-Journalers
Light snacks included.

Winter Gardening Workshop: Seed Starting and Sowing
2023-02-07 12:30
Bring some sunshine into your winter by planning your spring garden!
Did you know you can sow seeds as early as February? In this workshop, participants will learn about different seed sowing methods, soil selection, and garden planning. Then you’ll get hands-on experience planting your own batch of seeds in winter sowing containers.
Everyone will go home with their own sowing container and instructions on how to maintain the seeds until they’re ready to transplant for spring. All supplies are included and all levels are welcome!
About the instructor: Amy Pane has been the resident gardener here at the JCC since the spring of 2022, the inception year of the JCC vegetable garden. After graduating from college and living in Italy for 2 years, Amy returned home and attended culinary school in NYC. For the next 18 years she worked as a Food stylist, Recipe Tester and Recipe Developer. After moving to Irvington, Amy began taking gardening classes at the New York Botanical Gardens, and read any gardening book that she could get her hands on! She is very excited to share her passion of growing anything edible and flowering with members of the JCC.

Project Genesis: An Interfaith Conversation Between Two Clergy
2023-02-07 10:00 - 11:30
Project Genesis: An Interfaith Conversation Between Two Clergy
Two clergy from different faiths will analyze and discuss different interpretations of the books of Genesis.
Join Rabbi Jay Stein and Reverend Gareth Evans as they discuss the “Sacrifice Your Son” portion of Genesis 22:2, Together we explore the challenges and inspiration that the binding of Isaac story has to offer, exploring why and how this famous Biblical story influences the Judeo-Chritian thinking.
Project Genesis: The same story can have multiple meanings. The books of the Old Testament in particular are ripe with symbol, metaphor, and character, providing the reader with the opportunity to unpack and analyze the meanings. In Project Genesis, we will discuss different interpretations of some of the beloved stories we learned as children and now revisit as adults. Two clergy friends with insight from different faiths will serve as your guides: Reverend Gareth Evans of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church and Rabbi Jay M. Stein of Greenburgh Hebrew Center.

Can the UN be made more effective?
2023-02-06 10:00 - 11:00
The UN recently celebrated its 75th anniversary. But the nature of conflict and crisis has shifted, and the UNd needs to be adapted and strengthened to meet today’s global challenges and maintain credibility. This is worth the effort as the UN remains the key global institution with the all-important goal of securing world peace and security and controlling political violence. David Cheney will discuss the reforms needed, and what it will take to get there.
David M. Cheney is a consultant to international economic institutions, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and UN. He spent 24 years as Division Chief at the IMF. Previously. David was an economist at Chase Bank and at the US Export-Import Bank. He currently teaches courses on international economics and writing at the Global Affairs Center of NYU’s School of Professional Studies and runs a weekly discussion group on foreign affairs at the Manhattan JCC.

Special Film Screening and Director Discussion: Zaida
2023-02-05 15:00 - 16:30 | Chappaqua Public Library, 195 South Greeley Avenue, Chappaqua, NY, 10514, United States
Zaida
Please join us for a special film screening of Zaida, followed by a moderated discussion with Sophie Parens, the director of the film, and Bruce Apar, editorial director of River Journal. In the award-winning documentary short Zaida, director Sophie Parens tells the story of her grandfather, Holocaust survivor Dr. Henri Parens. Born in Lodz, Poland in 1928, Dr. Parens escaped Nazi-occupied Europe at age 12. He made it to the United States and went on to become a globally recognized psychoanalyst, dedicating his life’s work to the prevention of prejudice.
About Sophie Parens
Sophie Parens is a director and producer based in New York. Originally from Sleepy Hollow, she graduated from the New School for Drama with a concentration in Directing in 2017. She is the producer and director of the award-winning documentary short, Zaida. By day she does casting, producing, and directing for Simon and Schuster Audiobooks, and by night she is developing her next documentary.
Watch the trailer

Bash the Trash: Green Groove
2023-02-05 10:30 - 12:00
Bash the Trash: Green Groove
Brought to you by River Friends Day Camp, Camp Twelve Trails and Berkshire Hills!
Join us this Tu B’Shevat for a special performance and workshop with Bash the Trash! Bash the Trash’s Green Groove starts with a fast and funny performance that gives the scientific basics of sound, instruments, and instrument building, as well as driving home the environmental message of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. We’ll then build a variety of instruments using recycled/reused materials and take them around the J in a noisy, joyous parade!
Please collect/bring empty plastic water bottles 20oz or smaller. Thank you!

Challenging Times, Ageless Insights
2023-02-03 10:00 - 11:30
Challenging Times, Ageless Insights
Student Rabbi Solomon Hoffman from Mishkan Ha’am will draw from ancient Jewish stories from the Torah and Talmud to explore multiple perspectives on how we face the universal human challenges of sickness and death. The discussion will explore how these stories resonate today, and how they intersect with our recent experience of living through a pandemic. We will focus on how community and resilience show up in these narratives, and how these texts can support our individual and collective healing.

“Challenging Times, Ageless Insights” offers participants the opportunity to engage with clergy in exploring contemporary issues through a Jewish lens. These discussions will provide insights, debate, and if we are successful, even more questions.

America Calling: How our universities attract the world's talent and why it matters with Dr. Rajika Bhandari
2023-01-30 10:00 - 11:00
America Calling: How our universities attract the world’s talent and why it matters with Dr. Rajika Bhandari
For over 200 years, American colleges and universities have attracted students from around the world, with this type of educational exchange being a critical form of soft diplomacy for the U.S. Drawing upon her research and her award-winning memoir, America Calling: A Foreign Student in a Country of Possibility, Dr. Rajika Bhandari, an international higher education expert and local Irvington resident, will discuss the value of international students and skilled immigrants to the U.S., and how continuing to keep the doors open to global talent is critical to the economic, social, and cultural future of the country. Books will be available for sale and signing.

Family Workshop: Infused Honey Making + Tasting
2023-01-29 15:30 - 16:30
Family Workshop: Infused Honey Making + Tasting
In this interactive family workshop you will taste a variety of botanically infused honeys, make your own infused honey, and learn simple and fun applications.
Each family will leave with one customized infused honey creation and enjoy tasters on site. Please bring one small 4 oz mason jar for this class.
Registration is for one adult and one child 5+

Carnegie Hall Group Trip: We are Here: Songs from the Holocaust
2023-01-26 17:45 - 22:30
“We Are Here: Songs From The Holocaust” is a concert featuring songs written in the ghettos and concentration camps of Nazi-occupied Europe and the former Soviet Union. In the years after the Holocaust, Jewish artists collected and published fourteen songbooks of wartime music. From heart-wrenching folk ballads to up-tempo satire, these songs present a powerful spectrum of the human experience, interspersed with true stories about the artists? lives. This concert serves to honor the memory of those murdered during the Shoah and pay tribute to the artists who, in the worst of times, continued to create.
The concert will feature performances from Broadway stars such as Harvey Fierstein and Chita Rivera, pop artists, renowned Cantors, and a choir of New York City students.
Comfortable transportation to and from Carnegie Hall will be provided. The bus will leave the JCC at 5:45 PM and return after the event at approximately 10:30 PM. Space is limited to 14.
This event is generously subsidized by UJA/Verve 55+ Living. For more information about the concert go to https://www.wearehereconcert.com/

Women's Circle Art Night: Collage + Printmaking
2023-01-25 18:30 - 20:00
Join us for an artmaking workshop led by Shannon McDonough of The Smokestack, a nomadic artmaking series here in Westchester.
We will use recycled materials and paint to make textured papers with a simple and fun printmaking method called mono-printing. Our printed papers will be used to create collages in a design of your choice. You will be able to make greeting cards or a small artwork by the end of the session. No experience necessary!
$20 for members and $28 for non-members.

"The Diversity of Westchester Birds: From Eagles to Warblers."
2023-01-23 10:00 - 11:30
Join the Executive Director of the Saw Mill RIver Audubon as she shares beautiful images, sounds, videos of Westchester birds across the seasons and in various county birding hotspots. Tips on how to start birding and how to have bird-friendly, bird-safe properties whether residential, business or community-owned will also be covered.

Kids Yoga
2023-01-22 15:00 - 15:45
Through creative movement, sounds, and storytelling, your children will practice the valuable skill of breath and body awareness and self-love, all while having fun.

Lecture by John Gaccione, Westchester Dept. of Consumer Protection
2023-01-18 11:30 - 13:30
Lecture by John Gaccione, Westchester Dept. of Consumer Protection
Deputy Director John Gaccione will speak about what the Westchester Dept. of Consumer Protection does and how it is adapting to a changing marketplace.

MLK Day of Service 2023
2023-01-16 09:30 - 17:00
MLK Day of Service 2023
This MLK Day, January 16, 2023, 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.
We will have opportunities for all ages:
Decorate and pack “Blizzard Boxes”, which contain the makings of a complete meal, for food pantries around Westchester and the Bronx (family- friendly).
Sort medical supplies that the Afya Foundation will distribute to crisis settings around the world (adults and teens)
If you cannot come in person to our event but would like to contribute, we would appreciate donations of supplies from our Amazon Wishlist.
SIGN UP FOR DAY-OF ACTIVITIES

Lunch Club at Chutney Masala in Irvington, NY
2023-01-12 11:30 - 13:30
Join your fellow foodies for our next lunch outing to the highly rated Indian restaurant, Chutney Masala where you’ll dine on a multi course feast. Meals include options for vegetarians and meat-eaters alike. Bring your appetite!
The cost is $37 per person, tax and gratuity included. Bring a friend or come make new ones!
This event will be taking place at Chutney Masala, 76 Main St., Irvington, NY 10533. 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.

Social Club: Games Day
2023-01-11 11:30 - 13:30
Games Day
Join us for card games, Scrabble, Mexican train dominoes, Mah Jongg, and more.

Ukraine and the Power of Music with Irena Portenko
2023-01-09 10:00 - 11:00
Ukraine and the Power of Music with Irena Portenko
Since the start of the conflict in Ukraine nearly one year ago, internationally renowned Ukranian concert pianist and music teacher Irena Portenka has raised more than $70,000 by organizing and performing in concerts to assist displaced Ukrainian musicians and to support displaced families. She will draw from research and her own personal experience, to speak on how the transformative power of music affects people inside and outside Ukraine. This presentation includes a lecture and music listening experience.
About the Presenter:
Named to a “select circle” of pianists by The New York Times, Irena Portenko, DMA is a sought-after concert pianist, music educator and mentor. Born in Kyiv, Ukraine, Dr. Portenko first displayed a talent for the piano at age three, making her debut performing Haydn’s Keyboard Concerto in D Major with the Ukrainian National Orchestra at the age of eight.
Dr. Portenko has served as piano faculty at Sacred Heart University in Connecticut and at The Music Conservatory of Westchester in New York, teaching music history and theory classes and piano instruction. She received her bachelor’s degree from the Kyiv National Academy of Music, followed by her postgraduate degree from the Ukrainian National Academy of Music. She received her master’s and doctoral degrees in music and piano performance from the University of Michigan School of Music. She currently resides in Dobbs Ferry, New York.

Pre-Scribblers Art Workshop
2023-01-08 10:00 - 10:45
Pre-Scribblers Art Workshop
Pre-Scribblers Art Class (Ages 3-4)
Make art with Scribble and meet teacher Sioux at this Sunday workshop.

Challenging Time, Ageless Insights
2023-01-06 10:00 - 11:30
Challenging Time, Ageless Insights
We live in highly polarized times. But one of the Jewish people’s greatest strengths is our ability to simultaneously hold conflicting ideas and opinions. What wisdom can we draw from our Jewish tradition in order to help us better engage productive, rather than destructive, conversation over the fault lines that divide us? Join Temple Beth Shalom’s Rabbi Daniel Reiser for this insightful discussion.
“Challenging Times, Ageless Insights” offers participants the opportunity to engage with clergy in exploring contemporary issues through a Jewish lens. These discussions will provide insights, debate, and if we are successful, even more questions.

R&B/Soul Line Dancing with the Fun Bunch: FREE Intro Class
2023-01-04 18:30 - 19:30
New to line dancing? This class is for you! Join us for our 8-week series with Fun Bunch instructor, Steven Dillard. Your first class is free!
Using an upbeat and fun soundtrack as a backdrop, Steven will break down easy line dances that allow everyone to learn at a comfortable pace. You’ll learn basic steps, rhythms and routines choreographed to music. Not only is line dancing fun, it helps improve your memory, coordination, and balance at the same time.
Come for fantastic music and a great time!

Discussion: Looking on The Bright Side
2023-01-04 11:30 - 13:30
What were some of the positive events in your life in 2022?

It can be easy to focus on the negative when looking at the state of the world these days. But today we’re going to talk about the good stuff. Join us for a discussion about positive experiences you had in 2022. Did you celebrate a life cycle event with your family? Win Wordle in one guess? Anything goes!

Sibspace Lecture Series: Disability + Sexuality (Virtual)
2022-12-23 19:00 - 20:15 | Virtual
Sibspace Lecture Series: Disability + Sexuality
Hear from experts Michelle Ballan and Christine Barker on the topic of Disability and Sexuality. Presentation will include information on communicating about sexuality; future planning; supported decision-making and guardianship, as it applies to sexuality; assessments for sexuality; and the perspective of a self-advocate. We are looking forward to hosting this unique opportunity for information, support, and dialogue surrounding how adult siblings can best support and advocate for their brothers and sisters.

Second Night Hanukkah Party for Adults
2022-12-19 18:00 - 20:00
Hanukkah isn’t just for kids! Drop by the Mind Body Studio between 6-8 PM for crispy latkes and other holiday nosh while we celebrate and toast the second night of Hanukkah together.
BYO Hanukkah menorah for a community lighting. To give back, please consider bringing a small can of tomato soup and /or tuna fish for the food pantry boxes we will be assembling on our MLK Day of Service!.
This event is free for Shames JCC members and $12 for non-members. Pre-registration required.
See you there!

Protect Yourself Online with Roberta Goodman
2022-12-19 10:00 - 11:30
Even the savviest of consumers can still be compromised by online scams. Attorneys from the Pace Women’s Justice Center will highlight current tech scams to help you protect yourself online, especially during the busy holiday season. You’ll come away with helpful tools to safely use the internet while protecting your online identity.

Hanukkah Celebration & Hastings Flea
2022-12-18 10:00 - 14:00
Join us on December 18 for a day at the J full of community events and celebration of the festival of lights.
We are thrilled to be hosting the Hastings Flea from 10am-2pm, so come by to get special, unique holiday gifts for your loved ones. Stay for our community menorah lighting at 2pm!
For young children, we have a host of activities to keep them entertained. The WonderSpark Puppets will be bringing us a special show, The Lost Latkes, that will use story and songs to delight children while promoting themes including persistence and conflict resolution. Our friends from the Early Childhood Center, River Friends Day Camp, and Camp Twelve Trails will lead arts and crafts projects, and we’ll have Hanukkah sweet treats for all!
Register for the puppet show

Women's Circle: Winter Solstice Yoga and Acupuncture
2022-12-15 19:00 - 20:30
Welcome the winter solstice with an evening of embodied movement and acupuncture. We will be tuning into our winter energy: how it gets sent down to root, germinate, and rest. Tori Cronk, yoga instructor and Chryssa Tsakiris, acupuncturist will guide you through a gentle yoga flow and into a restorative practice. We’ll be adding harmonious, stress-relieving ear acupuncture seeds, with two optional calm-inducing acupuncture points on the head. No prior yoga experience is required. This offering is intended for all levels and all bodies, including the pregnant body.
Tori lives in Tarrytown and has been teaching yoga and facilitating women’s circles for the past 7 years. Tori combines her background in mental health and yoga and meditation that allows her to facilitate an experience where people feel seen and heard.
Chryssa is the owner and lead acupuncturist at Well Collab in Sleepy Hollow with a dedication to adolescent health, fertility, and women’s health. She has a special interest in anti-patriarchy and intersectional feminist health work.

Step One Consulting Workshops: From Diagnosis to Solutions
2022-12-15 18:30 - 20:00
Attorney Lauren Weinberg will lead a series of workshops designed to help individuals and families navigate the complexities of supportive services and mental health systems for children and adults with disabilities or functional limitations.
From Diagnosis to Solutions
Your child has received a disability diagnosis. How can you set them up for success and independence? This workshop will provide an overview of OPWDD (Office of People with Developmental Disabilities), eligibility requirements and steps to access this system, and the array of benefits it provides for children and adults.
