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A Taste of Honey – This Year and Next The 19th annual A Taste of Honey on Jan. 26 was an exciting and eclectic evening of community Jewish learning. More than 300 people took part in the evening’s activities, which included Havdallah led by Rabbi Michael Farbman of Temple Emanuel, a book sale run by Linda Leff, a dessert reception catered by Mike’s Café and Bakery, and, of course, 48 educational breakout sessions on Jewish culture and scholarship.
and whether hunting is permissible. • Stanley Dalnekoff and Steve Xue discussing the history of Harbin Province, China, where a thriving Jewish community flourished in the first half of the 20th century. • The Young Emissaries, Yuval Barkan and Assaf Ben Kish, presenting on 65 remarkable Israeli personalities who shaped the country.
Looking Ahead to Next Year: Limmud Connecticut
A Taste of Honey participants compare class schedules.
This year, event organizers included even more sessions featuring interactive content and hot-button issues affecting the Jewish community. Some of the most exciting classes, according to participant evaluations, included: • Rachel Gur, former Legislative Director in the Knesset, discussing the impact of the recent Israeli elections. Gur’s fascinating presentation covered the major parties and explained how they each fared in the race and what that might mean for the future of Israel. • The debut of JCC Theaterworks with the workshop presentation of Jew-ish, a series of one-page plays exploring Jewish identity and starring community actors. • Rabbi Yaakov Komisar of Ezra Academy speaking on the relevant issue of gun control and what Judaism has to say about it – including whether it’s okay to own guns, carrying them on Shabbat, the circumstances under which one is permitted to fire a gun,
Next year, a Taste of Honey will team up with Limmud International to transform the event into the first-ever Limmud Connecticut. The Limmud Conference began in the United Kingdom in 1980 as a small gathering for Jewish educators and has since exploded into a festival of more than 2,500 Jews from all walks of life coming together in England for five days of shared learning and teaching. Since its founding, Limmud has sparked more than 60 mini-conferences in communities all over the world.
Rayzl Feuer of Pnai Shore leads a session on Spiritual Direction: A Modern Practice in the Ancient Tradition of Caring for the Soul.
Communities across Connecticut are planning to come together in New Haven for a full day of exciting learning. How will this be different from A Taste of Honey? The new format will certainly keep the soul of A Taste of Honey, just change the body into a Limmud day of learning: • Instead of Saturday night, the new program will be on a Sunday, allowing for many more sessions. • The day of learning will also feature a Little Limmud program for children ages 3-12, a Teen Limmud for ages 13-17 and babysitting for children younger than 3.
A Taste of Honey participants browse books for sale at the event.
• More convenient: participants will be able to pay for the entire day or select courses a la carte.
to providing an amazing program and to bringing our community together for dynamic Jewish learning.
• Lunch will be available as part of the new program.
By joining Limmud, New Haven becomes part of an international, transdenominational Jewish learning com-
Why the change? The JCC is dedicated
munity. In addition, the longer format on Sunday allows more people to be involved, including older adults and families with young children. To get involved, contact DeDe JacobsKomisar, JCC Cultural Arts Manager, at
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