We fast on Tisha B’Av—this year on August 1—and we fast on Yom Kippur. But there is a world of difference between the two days. Rabbi Shmuel Goldin will compare and contrast the unique characteristics of each day when he addresses Dor L’Dor’s lunch and learn program at Englewood’s Congregation Ahavath Torah on Tuesday, July 25. Participants will enjoy the usual learning and socializing, but there is a special, bittersweet aspect to this get-together: It will be the last time, after five years, that Rabbi Goldin will lead the group before making aliyah in September.
“Rabbi Goldin has taught a class for us before every chag,” said Ruth Schapiro, head of the Dor L’Dor committee. “People come to hear him from all over the area. For newcomers, it’s exciting to hear him speak. We draw a diverse population and he is able to reach all attendees, Orthodox to unaffiliated. We take away the lessons he conveys to us, and they become part of our lives.”
Rabbi Goldin said that these upcoming fast days are both very similar and very different. “From the outside view, they are the only two full-length fast days on the calendar and they share the same restrictions. But Tisha B’Av is rooted in mourning and Yom Kippur is optimistic and celebratory in spite of the restrictions.” He will explain how we trace the origins of these days in the Torah. “Midrash traces Tisha B’Av to the meraglim (spies) and Yom Kippur to the chet haegel (sin of the golden calf),” he said.
Rabbi Goldin said he has been honored to learn with the men and women who come to his Dor L’Dor classes. “It has been a wonderful development in the community. Synagogues often focus on younger members. But mature members who are home, and have time during the day, benefit from programming designed for them. This makes the synagogue the center of their lives as well.” He also said he is thrilled that the group includes regular Torah learning along with trips and cultural events.
The program on July 25 will include a film with special local significance. “Names, Not Numbers” is produced annually by The Moriah School’s eighth grade graduating class to teach about the Holocaust through interviews with survivors. Mrs. Schapiro said several people from our area are profiled in this year’s film.
There will also be a special tribute to Rabbi Goldin with a gift from the committee. “We want to give hakaras hatov to the rabbi at our last program with him,” Mrs. Schapiro said. “We encourage all the participants who have been coming during the years to join us.” For more information, visit https://www.ahavathtorah.org/event/dor-ldor-lunch-and-learn4.html.
Dor L’Dor began in 2000 as the Road Scholars, a group of retirees who wanted to take stimulating, cultural day trips. When the founders moved on, a new group of volunteers took on the task of coordinating trips. At the same time, Mrs. Schapiro was organizing shirium for less-active seniors living at Englewood’s Roosevelt Condominiums, bringing in Rabbi Mordechai Gershon, then assistant rabbi of Ahavath Torah, and Rabbi Zev and Mrs. Chana Reichman of East Hill Synagogue. She worked with Rabbi Goldin’s wife, Barbara, to combine the groups and bring them to Ahavath Torah. When Mrs. Goldin returned to the workforce two years later, Mrs. Schapiro recruited a new committee and changed the name of the group to reflect its evolving mission. “My husband and I came up with the name Dor L’Dor to show that our activities are intergenerational. They aren’t just for retirees but for anyone who has the time and interest—people working at home with flexible schedules, mothers with children at school, even students who might be off for the day. The committee enthusiastically agreed to the name change.”
Dor L’Dor takes attendees on day trips, brings in speakers and holds film screenings. The group has been addressed by historian Joel Berkowitz, an expert on synagogues throughout the world, and Ruchama Feuerman, a Passaic author of essays and fiction. Dor L’Dor has screened the films “Woman in Gold,” “Paper Clips” and Denial.”
Two-part art-appreciation days include brunch with a lecture by local artist and art educator Sheryl Urman about a current exhibit, followed by a bus trip to the museum or gallery to view the works, usually with a docent tour. You can choose to attend just the presentation and lunch, if time or lack of mobility precludes the bus trip. “What’s amazing about Sheryl’s presentations is that she not only gives us insight into the art, but the history and culture of the period,” Mrs. Schapiro said. “And she always brings in the Jewish context—knowledge about related Jewish personalities and the condition of Jews at the time the artist was doing his or her work.” Dor L’Dor has gone to the Metropolitan, the Whitney, the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), the New York Botanical Garden, the Museum of Jewish Heritage and the Montclair Art Museum.
After a summer break, Dor L’Dor events will continue in the fall. On September 12, Dor L’Dor welcomes Rabbi Chaim Poupko, who is succeeding Rabbi Goldin, to talk about the upcoming Yamim Noraim. On October 25, Sheryl Urman will talk about the American artist Dale Chihuly and his spectacular installations with glass, ice, water and neon. Following the lecture and brunch, the group will go to the New York Botanical Garden to view his work created especially for this exhibit.
By Bracha Schwartz
