Since the Bernikow JCC opened, it has been our ambition to provide art and culture as a comprehensive part of our programming. Programs include lectures, musical performances, a book club, film club, theater trips, and more! 

If you love our cultural arts programs, please consider making a donation here. 
Your support helps us continue to present world-class entertainment and educational seminars.

Learn more about our upcoming programs below!

REGISTER HERE

HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR PROGRAM – CAFÉ EUROPA
​The JCC is looking for all Holocaust survivors on Staten Island to join its Café Europa program, which is an ongoing way to empower survivors to socialize, and share their experiences. Please, if you are a first or second generation Holocaust survivor, and are not yet participating in the Café Europa program, contact Sarah Cohen.
Contact person: Sarah Cohen
Email: Sacohen@SIJCC.com
Phone: (718) 475-524


If you missed any of the lectures, you can also purchase access to a recording of the lecture on demand by buying a ticket! Recorded versions of the lectures will be available approximately 24 hours following the event.

SAJE Presents: Jewish Film Series with Dr. Julia Wagner
A 5-part online course exploring representations of Jewish experience & culture on screen, from the origins of cinema to today

• Part One: What Makes a Jewish Film Jewish? Early silent film & classic Hollywood January 3, 12-1 pm 
• ​Part Two: Holocaust Films: Major movements & ethical considerations of representations of the Holocaust January 10, 12-1 pm
• Part Three: Israeli Cinema: Nation building & cultural identity January 17, 12-1 pm
• Part Four: Heroes and Schlemiels: Jewish masculinity on screen January 31, 12-1 pm
• Part Five: I'll Have What She’s Having: Trailblazers & comediennes—Jewish women in film February 7, 12-1 pm

Tickets $12 per lecture or $50 for the series and can be purchased here

Broadway's Great Jewish Composing Teams: A 4-part series with Fred Grieco
Wednesdays 7pm, January 27 - February 17
Join us for a discussion of the legendary Jewish composing teams who helped define the Broadway musical.

• Part 1: Rodgers & Hammerstein
• Part 2: Lerner & Loewe
• Part 3: Comden & Green
• Part 4: Kander & Ebb

Tickets are $12 per lecture or $40 for the series and can be purchased here. Zoom link will follow your registration.

SAJE Presents... Mesmerizing Moments at the Museums of Europe: a 6-part Online Lecture Series with Peter Whitehouse
Tuesdays, 1pm - February 2 -March 9

• Journey across Europe without ever leaving the comfort of your home & see the treasures on display at some of the world's greatest museums! We'll be exploring museums including the Hermitage, the Louvre, the Prado, Museo di Capodimonte, Kunsthistorisches, Musee des Beaux-Arts, and more!

Tickets are $12 per lecture or $60 for the series and can be purchased here. Zoom link will follow your registration.

​SAJE Presents... Our Man in Damascus: A Presentation by Abraham Cohen, Brother of Eli Cohen
Sunday, February 21, 11am

• Abraham will give insight into the life and times of his brother, Eli, who lived in the areas of Egypt, Israel, and Syria. His important contributions and sacrifices led to Israel's security in the promised homeland. His work played a key role in Israel's victory in the Six-Day War.

Email SGrego@SIJCC.com to register
Zoom Meeting ID: 934 3937 3699
Passcode: JCCSPY

Sponsored by: Global Gold & Silver: Sell Gold, Silver, Diamonds in NYC & NJ, Aur Torah Sephardic Minyan, Susan & Jack Bender, and the Council of Jewish Organizations of Staten Island.
Register here. Donations are suggested.

​Ritual Intersections in the Music Studio
Sunday, February 21, 6pm
Tune in to a musical Freedom Seder featuring the Afro-Semantic Experience in celebration of what unites the Jewish, Black, and Jewish-Black communities. Purchase tickets here. Zoom link will be sent to you after registration.

​SAJE Presents... Biblical Bus Tour of Israel: A NEW virtual experience!
February 22 - February 26, 10:30am

• Join us for a weeklong virtual bus tour, where you'll discover ancient biblical sites with tour guide & explorer Dani Margolis of Dani Eco Tours!
• During our bus tour, we'll be "visiting" the following sites: 
  • Monday: Jericho and the crossing of the Israelites into the Promised Land
  • Tuesday: The City of David and its underground passages
  • Wednesday: The Temple Mount and a discussion of the possible location of the Temple of Solomon
  • Thursday: Tel Megiddo, one of the first classic archeological dig sites
  • Friday: Dan, a wonderful biblical city at the source of the Jordan River

Tickets are $15 per day OR $60 for the entire week and can be purchased here. Zoom information to follow registration. Sponsored by Shelly Blackman.

​SAJE Presents... Film Talkback: Children of the Inquisition
Sunday, February 28, 8pm

• Children of the Inquisition is a documentary that examines the descendants of families forced to convert to Catholicism or flee during the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions. Join filmmaker Joseph Lovett for a talkback with award-winning novelist Mary Morris about this groundbreaking film that challenges our ideas about history, identity, and Judaism.

Presented in partnership with Boulder JCC. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased here. Zoom information to follow registration.

SAJE Presents: Jewish Genealogy Workshop
Monday, March 15, 12pm-1:30pm

• Join Rabbi Scott Kalmikoff for a virtual workshop on genealogy! Rabbi Kalmikoff will discuss the tools you can use to discover your family's history and learn more about who you are.

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased here. Zoom information to follow registration.

​SAJE Presents... Klezmer for the 21st Century
Tuesday, March 16, 7pm

• Celebrate Jewish Music Month with a live, interactive performance and Q&A by the San Francisco Yiddish Combo! The San Francisco Yiddish Combo performs a unique brand of Klezmer music, infused with the musicians' backgrounds in jazz, blues, folk, and hip-hop music.

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased here. Zoom information to follow registration.

SAJE Presents: How Krav Maga Helped to Change the Mentality of the Jewish People
Wednesday, March 24, 7pm

• Join us for a fascinating lecture by Steve Lerner on the history and influence of Krav Maga, a self-defense and fighting system developed by the Israeli Defense Forces.

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased here. Zoom information to follow registration.

A Gracie Mansion Conservancy Virtual Art Tour... "Catalyst: Art and Social Justice"
Wednesday, April 14, 2:30pm

• Join us for a virtual tour of an art exhibition housed at Gracie Mansion! The tour will highlight works by New York artists & activists since 1960, celebrating the power of art to spark change & spur progress.

*Limited tickets available​​*
Tickets are $10 and can be purchased here. Zoom information will be sent to registered participants one week before the tour.
​
Book Club:
All Book Club meetings take place at 12:30pm. 
Check back for Zoom information soon for these upcoming dates:
​The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett on January 21st
Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu (National Book Award winner) on February 18th
Deacon King Kong by James McBride on March 18th
Gift of Diamonds and Love Odyssey both by Roberta Seret on April 22nd
Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami on May 20th

Program Reviews

Past Classes:

Watch parts 1 & 2 of our virtual tour of the Northern Transylvania Holocaust Memorial Museum:

Watch parts 1 & 2 of our special event, Memories of a Child Holocaust Survivor in Terezin:

Watch our Rosh Hashanah Baking Demo with Sherry Sabbagh of C&J Bakehouse. Watch parts 1 & 2 to learn how to make apple cobbler and apple puff pastry braid (recipes below the videos):

Apple Cobbler:
3 apples (peeled,sliced thinly)
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter (cut into pieces)
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
Dash of cinnamon
Mix the sugar, cinnamon, and apples to coat evenly and pour mixture into baking dish.
For the topping: mix the butter, flour, brown sugar and mix it up with your hands until crumbles start to form.
Pour all the crumble over the apples and bake at 350 for 40 min or until you see golden brown top.
​
Apple Puff Pastry Braid:
Puff pastry sheet (rolled out)
2 apples (peeled, thinly sliced)
3 tablespoons brown sugar
Dash of cinnamon
1/4 cup walnuts
Mix apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, walnuts together until coated. Leave aside.
Roll out puff pastry sheet to fit dimensions of baking tray or a bit smaller.
Put apple mixture along the middle of the pastry sheet leaving enough room along the edges to cut slits for the braid.
Starting from the top edge, cut quarter inch thick slits on the diagonal. Do same on other side of pastry dough cutting slits the opposite way.
From the top, fold the extra piece of dough over the apples to cover it from leaking out. Start to fold the strips over the apples alternating sides (like a braid!). Do all the way till the end and fold the bottom piece of dough over the apples (same as top).
Brush the braid with egg wash. Sprinkle sugar and walnuts over the egg wash and bake at 350 for 35 mins.

Watch our Tisha B'av series, featuring various rabbis and speakers. Below is Rabbi Katzman's lecture:

Watch our Tisha B'av series, featuring various rabbis and speakers. Below is part 1 & 2 of Rabbi Sussman:

Watch our Tisha B'av series, featuring various rabbis and speakers. Below is part 1 & 2 of Rabbi Kastel:

Watch our Tisha B'av series, featuring various rabbis and speakers. Below is part 1 & 2 of Rabbi Howald:

Watch our July Rabbi/Rebbetzin Series with Rebbetzin Chaya Segal. Rebbetzin Segal spoke about "The Three Weeks of Mourning," to learn how to apply the lessons of the Jewish calendar to your own day-to-day perspectives (parts 1 & 2):

Watch our June Rabbi/Rebbetzin Series with Rebbetzin Katzman on the topic of Women & Empowerment in Judaism (parts 1 & 2):

Check out our virtual gallery tour with Jill Krutick here: https://www.jillkrutickfineart.com/blog
Jill is offering signed limited edition prints as a thank you for your attendance. If you would like one, please email her your mailing address at JSK@jillkrutickfineart.com and she will forward a print to you. You can pick which print you would like from the options below. 

Watch our Yom Yerushalayim Virtual Celebration:

Our Rabbi/Rebbetzin Series featuring Rebbetzin Ivry on "The Soul and the Afterlife":

Watch our Music for Healing class with Joelle Cohen (parts 1 & 2):

Check out this lecture on "How to Stop Emotional Eating" — A Lecture by Laura Shammah, MS, RDN, which took place on Monday, May 11th:

Check out our Virtual Art Tour, which took place on April 6th:

The Many Eishet Chayil of Art History - An Examination of the Most Famous Paintings of Women with Ronnit Vasserman
Given our current reality of staying at home and social distancing the lecture will take us on an exploration around the world where we will virtually visit masterpieces of women in leading museums around the globe. 
The lecture will focus on famous female portraits throughout art history.  A thorough analysis of each work including  dimensions, material, year(s) created and an introduction to the artists  will be explained. We will discuss the significance of the work at the time it was created and how the artwork continues to inspire and be part of popular culture. Some examples of these museum treasures include Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli  at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Mona Lisa by  Leonardo Da Vinci at the Louvre in Paris and Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer at  Mauritshuis  in the Netherlands.

​Watch our Virtual Pesach Tour of the Met and Ancient Egypt here:

---

Programs & Trips

Art @ the J

 The JCC hosts bi-monthly exhibits at our Murray Berman Art @ the J Gallery. The gallery has an eclectic mix of art from local artists rotating through the beautiful setting. We also have permanent art on display throughout the building. 

Our next exhibit features the artwork of Victor Zucconi.

SAJE

Dr. Esther Grushkin Seminars for Adult Jewish Education (SAJE)
This series is named for the late Dr. Esther Grushkin, an accomplished educator and Hebrew scholar who devoted her life to sharing her passion for Jewish learning. Events include lectures, musical performances, and our Rabbis lunch & learn series. We also partner with the College of Staten Island's Hillel to present several events.

The ‘Jewish American Princess’  in Hollywood Movies: From Stereotype to Role-Model
August 19th and 26th at 12:30 pm
This 2-part lecture series presented by Dr Julia Wagner will examine the evolution of the Jewish American Princess (JAP) character-type in Hollywood movies, from its misogynistic origins to unlikely heroines. Part 1 on 19 August will discuss the cultural environment which gave rise to the negative stereotype of the Jewish American Princess and look at some early representations in popular culture. Part 2 on 26 August focuses on the development of the JAP in post-1980s movies including Private Benjamin, Dirty Dancing and Clueless, exploring the ways in which female filmmakers have embraced the character with nuance, affection and respect.*Zoom link will follow your registration

SAJE Presents: Leading Israeli Contemporary Artists with Ronnit Vasserman
Monday, September 14, 6:30pm
You will learn all about prominent Israeli artists that are highly regarded amongst art communities across the globe.  We will discuss reoccurring  themes such as the land of Israel, Tanakh (Bible), war and memory.  We will look at art spanning all media; paintings, sculpture, photography, video and performance. Some of the artists that you will learn about are Adi Nes, Ori Gersht, Nir Hod, Sigalit Landau, Michal Rovner and more. These artists have received prestigious prizes, are represented by blue chip galleries.  and their works have been featured  in the most prestigious fairs, Biennales, auctions and publications. Some of the artists have even had solo exhibitions at prestigious museums such as the MOMA, Whitney, PEREZ and Louvre.

The cost of this lecture is $10. Zoom information will be provided upon registration. Following the lectures, participants will also receive a link to a recording of the program, which can be accessed on demand. Purchase tickets here.

Author Event
September 3 at 8:30 PM
Bettina Siegel, author of Kid Food: The Challenge of Feeding Children in a Highly Processed World, will be in conversation with Zibby Owens, host of the acclaimed podcast Mom's Don't Have Time to Read Books. This Author Event is in partnership with Evelyn Rubenstein JCC of Houston. 

About the book: Most parents start out wanting to raise healthy eaters. Then the world intervenes. In Kid Food, nationally recognized writer and food advocate Bettina Elias Siegel explores one of the fundamental challenges of modern parenting: trying to raise healthy eaters in a society intent on pushing children in the opposite direction. Siegel dives deep into the many influences that make feeding children healthfully today so difficult—from the prevailing belief that kids will only eat highly processed “kid food” to the near-constant barrage of “special treats.” With expert advice, time-tested advocacy tips, and a trove of useful resources, Kid Food gives parents both the knowledge and the tools to navigate their children’s unhealthy food landscape—and change it for the better.
​*$5 per person, zoom information will be provided after signup

SAJE presents: The beginnings of Christianity through Judaism With Peter Whitehouse
Wednesdays, September 9, 16, 23 at 7pm
Part I: A Hundred Years Can Change a Man... (Into a God) — September 9, 7pm
Part II: The Romans Meet Their Enemy... (And It's Their Own Shadow) — September 16, 7pm
Part III: The Christians Cast a Canon... (A Double Entendre) — September 23, 7pm
*$5 per lecture or $12 for all 3.  Zoom information to be provided upon registration.

How Sandy Koufax made every American Jew feel 10 feet tall
Thursday, November 5 at 7:00 PM
Lecture with Steve Lerner about Sandy Koufax, who famously chose not to start Game 1 of the 1965 World Series for the Dodgers because it fell on Yom Kippur, but his whereabouts that day remain a mystery.
*$5 per person, zoom information will be provided after signup


​For more information, contact Sigalit Grego at 718.475.5276 or sgrego@sijcc.com ​

​Rabbi Series 

Stay tuned for upcoming events!
​​
For more information, contact Sigalit Grego at 718.475.5276 or sgrego@sijcc.com 

TRIPS

As a precautionary measure, all Cultural Arts trips are postponed until further notice. 
​
For more information, please contact Sigalit Grego at 718.475.5276 or sgrego@sijcc.com ​​

family programs

Stay tuned for future programs!

​