From Roots to Rhythms with Bill Castello:

Tracing American Music through Time

Explore the Evolution and Influence of American Music from 1800’s to Modern Day

4 Sessions 

12:30pm-2pm

President's Room

Bernikow JCC

$15 for one session/ $50 for all sessions

9/9: The Roots of American Music: Genres and periods from 1812 through the early 20th century will be presented as the historical foundation of uniquely American Music.

10/7: The World of American POPULAR Music: Genres and periods from 1910 through the present will best define the generic title of "popular music"

11/4: The Heart of Rock and Roll: The development and evolution of American Rock from its Gospel and Blues roots, through its current definition.

12/9: The New Definition of American Music: An examination of the trends and genres that express America's unique culture, concerns and expression to include niche genres from Vaudeville to Hip Hop

Women’s Chanukah Paint & Sip

December 18th

6pm-8pm

Lewis Stolzenberg Social Hall

Bernikow JCC

$30 JCC Non-Member

$36 JCC Member

Includes painting supplies

Join us for a special women's celebration of Chanukah! Join with other women to create a festive Chanukah painting for your home! Refreshments will be served.

Registration is required.

Limited Seats Available.

Ages 13+, all participants under 21 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.

Cinema L'Apres-Midi - Pedro Almodovar

Film Screenings & Talk with Fred Grieco

4 Sessions 

1pm-3:30pm

President's Room

Bernikow JCC

$10 pre screening / $35 for all screenings

1/9: All About My Mother (1999)

2/6: Talk to Her (2002)

3/6: Julieta (2016)

4/3: Parallel Mothers (2021)

Bill Castello Presents

Art History of the Western World

12 Sessions

Monday's 12:30pm-2pm

$15 per class/$150 for full series

January 13 & 20: Introduction to the Classical Period (Greece and Rome)

February 10 & 17: Medieval Art - Mannerism

March 24 & 31: Italian Renaissance

April 21 & 28: Northern and Late Renaissance

May 12 & 19: Baroque to Neoclassicism

June 16, 23, & 30: Romanticism

Richmond County Orchestra Presents:

Marching with Mendelssohn & Mozart

March 30th  

3pm-5pm

Lewis Stolzenberg Social Hall

Bernikow JCC

$15 in advance/ $25 at the door

FREE for ages 18 and under

Please join Richmond County Orchestra to experience two rising stars performing classical masterpieces; featuring child prodigy pianist Letao Li performing Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1, and flutist Abigail Aronivich playing Mozart’s Flute Concerto in D Major. This exciting program also includes Beethoven's stirring "Egmont Overture" and Schubert's haunting "Unfinished Symphony No. 8."

Led by Conductor/Director Master Alan Aurellia.

Women’s Shlisel Challah Bake

April 23rd

6pm-8pm

Lewis Stolzenberg Social Hall

Bernikow JCC

$18 per person

Key Challah is customarily made for the Shabbat after Passover. These Challahs are best known as a segula for livelihood Parnasa (income), and a blessing to the home.

Join us in baking Challah together at the JCC! Challah bags and aprons available on a first come, first serve basis. Keys included.

Registration is required.

Limited Seats Available.

The Center for Jewish History:

Anne Frank

May 6th  

Bus departs the Bernikow JCC at 11:45am

$45 per person

This first-of-its-kind presentation will provide a captivating interactive experience as visitors encounter the context that shaped Anne’s life—from her early years in Frankfurt, Germany through the rise of the Nazi regime and the family’s 1934 move to Amsterdam, and eventually to her death at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany when she was 15 years old.

Women’s Cheesecake Decorating

May 28th

6pm-8pm

Lewis Stolzenberg Social Hall

Bernikow JCC

$18 per person

Join us to decorate cheesecakes in celebration of Shavuot! 

Supplies will be provided for the workshop.

Registration is required.

Limited Seats Available.

Laura Morowitz Presents:

The Art of Gustav Klimt

May 29th

1pm-3pm  

President's Room

Bernikow JCC

$15 per person

Join Art History Professor Laura Morowitz for an engaging presentation about Gustav Klimt, an Austrian Symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Art Nouveau (Vienna Secession) movement.

The New York Botanical Garden:

Van Gogh Exhibit

June 4th  

Bus departs the Bernikow JCC at 9:30am

$45 per person

The New York Botanical Garden becomes the canvas for the colorful brush strokes of one of the world’s most revered artists during Van Gogh’s Flowers. You’ve seen the paintings, now see them come to life in a way that only The New York Botanical Garden can deliver.

From Mensch to Mobster

A presentation about Jewish Gangsters

June 5th

1pm-3pm  

President's Room

Bernikow JCC

$15 per person

Join NYC tour guide Robin London as she shares stories of how Arnold Rothstein, Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel, Monk Eastman and others climbed the ladder from impoverished slum neighborhoods to the glamour of Las Vegas.

Chanie Affelbaum of Busy in Brooklyn

June 5th

6pm-8pm

Lewis Stolzenberg Social Hall

Bernikow JCC

$18 in advance/ $25 at the door

Recipe developer, food photographer and author of bestselling cookbooks Millennial Kosher and Totally Kosher, Chanie Apfelbaum brings a creative twist to old-time cuisine and proves that kosher fare is anything but old-fashioned!

Registration is required.

Limited Seats Available.

Cat Orloff Presents

Contemporary Art 101 For the Curious Souls

8 Sessions

Wednesday's 10am-12pm

$20 per class/$130 for full series

July 9: Art as Hope

July 16: Art through the Looking Glass

July 23: Pathways to Creative Interpretation

July 30: Art as Stage

August 6: Art as Play

August 13: Nurture vs Nature

 August 20: Art as Science

August 27: Art and the Quest for Identity

Classical Pianist Carolyn Enger Performing Masters of Transcendence

July 10th

7pm-9pm

Lewis Stolzenberg Social Hall

Bernikow JCC

$18 in advance/ $25 at the door

Please join us for a multifaceted journey, as Carolyn Enger performs works from the Romantic period including compositions by Schubert, Beethoven, Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn and others.

Registration is required.

Limited Seats Available.

Laura Morowitz Presents

Van Gogh - Myth & Reality

July 21st

12:30pm-2pm

Teen Lounge

Bernikow JCC

$15 per person

Join Art History Professor Laura Morowitz for an in-depth discussion on the artist's work, life and the prevailing theories on his mental illness, as well as the myths surrounding him and his legacy.

Tour of the Jane Austen Exhibit at Morgan Library

July 22nd  

Bus departs the Bernikow JCC at 9am

$35 per person

A Lively Mind: Jane Austen at 250, immerses viewers in the inspiring story of Jane Austen’s authorship and her gradual rise to international fame. Iconic artifacts from Jane Austen’s House in England, join manuscripts, books, and artworks from the Morgan and private collections, to present compelling new perspectives on Austen’s global legacy.

Tour of Metropolitan Museum with Bill Castello

July 29th  

Bus departs the Bernikow JCC at 9:30am

$35 per person

Join Bill Castello for a personally guided tour of the Met's newly refurbished European Painting galleries and also enjoy some time to explore the museum as you desire.

Author and Documentarian

Bonita Sussman Presents

The Jews of Sub-Saharan Africa

July 31st

1pm-3pm

President's Room

Bernikow JCC

$15 per person

Join Bonita Nathan Sussman, global Jewish leader and Kulanu President, for a lecture on Sub-Saharan Jewry. Discover hidden Jewish communities, their stories, and her powerful documentation efforts worldwide.

Sussman is the co-editor of four books:

Jewish Africans Describe their Lives, Jewish Voices Across Africa, Chronicles, Documenting Sub-Saharan Jewry, and 7 October 2023, Jewish Reflections Around the Globe.

Tisha B’Av: Day of Learning

August 3

10am-1pm

Preisent's Room

Bernikow JCC

FREE

Tisha B'Av is a solemn day of mourning and reflection for the Jewish people. It commemorates the destruction of both the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem, as well as other tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people throughout history. This year, Tisha B’Av begins at sundown August 2, and ends Sunday night, August 3.

Jakub Polaczyk Presents

Where Memory Sings:

The Voices of Polish-Jewish Composers

August 7th

6:30pm-8pm

Lewis Stolzenberg Social Hall

Bernikow JCC

$18 in advance/ $25 at the door

Join Jacub Polaczyk, a Polish-American composer and pianist, and a recipient of many national and international awards, as he shares the music and history of Polish-Jewish composers and performers, featuring Szpilman, Tchaikovsky, Tansman, Chopin and Rubinstein.

Rabbi Gerald Sussman Presents:
Jewish Community of Staten Island: A History

August 11th

12:30pm-2pm

Lewis Stolzenberg Social Hall

Bernikow JCC

$15

Rabbi Gerald Sussman serves as a leading figure in Jewish leadership for over 40 years and is the Rabbi at Temple Emanu-El in Staten Island, where he actively promotes interfaith cooperation and social activism. As Executive Director of the Union for Traditional Judaism and rabbinic advisor to Kulanu, he balances traditional halakhic values with outreach to diverse Jewish communities.

Dr. Snjezana Smodlaka Presents

Bernini: the Michelangelo of the 17th Century

August 14th

1pm-3pm

Teen Lounge

Bernikow JCC

$15 per person

Explore how Gian Lorenz Bernini, the Baroque innovator and dominant force of the Roman art world of the 17th century, continued, rivaled and borrowed from Michelangelo, his Renaissance paragon.

Frankfurt on the Hudson

Walking Tour of Jewish Washington Heights

August 18th

Bus departs the Bernikow JCC at 9am

*HEAVY WALKING: HILLS*

$50 per person

Join us for a walking tour to explore this unique Jewish community that continues to thrive to this day. Some of the sites we will visit; Mt. Zion Synagogue, campus of Yeshiva University, Shenk Shul, Congregation Hebrew Tabernacle, Fort Tryon Jewish Center and Beth Hamedrosh Hagadol. We will also view noted NY landmarks and talk about legendary Jewish figures who have passed through this special neighborhood.

Dr. Snjezana Smodlaka Presents

American Wing at Met

August 28th

1pm-3pm

President's Room

Bernikow JCC

$15 per person

Join Dr. Snjezana for a presentation about the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum, which showcases 20,000 diverse artworks across 75 galleries, highlighting American art from 1600s to today through painting, sculpture, design, and historical interiors by artists across backgrounds.

Preparing for the High Holidays

Lunch & Learn with Rabbi Kevin Peters

Thursday, September 4

1pm-2:30pm

President's Room

Bernikow JCC

$15 per person

Meet our new Director of Jewish Education, Rabbi Kevin Peters as we learn and discuss what some classical Jewish texts have to say about preparing ourselves for the High Holidays.

Comedy For Peace

September 6th

Doors open at 8pm

Lewis Stolzenberg Social Hall

Bernikow JCC

$36 in advance / $50 at the door / $240 for a table of 8

Join us for a hilarious evening with Jewish, Muslim, & Christian comedians.

United through humor.

Refreshments will be served.

*Contact Alina at Ashteynberg@SIJCC.COM for a table of 8*

"Best of NYC" Circle Line Cruise

Boat Tour Around NYC

September 9th

Bus departs JCC at 11AM | Cruise runs 2.5 hours

$65 per person

Set sail on an unforgettable cruise around Manhattan and experience NYC from the best seat in the house—the water! Glide past three rivers, five boroughs, and seven iconic bridges, including the world-famous Brooklyn Bridge.

Get up close to the Statue of Liberty for unbeatable photo ops and cruise past must-see sights that you can only see on this full-island cruise like Yankee Stadium, The Cloisters, Grant’s Tom

Meet Judge Remy Smith:

A Jewish Lawyer’s Journey Through Housing Court and Public Service

September 15th

1:30-2:30PM

Lewis Stolzenberg Social Hall

FREE

Join Remy Smith for behind the scenes tips and stories of being a Jewish attorney and Judge in Housing Court in NYC and learn about her race for Civil Court Judge in Staten Island.

A Sweet New Year

A Women's Rosh Hashanah Event

September 17th

6-8PM

Lewis Stolzenberg Social Hall

18

Celebrate Rosh Hashanah with apple cakes and sliced honey cakes. Let's ring in a sweet new year!

Rosh Hashanah in the Jewish Diaspora presented by:

Chef & Food Writer Vered Guttman

September 10th

6pm-8pm

President’s Room

Bernikow JCC

$18 in advance / $25 at the door

Join Vered Guttman for a cooking demo and discussion about the foods and blessings of the Rosh Hashanah Seder.

Knishes & Candy

Walking Tour of the Lower East Side

September 16th

Bus departs the Bernikow JCC at 9:30am

*HEAVY WALKING*

$50 per person

Explore historic East Broadway and Lower East Side landmarks, with stops for iconic Jewish bites—babka, pickles, knishes, and more. Food purchased separately. A flavorful journey through NYC history!

Dwelling in the Sukkah
Lunch & Learn with Rabbi Kevin Peters

Thursday, October 9

1pm-2:30pm

Presidents Room

Bernikow JCC

FREE

We will see what the mitzvah of dwelling in the sukkah has to teach us about living with uncertainty.