"Hazak Monday" Programs resume on October 9, 2023 (10am-2pm)

• 10am Presentations and Activities (listed below) in person AND available via Zoom

• 12:15pm  Lunch of bagels and cream cheese will be available for a small fee or bring your own bag lunch and schmooze with fellow Hazak members

• 1pm - Torah Study with Clergy

• Hazak Monday Zoom Meetings Access (as needed)

  • https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87183221456?pwd=Y29ZVnpHT0hHWnNoMDQyTE9ia2g3UT0
  • Meeting ID: 871 8322 1456
  • Passcode: 209839

October 23, 2023 (Hazak Monday)

Personal Safety in our Neighborhoods

Pravind Walia, Senior Lead Officer, West Valley LAPD

Officer Walia will discuss the issues of increasing burglaries in our neighborhoods, security systems, and how to best keep ourselves and our property safe. 

Exploring Questions in the Torah in the Age of Uncertainty

Rabbi Joshua Hoffman, President and CEO, Academy for Jewish Religion California   

Questions are among the most powerful tools for loving connection. They can also be aggravating, even divisive. What does it mean for our sacred Torah text to be filled with some 275 questions, and what does the acknowledgement of uncertainty in our holy books mean for us today?

Lunch Break to Nosh and Schmooze

BYO dairy lunch or $10 per person bagel & cream cheese, tuna, fruit, salad, dessert buffet

Hazak Torah Study with VBS Clergy

Rabbi Ed Feinstein

Discuss and learn with VBS Clergy and each other in a small and interactive group session. These small group sessions are like none you have experienced before. Anything can come up for discussion, and you will always leave the wiser.

November 20, 2023 (Hazak Monday)

Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease: The Four Questions

Thomas M. Shiovitz, M.D., Medical Director, California Neuroscience Research; Assoc. Clinical Professor, UCLA School of Medicine

1. Is this normal aging or the beginning of Alzheimer’s Disease?
2. What is the clinical course of Alzheimer’s Disease?
3. What can I do to prevent or treat memory loss and Alzheimer’s Disease?
4. What questions do you have?

Ezra Network: Addressing Social Service Needs in Our Jewish Community

Denise Barth, PhD, Research & Evaluation Associate, Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles

This session will begin with highlights from the recent Study of Jewish LA, the first LA Jewish community study in over 25 years. It covers basic demographics of our LA Jewish community along with key findings around areas of diversity, well-being, Jewish engagement, Jewish education, and more. By understanding these findings, we have the knowledge to build the most inclusive, vibrant Jewish LA for future generations and us.   We will then discuss the Ezra Network’s wrap-around social services and how they address the needs of the most vulnerable members of our Jewish Community in the context of the recent research study.

Lunch Break to Nosh and Schmooze

BYO dairy lunch or $10 per person bagel & cream cheese, tuna, fruit, salad, dessert buffet

Hazak Torah Study with VBS Clergy

Rabbi Ed Feinstein

Discuss and learn with VBS Clergy and each other in a small and interactive group session. These small group sessions are like none you have experienced before. Anything can come up for discussion, and you will always leave the wiser.

December 18, 2023 (Hazak Monday)

Jerry Rabow, Author and Lecturer

Jews often express pride in the many important contributions to the world that have been made by Jewish individuals in areas such as science, medicine, literature, music, art, philosophy, and theology. Statistics that are used to support this claim commonly contrast the percentage of major recognition awards (such as the Nobel or Pulitzer Prizes) that are won by Jews to the percentage of Jews in the general population. But not all of the important roles by Jews in the general culture have been recognized and recorded. This presentation will attempt to correct that omission in one extremely significant instance by introducing you to the Jew who may be unheard of or at least little-known by most of us, but who had, of all Jews, the most important effect upon the course of American history. 

11:15am: When the World Shifts Beneath Your Feet

Ed Feinstein, PhD, Rabbi, Valley Beth Shalom

Rabbi Feinstein will again educate and inform us about topical issues of relevance to our lives in the world today.

Lunch Break to Nosh and Schmooze

BYO dairy lunch or $10 per person bagel & cream cheese, tuna, fruit, salad, dessert buffet

January 22, 2024 (Hazak Monday)

How to Avoid Scams and Make Your Computer Your Friend

 Nancy Spear and Norm Riker Tech Tutors for Older Adults

No one wants to get scammed. We will teach you how to identify fraudulent email, text, and phone scams, including how to block callers. And,  if think you are being scammed, we’ll give you some numbers to call.  After all that scamming talk, we will do something even better, even fun! We will show you how to use YouTube to find your favorite song and how to find your childhood home or school on Google Maps. 

Engagement of Interfaith Couples and Families:  Approaches in Masorti-Conservative Congregations

Join the conversation as Rabbi Nolan Lebovitz and Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal discuss how Conservative congregations are addressing the inclusivity opportunities and challenges of interfaith couples and families.  How are rabbis and congregations changing their approaches?  How do these changes reflect Jewish values, traditions, and halakha (Jewish law)?  Come join us!

Lunch Break to Nosh and Schmooze

BYO dairy lunch or $10 per person bagel & cream cheese, tuna, fruit, salad, dessert buffet

Hazak Torah Study with VBS Clergy

    Rabbi Nolan Lebovitz                 

Discuss and learn with VBS Clergy and each other in a small and interactive group session. These small group sessions are like none you have experienced before. Anything can come up for discussion, and you will always leave the wiser.

QUESTIONS?

Email vbshazak@vbs.org