The Ethical Culture Society of Essex County

 

 

The Ethical Culture Society of Essex County
Programs each Sunday at 11:00 AM
516 Prospect Street, Maplewood, New Jersey 07040
Corner of Parker and Prospect
Phone 973-763-1905

 

Current Week

           

September 9, 2018 Molly Gilman Interviewed by writer and long-time Ethical Culture member Meredith Sue Willis.

Molly Gilman will talk about her memories of early Ethical Culture training and how it’s carried forward in her life as a professional actor.

Molly Gilman is an alum of Ethical Culture’s Sunday School and Youth Group, Columbia High School and Vassar College. For the past decade she’s worked in NYC, LA and regionally as an actor with four Off-Broadway credits, two national tours and two cast albums (see www.mollygilman.com). She currently lives in NY with her partner and is in training for voice over. This platform is dedicated to Ana and Roberto Reyes, Jill Fox, and Alice and Howard Gilman.

 

 

September 16 Tonia Moore, “What Might Facilitate a Long Life? — Studying Those Who Live Long and Well”

Tonia Moore — one of the coordinators of South Orange Seniors (SOS) — will give a brief introduction to the topic of Blue Zones, a study conducted by Dan Buettner under the sponsorship of National Geographic.

A discussion will follow regarding how some of the aspects of those living in the “blue zones” might be adapted into our lives. Opportunities for useful engagement and social connection, for example, exist right here.

 

 

Sept 23 Linda Eckhardt, “So you want to be a writer?”

Linda Eckhardt, author of 35 cookbooks, thousands of blog posts and endless newspaper and magazine columns, talks about what it takes to be a writer and what you get out of it.

First off, it’s the second occupation you can do in your night clothes and still get paid for it. Next, it’s one of the top occupations that can guarantee that if you travel to certain countries, people may take pot shots at you. But last but not least, it’s the best excuse I know to ask people a lot of nosy questions and expect they’ll answer.

So you say you want to be a writer. What’s the first thing you have to do? Write. Maybe a thousand words a day. On a topic of your choice, to an audience of your preference. And now, there are more avenues for placing writing than at anytime I know of. Thanks to the internet.

Eckhardt will talk about today’s writing world: What to write, where to sell it and what to expect.

Will you get rich? Probably not, but you will have a rich life. That’s for sure. Questions and ideas will be discussed.

Linda West Eckhardt holds a BS in Foods and Nutrition from the University of Texas and an MA in creative writing from San Francisco State University. She is one of the most prolific culinary writers in America today — a food journalist and author of 35 cookbooks — her books have won James Beard and Julia Child awards. Her radio show also received a James Beard Award. She has appeared on countless food shows. She is a friend and advisor to many prominent chefs. Linda was the first food editor of Texas Monthly (1973–). Founder and Editor/Publisher of Everybody Eats News, The Online Newspaper that monitors the sustainable food movement http://www.everybodyeatsnews.com. (2011–), and a contributor to today.com http://www.today.com.

Linda Eckhardt is a longtime Maplewood resident.

 

 

 

 

Sept 30 Hikaru Hayakawa, “American Field Service Youth Trip to China”

Hikaru Hayakawa, perhaps joined by other participants, will describe his extraordinary trip to China. Hikaru Hayakawa is a senior at Columbia High School. During the summer, he participated in a one-month exchange program in China through AFS (American Field Service) Intercultural Programs with six other American high school students from Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City, thirty high school students from Italy, three from Germany and one from Indonesia. AFS allowed them a unique intercultural experience through living with a host family, learning Mandarin in school and living the life of a Chinese teenager. Hikaru started studying Mandarin during school year 2017-2018, and has grown to love Mandarin especially because of his teacher, Niu Xiuqing from Beijing, who is the first to teach Mandarin at Columbia High School through the Teachers of Critical Languages Program (TCLP), a program of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State. Her teaching inspired him to learn more about her culture and language.

Public speaking is nothing new for Hikaru. He has presented at several Model UN Conferences and he founded the AFS Club at Columbia High School. He also initiated and has organized and moderated panels on international education at CHS during International Education Week.

 

 

 

Oct 7 Thomas Cunningham, “What is Ethical Humanism? Seven Answers to One Important Question”

Following the lead of Edward L. Ericson, former Ethical Culture Leader in Washington, D.C. and New York City, member Tom Cunningham will present a variety of perspectives on what Ethical Humanism in the Ethical Culture tradition means. Is it a philosophy? A religion? A way of life? An international organization? All of these things? And what is needed from Ethical Humanism in today’s turbulent world?

Tom Cunningham is a professional musician and responsible for executive education at a national software consultancy. He has lived in South Orange for two years and is now helping with the development of the youth education program at the Ethical Culture Society of Essex County.

 

 

 

 

 

Oct 14 Karen Shiffman Lateiner, “Understanding Gender in the Context of Time: A Personal Journey”

Karen Shiffman Lateiner will read excerpts from her memoir, Timeless Dance: A Story of Change and Loss, and reflect on her journey to support the transition of her adult child during the 1990s when transgender issues were mostly hidden, and just two years later grapple with her new daughter’s untimely death. Informed by her Jewish roots, she will discuss her experiences of family, joy, death, grief, gender and the power of the human spirit to turn grief to advocacy. Question and answer period will follow.

Timeless Dance: A Story of Change and Loss can be ordered directly from Amazon in paperback or Kindle editions. A limited number of books will be available for purchase.

Author Karen Shiffman Lateiner holds graduate degrees in educational psychology. Throughout her personal life, and her professional career as an infant development specialist and mental health clinician, she has advocated safe and nurturing school environments for all children. A New Jersey native, Karen and her family lived in Montclair for nearly thirty years. After retirement, she and her husband traveled the country by motor home before making Arizona their new home closer to their daughter. Combining her love of writing and the Sonoran desert, Ms. Lateiner encourages other writers in a Hike and Write group she created.

 

 

 

Oct 21 Erik Douds, “Lessons Learned from 7,000 Miles of Biking”

Erik Douds is a New York City-based global traveler and endurance athlete who proves that people living with type 1 diabetes can achieve anything. He has recently returned from Alaska on assignment for Adventure Cycling Association to write an article about bike touring with type 1 diabetes.

Erik’s talk will include:

• Introduction: Hitting an obstacle early in life — Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

• Being told you “can’t” and the motivation that provides

• Images from biking this past year

• The strength of figuring it out as you go

• Everybody wants to help

• Where I actually sleep

• How the bike has changed my perception about myself and others

• The hardest part is getting out the door, but that is when the true adventure begins

• Q&A

In her blog post about Erik, Jacqueline Herships wrote, “Some people are crushed by adversity while others measure themselves against it, pushing out boundaries that seem firmly in place.” Erik, who has nicknamed himself a DIABadass (Dia standing for Diabetes) and a “digital nomad with a digital pancreas who goes around describing traveling with diabetes”, tells us that he travels a lot. And in doing so he tests himself at every opportunity. He has run marathons (26.2 miles); done triathlons (e.g. a 1 mile swim in the Hudson, a 26 mile bike ride and then a 10k run — 6.21371 miles). And now at 27, trained as an environmental scientist, Erik took himself to Ethiopia on the border of South Sudan for 3 months, and hiked in New Zealand for a month with one of his best friends. “I want to do this,” he told his doctor, who essentially told him not to. So off he went. “Imagine how many people do this kind of thing … not only people with type 1 diabetes,” he said. Answer: not many. Not only is Ethiopia remote, he had to carry in all medical supplies and deal with new food choices; and it’s hot: 95 degrees.

For now, Erik’s back home again where he is planning on remaining still so that he can organize and grow the DIABadass Community and work on the ErikDouds Foundation which he runs with the local Lions Club whose primary mission is eradicating blindness, often a result of diabetes. A main kick in the butt was realizing that your health is not guaranteed, he said. He wants people to say they know someone who is doing things he was told were impossible, while managing a disease which requires 24 hour attention.”

Check out Erik Douds on YouTube and visit him on Instagram @erikdouds; www.diabadass.com; #diabetes.

 

 

 

Oct. 28 Colloquy on Fear — Real, Imagined and Sometimes Celebrated

On this Sunday closest to Halloween and the Day of the Dead, and close to the elections, we will explore what fuels our nightmares, what is useful and what is not, and ways in which our culture feeds off and sometimes has great fun with fear.

 

 

 

Nov 4 Dr. Alissa Gardenhire, “Self-care (is your power) in challenging times”

In challenging times, self-care and internal peace are critical. Without them we are less effective than we could be in our efforts. In order to create what we want we must have clarity and clarity is only possible from a healthy and strong personal base. If we go to work at what matters to us from a personally depleted position the results are less than what we want. Self-care is not selfish it may be the key to revolutionary change.

Dr. Alissa Gardenhire is the President of Kids Win, Inc., owner of the South Orange location of Best In Class Education Center and a public speaker. She is also a certified personal coach focusing on self care and self expression.

 

Nov 11 Dr. Morris Silver, “How Germany Marched into World War Two”

Morris Silver will introduce and lead an examination of the causes of World War Two. He will show the factors that allowed fascism to take root in Germany, one of the most sophisticated countries in the world, and led it — alongside the Axis Powers — into the conflict with the Allies that cost millions of civilian lives and wrought massive destruction.
Dr. Silver is a longtime member of the Ethical Culture Society with a lifelong interest in history and politics around the world. By profession a dentist (retired),“I am an ethical culturist as a full time job. I travel a lot, I am a reader and love life.”

 

 

Nov 18 Dr. Daniela Shebitz, “Ethnobotany and Restoration Ecology"

Dr. Daniela Shebitz is a plant ecologist who researches the effects of land management on culturally significant species and ecosystems. She is inspired by traditions that have lasted for millennia based on sustainably managed ecosystems through anthropogenic fire and selective harvesting. She is also motivated by research that investigates the effects of altered land management on culturally and ecologically significant plants, and working with local people to restore those plants and ecosystems which defined the region. Her research weaves together methods from biology and ecology with ethnobotany and anthropology to gain an appreciation for the complexity of ecosystems and to develop restoration plans based on present and historic land management.

Dr. Shebitz is an Assistant Professor in the School of Environmental and Sustainability Sciences at Kean University where she teaches courses in Ecology, Applied Ecology, Medicinal Botany and Introduction to Biology. She is currently the Program Coordinator for Environmental Biology, a major option within Biology. According to Dr. Shebitz, there is no greater reward to teaching than taking students outside to explore nature and introducing them to a hidden passion for ecology and the diversity of life in their state. It is her goal to invoke a sense of awe and responsibility in students in order for them to become stewards of their environment, no matter what their professional goals may be. She is working with students on research in sites ranging from the urban parks of Union County and the wetlands of the New Jersey Pine Barrens to the tropical lowland rainforests of Costa Rica.

Dr. Daniela Shebitz holds a Ph.D. in Ecosystem Science from the University of Washington, Seattle (2006). She is an ethnobotanist, plant ecologist and restoration ecologist. Her research focuses on evaluating the effects of land management on plant diversity in a wide range of locations. Daniela also studies the uses of plants as medicine, food, and textiles and works with indigenous cultures to reintroduce traditional land management and anthropogenic fire regimes that historically maintained the presence of these culturally important species.
On campus, she developed and now coordinates the major programs in Environmental Biology and Sustainability Sciences. She is currently the Principle Investigator on a National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates Grant that brings students and Kean University faculty to study tropical ecology in Costa Rica.
In her community, Daniela serves on the town’s Environmental Commission. She has organized outreach events such as farmers markets, Earth Week, and conferences, through her positions on campus and in her town.

Daniela writes, “I am a mother of two amazing little boys who share my passion of the outdoors. Our family lives in New Jersey where we love hiking, canoeing, and getting involved in local environmental events.”

 

 

Nov 25 Annual Post-Thanksgiving Colloquy on Gratitude

Is the secret of happiness getting what we want? What do we value more — what lands in our laps or what we struggle to get? And how often do our real treasures turn out to be things we didn’t even know we’d like?

 

 

 

 

 

Dec 2 Aidan Cunningham, “A Year in New Zealand”

Aidan Cunningham is a student at Columbia High School and is a member of the Ethical Culture community. In 2013, Aidan spent a year in New Zealand and will be speaking on how his experience shaped him in becoming a young humanist and part of the Ethical Education program. He will touch on four areas that are part of being an Ethical Humanist — care for our democracy, protecting our environment, mindfulness, and community service. He believes that coming into close contact with another culture and, in some ways, assimilating into it, continues to shape his beliefs and core values, and taught him how to be a global citizen and comprehend the ways in which diversity can foster understanding and empathy. 

He is interested in music, international relations, and the web-comic xkcd. He likes to travel and read good books.

 

 

 

 

Dec 9 Virginia Cornue, “Awakening Your Heart by Meditating on Roses”

Dr. Virginia Cornue, Bloomfield College professor, cultural anthropologist, women’s advocate, “green” gardener and flower lover, will talk about her flower meditation day book series and lead a guided meditation based on her forthcoming illustrated book: Meditations on Roses: The Awakened Heart.

Dr. Cornue says meditating on flowers offers inner serenity and relaxation that goes straight to people’s hearts and souls with an infusion of peace and calm that only flowers and meditation can impart. The flower meditations in her 12 book series, Springing from the Ground: Meditations on Flowers and Their Messages, speak to the deep need and desire for beauty, ease, and joy that people seek. The 31 lyrical messages in each daybook work on the energetic level and go in on the heart and emotional levels.

For those who long to choose happiness for themselves, these heart-opening meditations allow readers to garner the essence of flowers and meditation: ease, happiness and well-being.
Virginia Cornue is an author, award winning women’s rights activist, cultural anthropologist, and part time professor at Bloomfield College. She is the author of The Dragon’s Daughters Return (2007), which chronicled the experiences of middle-school age daughters and their adoptive families returning to visit China; and Draw on Culture: China (2009), an educational activity book.

Virginia earned her Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from Rutgers University (2001). She holds a B.F.A in Dramatic Arts from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and did masters work at the NYC New School for Social Research. Virginia co-founded and/or directed a number of non-profit and women’s rights organizations: The National Organization for Women-NYC Chapter; The Service Fund of NOW; the Women’s Funding Coalition-NYC; and Newark Emergency Services for Families. She was the recipient of the 1998 Susan B. Anthony Award for Service and Advocacy for Women; the 1989 Newark (NJ) Humanitarian Service Award; and the 1996 award for Distinguished Leadership by Newark Emergency Services for Families.

 

 

 

Dec 16 Suzzanne Douglas, “Life Lessons Learned Along the Way”

Suzzanne Douglas will explore wisdom gleaned from her experiences performing across the United States and in countries around the world. She will talk about the bias and prejudice she has encountered as well as the enlightenment imparted by teachers and guides.
Suzzanne Douglas is an award winning actress whose work has lead her through all walks of creative life. Most recently she performed in 42nd Street at the Drury Lane Theater, Center Stage’s Les Liaisons Dangereuses, and George Street Playhouse’s American Son. Other theater credits include Arthur Laurent’s, Hallelujah, Baby!, which Laurent re-wrote for her, and Wit, where Suzzanne became the first African-American to play the role of Dr. Bearing.
She is best known for her co-starring role in Parent ‘Hood, and has also appeared in Bull, The Good Wife, Bones, and Law and Order. Her extensive filmography includes How Stella Got Her Groove Back, School of Rock, The Inkwell, Tap, and Changing the Game.

Suzzanne’s vocal talents have taken her from Broadway, starring opposite Sting in The Threepenny Opera, to the concert halls of Russia, with Jon Faddis. A singer and composer, she performs regularly with her trio, performing music from the American Songbook as well as her original compositions.

Suzzanne earned a B.A. at Illinois State University and a Masters at the Manhattan School of Music.

 

 

Dec 23 Allen Parmet, “An Introduction to Jazz; Part Two”

For about 30 years, Allen Parmet has been a member of the Ethical Culture Society of Essex County and a board member of the New Jersey Jazz Society also for about 30 years. Several years ago, Allen presented a program entitled “An Introduction to Jazz” at one of our weekly meetings. This presentation was very successful and he was asked to provide a sequel, the introduction having covered mostly the period from 1920 to 1930.
The sequel will cover the period from 1940 to 1950, including selections as follows:

·   Bob Wilber (soprano saxophone): Roses of Picardy, Summertime
·   Artie Shaw Gramercy Five: Summit Ridge Drive, Any Old Time (Billie Holiday, vocal)
·   Lee Wiley (vocal): I Don’t Stand a Ghost of a Chance (Bunny Berigan, trumpet)
·   Teddy Wilson (piano): This Heart of Mine
·    Mark Shane (piano): Deep Purple (Ragtime, played in 6 movements)

 

 

 

Dec 30 “What a Year This Was!”

 

Our annual Year-End Colloquy will give everyone a chance to share their most memorable moments from the past 12 months, the highlights and the dark times — and perhaps put them into a fresh perspective before we embark on the new year.

Those so inclined can bring a visual version of what you’re glad to say good riddance to. We’ll slice them up and make paper chains, to turn tsuris (“trouble, calamity”) into gaiety.

 

 

 

 

January 6, 2019 Susan Williams, “Our Climate Resolutions”

 

Hotter summers and colder winters; more storms the size of Sandy; fires in southern California. We know our climate is in trouble, but it’s all so overwhelming. What can we do as individuals? Can we make any difference at all? Is it even worth the effort? Susan Williams, a concerned citizen and beginner activist, wants to share what she learned at last year’s Climate Reality Leaders training in Los Angeles with former Vice President Al Gore and have a conversation about how small changes in our lives and a small commitment to advocacy can truly make a big impact in the New Year on the future of our planet.
Susan Williams, a 20+-year resident of Maplewood, is a member of the Climate Reality Central NJ chapter. She is a middle school English teacher currently on hiatus to start her Master’s in Creative Writing. Among her community volunteer efforts, she co-founded Maplewood Community Music and runs Maplewood Porchfest.

 

 

 

Jan 13 The CHS Improv group — “Improv Live!”

For the past couple of months, an improv group from Columbia High School has been meeting at Ethical on Friday afternoons to hone their skills.
By way of a thank you, a group of the students, led by senior Luke Dillon, will give us a taste of what they do. We’ll get a chance to provide the prompts and see what these brave young minds come up with.

 

 

 

January 20: Martin Luther King Birthday Colloquy

On what would have been Dr. Martin Luther King’s 90th birthday, we will honor his memory and discuss his impact, what he changed, and what he might have done had his life not been cut short. We will look too at his heirs in the struggle against racism, what has improved and what is still in dire need of improvement.

 

 

 

January 27 Barbara Tracer, “Lost and Found — How a Myth Mirrors Consciousness”

Barbara Tracer, LCSW, will tell the myth of Persephone and her abduction by Hades, god of the underworld. Often told as explanation for the changing seasons, Barbara will go deeper to look at this story of loss and return as a reflection of psychological change. Using story telling, personal experience and imagery, we’ll connect the archetypal world of mythology with personal dreams and the possibility of transformation.

Barbara is a recent transplant from San Diego, CA, where she raised her family and worked as a psychotherapist in private practice. She trained at the C.G. Jung Institute of Los Angeles and has presented lectures and workshops on dreams, the archetype of the divine child, and images from weaving and sand tray work with children. She currently consults with the US Navy and Marine Corps Reserves on issues of psychological health and reintegration after deployment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feb 3 – Steve Sklar: “Dog-Eat-Dog vs. Cooperation”

There are two alternative views of how we ought to live in society. One might be called the Dog-Eat-Dog view and the other, the Cooperative view.  Given the global rise of the Strong Man and a kind of tribalism politically, these days it is particularly important to compare these views.
 From the Dog-Eat-Dog view, life in society is essentially combative and opportunity is inherently limited.  The world is  Winners and Losers; the thing to do is to be a winner at all costs and if that hurts other people, so be it.  Wolves and apes have their alphas, and so do we.  Be an alpha!
The Cooperative view is nicely described by Marcus Aurelius, who said “People are made for cooperation, like the eyelids, like the upper and lower rows of teeth.” 
In this talk, Steve Sklar considers the case for each view, reflects on the phenomenon of those who cut in line in traffic and looks at the countless ways in which we routinely do cooperate with each other in order to live in civilized society.  In so doing — spoiler alert — he lays out the ways in which the Dog-Eat-Dog view is overrated and the Cooperative view is underrated.

Steve is an improv-addicted Maplewood-based immigration lawyer who has spoken to Essex Ethical several times, on a range of topics including immigration policy, bureaucracy, and the Winners Versus Losers theme in the most recent Presidential campaign.

 

 

 

February 10 Michael Peluso, “Intelligent Lifestyle Design”

“How to transform limiting beliefs into positive action while accessing new levels of health, joy, and success through Intelligent Lifestyle Design”
Right now there is an innate Intelligence Force working through you, for you, and at all times. Just like the seed of a plant grows roots and reaches for the Sun, your lungs expand, heart pumps, blood circulates, the neurons fire, and voilá, life! You observe life.
It’s here, right now and without it, you wouldn’t exist.
But with life in and around you, why are you going from expert to expert without getting better results? And isn’t it the quality of life that really matters? What have you been ignoring that is trying to get attention?
In this presentation, Michael S. Peluso teaches a new way to energize your life, inspires with a simple trick to transform mental suffering into a beautiful reality, and shares the 7 Lifestyle Secrets that will keep you happy, healthy and in action for all the year to come.

Michael S. Peluso, Founder True Living, C.H.E.K, HLC, FIT-PRO, NC, practices as a Holistic Health Practitioner. Michael’s background comes from all over the world including the C.H.E.K Institute in San Diego California (Corrective Holistic Exercise Kinesiology) in the fields of corrective and performance exercise, nutrition and lifestyle coaching.
He also studied Neurosomatic Therapy at the Paul St. John-Clark Center for Pain Management and Neurosomatic Studies in Florida. He holds certifications as a Sports Nutrition Specialist, Core Conditioning Specialist, Holistic Nutrition Coach, Holistic Lifestyle Coach, Biosignature modulation, Reiki, Elite Fit-Pro, Ordained Minister and Internal Personal Trainer.
He spends his free time with his wife and children in the great outdoors, hiking and farming.

 

February 17 Akhror Khatamov, “Uzbekistan”

Akhror Khatamov will be telling us all about Uzbekistan, a landlocked Central Asian country, larger than California, with an estimated current population of  32.6 million (compared to California’s 39.5 million).
Since 1991, Uzbekistan has been an independent, secular, presidential republic.

Akhror Khatamov was brought up in a small town called Usmat in Djizak Region of Uzbekistan. He graduated from Westminster International University in Tashkent (WIUT) in June, 2018 with a first class (honors) degree. After the completion of his undergraduate program, he started working for the Ministry of Justice of Uzbekistan. After gaining governmental work experience, Akhror applied for a graduate program in diplomacy and international relations, choosing Seton Hall University whose diplomacy school was attractive because of its 20-year partnership with the United Nations.

 

 

 

February 24, 2019 Birgit Matzareth

Musician and teacher extraordinaire, Ethical Culture Society member Birgit Matzareth will talk about her newly published memoir More than the World in Black and White - How music came alive and my life became music.

The presentation will include readings from the memoir, a description of what it took to write it, what it means, and what she learned from it. To read more about the book, check out the Amazon website. 

 

 

 

 

 

March 3: Charlotte Attenborough: In Pursuit of Peace- The E. Betty Levin Legacy

Charlotte and her husband Allen “Andy” Attenborough are longtime residents of Maplewood. Charlotte served her community through her work at Essex County College, where she was employed for 26 years.  

After becoming aware of food insecurity as an assistant dean, she developed and opened one of the first food pantries on a New Jersey college campus. It was during this period that Charlotte invited E. Betty Levin to meet with the director of the college’s Urban Issues Institute to discuss the feasibility of establishing “Peace” concepts as part of the Newark public school academic curricula.

Charlotte has also served her community by participating as a board member for a number of causes: education, the arts, low-cost psychotherapy and an urban girls mentoring program. She is a proud alumna of the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts High, where she studied Fine Art. Currently Charlotte teaches English as a second language for Literacy New Jersey.

 

 

 

March 10 Chef Jesse Jones, “My Trip to New Orleans”

Super excited to talk about his trip to NOLA, Chef Jesse Jones is an American chef, cookbook author and TV personality from Newark, NJ. Chef Jones has appeared on News12, CBS2, ABC7, Pix11, Good day Fox 5 and the reality program Love and Hip Hop, New York and Basketball Wives.
A 30-year veteran of the culinary food industry, Chef Jones has worked for Aramark as well as restaurants including Dennis Foy’s Town Square, The Stage House Inn and Heart and Soul restaurant, he is currently working as private chef to Sunny Hostin, of ABC7 The View.
Chef Jesse Jones is the author of POW! My Life in 40 Feasts, a cookbook memoir.

 

 

 

 

 

March 17 Michele Bobrow, “The Resurgence of Human Trafficking”

Michelle Bobrow will inform us about the current resurgence of human trafficking, what it is, how it evolved, who is involved, what to be aware of, and what we can do.
Michelle Bobrow is a member of the steering committee of the NJ Coalition Against Human Trafficking (njhumantrafficking.org), was on the League of Women Voters of NJ committee that helped to frame and work for passage of the 2013 omnibus bill in New Jersey to address this issue. She is a long time Maplewood resident, a leader in the Maplewood-South Orange League of Women Voters, and has many volunteer credentials to her name.

The NJ Coalition Against Human Trafficking (NJCAHT) was formed in 2011 and is made up of over 170 diverse organizations including nonprofits, law enforcement, educational establishments, faith-based groups, and legal advocates, with the purpose of uniting NJ communities to abolish human trafficking.

The NJCAHT became a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization in 2016, and currently has 192 volunteers working on committees in areas of their interests and expertise such as Arts, Education, Healthcare, Legislation, Slave-Free Commerce, Speakers Bureau and SOAP (to train volunteers to make hotels and motels aware of missing children in NJ and prevent trafficking happening on their premises). Whatever your interest, you can make an impact on this issue.

As a fully volunteer organization, the NJCAHT welcomes everyone to join the fight against human trafficking — a form of modern day slavery — in New Jersey.

 

March 24 Robin Peacock, “Working Together for Hunger Relief”

Join us to learn more about how one local non-profit is collaborating to make a greater impact on hunger relief in our community. Robin Peacock, the Executive Director of MEND (Meeting Essential Needs with Dignity), will be on hand to discuss how MEND strengthens and supports a network of 19 food pantries across Essex County by collaborating with “like-missioned” organizations and by using The Green Bean — a school-bus-turned-mobile-food-pantry — to provide greater access to healthy foods in underserved communities.
Robin Peacock joined MEND as a grant writer in November of 2015, and became its first Executive Director in January of 2018. Robin has a long history of community engagement and leadership, having served as a Board member and volunteer for several non-profits in Essex County. Before joining the nonprofit sector, Robin worked for nearly 15 years as a tax attorney for the IRS Office of Chief Counsel and Deloitte Tax LLP.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 31 Jamey Ellis, “Holistic Veganism”

Holistic veganism is a concept reflecting the value and actions of veganism as a way of actively caring for ourselves and the world beyond our bodies. It consists of the focus, review, and revision of all social systems, the melding of inter-being and intersectionality, and self-care; working to create a holism of thought and action. It is neither dogmatic nor rigid in design. It is intended to be dynamic to always continue progressing as we humans progress. Subjects such as child rearing, zero waste, and gift economy all fall under this umbrella, in addition to the normally associated intersectional topics and veganism.

More can be read on my website, www.holisticveganism.com, and on the Facebook page, www.facebook.com/holisticveganism.
I have been vegan for nearly 17 years, an environmentalist for over 30, and practicing ahimsa (nonviolence) for the last 10. After extensive research, I concluded that both ethical veganism and total liberation may be too narrow to serve as a comprehensive way of moving society forward. In response, I developed holistic veganism. This occurred while living in and helping to direct an international volunteer organization based in India and Haiti, my homes between 2008 and 2018.

While abroad I began leading workshops and public speaking to thousands of people. My last year in India was focused on giving talks and managing our cow sanctuary. In the spring of 2018, I left to bring holistic veganism to any and all that willingly listen. Since then I have spoken on many occasions in England, The Netherlands, Iceland, Israel, and the US. I’m currently organizing an extensive North American tour for this spring and summer. During the interim, while based in NJ, I am offering to speak in the tristate area. This means that I would be available between February through to the end of April before heading out.

Ahimsa has shown its benefits throughout history. Apply it to modern science (such as work done with FMRIs and our biology), the internet, and understanding that we now race a clock for the preservation of the environment, and the result is social and environmental activism pushed forward in ways unseen before. All arrows point towards veganism and many other forms of stewardship and compassion needed to advance and preserve our place here and the integrity of nature. My seva (selfless service) is to present this information and hopefully inspire higher levels of personal integrity, yielding change for much more than humans alone.

 

 

 

April 7 – Tricia Idrobo and Justice Rountree “Ending Solitary Confinement in NJ”

What is it like to be confined to a small cell for 23 hours a day, months and years on end, with minimal sensory stimulation and little or no human contact? How does it affect the brain and one’s psyche? Tricia Idrobo and Justice Rountree will speak about solitary confinement in New Jersey jails and prisons, its detrimental effects on individuals and the community, and initiatives to restrict solitary confinement, including bills A314 and S3261 in the NJ legislature. We will also have the opportunity to “virtually” experience a solitary cell.
   

Tricia Idrobo is the point person on solitary confinement for the Criminal Justice Reform Task Force of the Unitarian Universalist Faith Action New Jersey, a member organization of the NJ Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement (NJCAIC). She is a Spanish teacher and writer residing in Livingston.
   

Marshall Justice Rountree served 23 years in New Jersey prisons. He spent several of these years helping other incarcerated men as a prison paralegal and believes these activities led to him being targeted and placed in solitary confinement. Upon his release from prison, Justice began speaking about his experiences and organizing for social and institutional change. He now works closely with advocacy groups including the Prison Watch Program of the American Friends Service Committee, and the New Jersey Coalition for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement (NJCAIC) through the National Religious Campaign Against Torture.April 7 Tricia Idrobo and Justice Rountree, “Ending Solitary Confinement in NJ”

What is it like to be confined to a small cell for 23 hours a day, months and years on end, with minimal sensory stimulation and little or no human contact? How does it affect the brain and one’s psyche? Tricia Idrobo and Justice Rountree will speak about solitary confinement in New Jersey jails and prisons, its detrimental effects on individuals and the community, and initiatives to restrict solitary confinement, including bills A314 and S3261 in the NJ legislature. We will also have the opportunity to “virtually” experience a solitary cell.
Tricia Idrobo is the point person on solitary confinement for the Criminal Justice Reform Task Force of the Unitarian Universalist Faith Action New Jersey, a member organization of the NJ Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement (NJCAIC). She is a Spanish teacher and writer residing in Livingston.

Marshall Justice Rountree served 23 years in New Jersey prisons. He spent several of these years helping other incarcerated men as a prison paralegal and believes these activities led to him being targeted and placed in solitary confinement. Upon his release from prison, Justice began speaking about his experiences and organizing for social and institutional change. He now works closely with advocacy groups including the Prison Watch Program of the American Friends Service Committee, and the New Jersey Coalition for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement (NJCAIC) through the National Religious Campaign Against Torture.

 

 

 

 

April 14 TJ Whitaker --Privilege and Inequality

Given recent events in our country and in our schools, the question of how and when to address issues related to race and social justice has become increasingly urgent.
TJ Whitaker has been teaching in SOMSD since 2002. He is an English Language Arts teacher at CHS, as well as a parent and Maplewood community resident. He is currently completing his doctoral dissertation at Rutgers University. He is a former Moderator for the MLK Association at CHS.

Mr. Whitaker is the recipient of the Community Service Award for 2017 by the New Jersey Chapter of the National Black MBA Association, Inc.

The School Board of Maplewood-South Orange has recognized Mr. Whitaker for his outstanding dedication to social justice and the wellbeing of our students, stating, “CHS Teacher TJ Whitaker has worked tirelessly to protect the rights and promote the welfare of our students and our community. Mr. Whitaker helped organize a ‘Charlottesville Teach In’ with other educators from around NJ on September 9th, which provided teachers with ways to help their students process disturbing recent national events.”

 

 

 

April 21--Beryl Goldberg-- Three Families in Burkina Faso

Beryl Goldberg writes, “I am a photographer of people: people in their daily life, people at work, at rest, at play with families or alone at events. My goal is to portray the joy of the human spirit in positive, upbeat images that are also true and valid. I strive to bring out the best in people and present the power that exists in each of us.” Ms Goldberg’s photos present a positive view of life in Africa — a counter narrative to the too often negative portrayals we see in our media.

Beryl Goldberg, photojournalist, is a long time resident of New York City. She began photographing when she was in a graduate program in African Studies at New York University. She soon realized that photojournalism would combine her long-term interest in Africa, her desire to know and portray the reality of lives and cultures and her love for art. She first visited West Africa in college as a volunteer with Operation Crossroads Africa. When she decided to become a photographer it was natural to return to West Africa where she then traveled for several months photographing and gaining real life experience after her years of study. After that she returned to photograph in West Africa many times.

Ms Goldberg has worked on assignment with many international organizations and publishers including UN agencies, the Ford Foundation, FamilyHealth360, the New York Times, Response Magazine, McGraw Hill, Houghton Mifflin and Pearson Publishers. In the course of her assignments she has photographed and sometimes also written about programs focusing on women’s health, human rights and economic development. The veteran photographer has photographed in more than 50 countries on five continents. Her photographs have been exhibited in the United States, Canada and Europe. Her work was included in three different CURATE/NYC online exhibits in 2013. Her work is in the permanent collection of the Portland, Maine Museum of Art; The Museum of the Jewish Heritage; the Skirball Museum in Los Angeles; and in various private collections. She has taught workshops and given lectures at many institutions including Rutgers University, Lehman College in the Bronx, Bread and Roses Project of DC 1199 - NYC, Stuyvesant High School, NYC, and NE State Prison in Newark, New Jersey.

Beryl Goldberg’s undergraduate degree is from Douglass College of Rutgers University. Along with the graduate study at New York University, she also studied French at the University of Bordeaux in France and Arabic at the Bourguiba School in Tunis, Tunisia. She studied photography at the New School and privately with the esteemed photographer and teacher, Harold Feinstein.

 

 

 

April 28 Tony Calabrese “Work Search in Today’s World”

Tony Calabrese’s presentation will deal with predicament(s) Facing Job Seekers: 
a.) Companies are hiring people only for the length of particular projects, and not with a long term perspective in mind.
b.) Mergers/acquisitions, long time businesses closing continually, making stability at one company not as prevalent in the past.
c.) Introduction of technology into the workplace changing both the way that people work and the type of jobs available.
d.) More generations (and individuals) in the work force than ever before.  These generations are learning what it is to work with (and communicate with) each other.

I. Factors Those in Search are Facing in the Work World of Today
II. The 4 Ways To Find Work (Conduct a Search)
III. Some of the Work Arrangements of Today
IV. Ways to Get Help in Your Search
V. Questions/Answers
Tony Calabrese is the founder of Absolute Transitions, LLC and a Certified Get Five Career Coach. Tony works with clients who are in job search or looking to change careers. He offers his clients a strategic and research based approach to their job search, working with them both through their career search and life coaching issues.
Tony resides in Maplewood, NJ with his wife, Carolina.

May 5 Solidarity Singers Celebrate Pete Seeger

The Solidarity Singers will give their Annual May Day Performance, with a special focus on Pete Seeger, marking his 100th birthday.“We are a street chorus, not a concert choir. Our preferred venue is a picket line. We try to lift the spirits of people engaged in struggle and help them to carry on. Only a few of us know how to read music, but we all know which side we’re on.”
Over the past twenty years, the Solidarity Singers have appeared hundreds of times on picket lines, at rallies for labor and other progressive causes, and in occasional concert settings, including the annual May Day celebrations at the Botto House/American Labor Museum, commemorations of the hundredth anniversary of Woody Guthrie’s birth, and many others.
The group is available for scheduling through its director, Bennet D. Zurofsky, at (973) 642-0885, or e-mail him at bzurofsky@zurofskylaw.com.

Upcoming event: May Day Festival at the Botto House, Wednesday, May 1, 2019, 7:00 p.m., The American Labor Museum at the Botto House, 83 Norwood Street, Haledon, NJ 07508

 

 

 

May 12 Local Hero Award for 2019 Presentation to Cate Lazen

A couple of years ago, the Social Action Committee decided to begin to recognize the many acts and projects and behind-the-scenes work that take place every day to move us towards a more just world for ourselves and our children.  We instituted a Local Hero Award to be presented yearly to someone who has enriched the lives of our community and region with ethical values and actions. Through this award, the Committee gives recognition and publicity to the individual and to the work and organizations that the honoree values.

This year’s award goes to Cate Lazen.  The Committee deeply respects her twenty-five years of experience designing and facilitating educational and therapeutic experiences that empower people of all ages in schools, homes, communities and workplaces. We particularly want to honor her as the founder of Arts Unbound, which helps people of all ages living with disabilities to express themselves and earn money through the visual arts. And as the founder of the arts-based urban renewal movement called ValleyArts, which redefined the former hat factory area of Orange, NJ, as an arts destination, stimulated the local economy, activated community development, beautified blighted streets and provided after school programs for underserved youth.

Cate Lazen is an Educational Psychologist, School Social Worker and Clinician who partners with individuals, children and families who are dealing with academic, behavioral, developmental, social or emotional challenges at home or at school; divorce or marital/family conflict; trauma, crises, grief or loss.

She currently works in the South Orange/Maplewood, New Jersey school district providing psychotherapy, social/emotional skills training, advocacy and parenting support.

 

 

 

May 19 Annual General Meeting

The annual meeting of the membership of the Ethical Culture Society of Essex County will be held on Sunday, May 19th at 10 AM.  Notice the starting time is 10 AM.  Please be prepared to begin promptly.

Bagels /breads and hot drinks will be served before the meeting.
Please  plan to attend.

The meeting will set the Society’s course of action for the coming fiscal year (September through August). Your input and vote are crucial to the decisions we  make for policy and programs which affect our continued presence in the community.  Officers and members of the Board of Trustees will be elected.

 

 

 

 

May 26 Rebecca Greene, “American Jews and Immigration Law: Myth and Reality, 1880 to the Present” 

Rebecca Greene will discuss why Jews  came to the United States, what they confronted, and how they responded.
Rebecca Greene was an attorney at Central Jersey Legal Services for many years and before that, taught history at NJIT, Lehman College, Colgate University, and the University of Maryland. She graduated from Barnard College in 1968 (B.A. History); Washington University in St. Louis 1970 (History); Columbia University 1977 (Ph.D. in history); and she has a J.D. from Rutgers Law School in Newark.

 

 

 

 

 

 

June 2 Brenda Wheeler Ehlers and Amelia Riekenberg, “Restorative Justice”

Restorative justice repairs the harm caused by crime. When victims, offenders and community members meet to decide how to do that, the results can be transformational. It emphasizes accountability, making amends, and — if they are interested — facilitated meetings between victims, offenders, and other persons. Restorative justice is an important contemporary expression of timeless standards of justice.

Rev. Ehlers began serving as Morrow Church’s director of educational ministries in 2003. She was appointed associate pastor for children, youth and education ministries in 2006. Rev. Ehlers lives in Maplewood with her husband, Bill, and their three children.

Amelia Riekenberg, self-employed Mediator (Family Law) and self-described “Peacemaker, collaborator, worker bee for social justice,” is a Morrow Church member, parent, and Seth Boyden Elementary School Parent-Teacher Association chair.

 

 

June 9 “Personal Reflections after 25 years at Essex Ethical Culture Society” Interview with Meredith Sue Willis and Alice Robinson-Gilman

 

Sue will interview Alice about various issues facing Essex Ethical Culture. They will share their thoughts about having a leaderless society; what does “ethical culture” mean in our current culture; is unanimity on this important and, if so, how do we get to that agreement. Various past and current leaders will be cited. Since one of the few tenets of Ethical Culture is that “no one speaks for Ethical Culture,” how do we address some of these issues?

Meredith Sue Willis and Alice Robinson-Gilman are both long-term members of the Essex Society. Both have served as trustees on the Board and Sue is a past-president of the Board. In 1995 they created the Family Issues Platforms which served for over 10 years to provide a forum for members and friends to participate in panel discussions. Topics ranged over a wide variety of issues involving parenthood, grandparenthood and children. Later, Alice and Sue continued the panel series with discussions on books dealing with, among others, genocide in Rwanda, mountaintop memoval in Appalachia, and How Race is Lived in America.

Sue is a professional writer who has published 22 books, most recently, Their Houses. She teaches novel writing at New York University’s School of Professional Studies.

Alice is a retired social worker and office manager. She participated in the first AEU Summer School in 1996.

Sue’s son, Joel Weinberger, and Alice’s daughter, Molly Gilman, both graduated from the Ethical Culture Sunday School in 2002.

 

 

 

June 16 Michael Frenchman, “ET, AI & EC: Exo-Ethics Redux (Extraterrestrials, Artificial Intelligence and Ethical Culture)”

 

Michael Frenchman will start with a short reprise of the address he gave as a 13-year-old as his “Eth-mitzvah” speech in June of 1960 here at the Maplewood ECS. The topic would now be called “Exo-ethics” as he, a sci-fi aficionado and actual science student, mused on the likelihood of extraterrestrial conscious beings and the kinds of ethical challenges they might confront, whatever their ET form. Fast forward to the present era wherein life on this planet has evolved to the startling condition of having one entity — Homo sapiens — being the first able to invent a whole new life form, namely, artificial intelligence.

What a human achievement, what a worry, what a responsibility! Michael will conclude with musings on the need for new — or at least renewed — human ethics in the age of artificial intelligence.

Born and raised in New Jersey, R. Michael Frenchman was enrolled around 1956 by his mother Sylvia in the Maplewood EC “Sunday School” until his graduation in 1960.
Michael’s keen interest in science and curiosity about human belief systems fed by his EC experience led him to wonder how “we” came to be what we are — living entities conscious of and able to have agency in the cosmos. Michael started his current “AI & Us” project in 2015. His website, vgraflive.org, discusses the mission and shows example of his work.