Events

All parents and community members are invited to attend to learn more about our school and community.

(Teen Group Event) Shabbat Dinner The Lancaster-Hartwicks are hosting a Shabbat Dinner for teens at their home.  Each teen should bring a dish of food to share.  Friends are welcome!  Please RSVP to Rob Pestka by Friday, April 29.

(Family Event, 11:30 am)

(Adult Education) German Jewish Forced Emigration during the Nazi Era (a presentation by Dr. Judith Gerson) Our speaker is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Sociology and Women’s and Gender Studies at Rutgers University in New Brunswick. Her research interests include Immigration & Diaspora and Catastrophe & Collective Memory. Most recently, Dr. Gerson served[...]

(Mother's Day, Board Elections)

Closing Ceremony & Graduation Graduation is a significant milestone in the lives of IL Peretz school students. If you've never been to a graduation, you will be shocked at how much you learn from the graduates as they present their research projects. Please come to support our graduates. The ceremony starts at 11:00 AM at[...]

(Combined Teen Group & Adult Education Event) On Both Sides of the Wall: Memoirs from the Warsaw Ghetto Vladka Meed lived in Warsaw at the time of the Nazi occupation and was able to escape the ghetto and assist the Jewish resistance from outside because of her “Aryan” looks.  This is a great book about her[...]

(Family Event, 11:00 am) Come join us make slime at Duke Island Park. "Slime" has become a popular do-it-yourself creation and we decided to host our very own slime making event. So please come join us and bring a few friends along as well. We look forward to seeing you there! For more information see[...]

(Family Event) Ice Cream Social Open House Join us for our very first event of the new school year! This year's open house is also an ice cream social. Bring some friends and learn about our school, all while eating ice cream! For more information, please go to our facebook page. Please feel free to[...]

Opening Ceremony & Parent Orientation (Family Event, All Students & Parents, 9:30 am)

(Adult Education Event) The Lands In Between -  a presentation by Mitchell Orenstein (B.A., Harvard; Ph.D., Yale) Our speaker, who is Professor and Chair, Department of Russian and East European Studies, University of Pennsylvania, will discuss his latest and very timely book, “The Lands In Between: Russia vs. The West and the New Politics of Hybrid[...]

(Family Event) Join us for our beautifully situated High Holiday Ceremonies under the trees at Rutgers Preparatory School 1345 Easton Avenue Somerset, NJ Rosh Hashanah: Monday, September 30, 11:00 am - 1:30 pm Yom Kippur: Wednesday, October 9, 11:00 am - 1:30 pm Bring Lawn Chairs and/or Picnic Blankets for Seating (We will move indoors[...]

(Family Event) Join us for our beautifully situated High Holiday Ceremonies under the trees at Rutgers Preparatory School 1345 Easton Avenue Somerset, NJ Rosh Hashanah: Monday, September 30, 11:00 am - 1:30 pm Yom Kippur: Wednesday, October 9, 11:00 am - 1:30 pm Bring Lawn Chairs and/or Picnic Blankets for Seating (We will move indoors[...]

(Family Event, 11:00 am)

(Parents of Graduating Students, 9:30 - 10:30) There will be a mandatory meeting with the school principal, Jeremy, for all parents of graduating students. Please ensure that at least one parent of each graduating student will be able to attend.

Daylight SavingsTime!  Don't forget to set your clocks back an hour!

(NJEA Weekend)

(Community Event) Jewish Film Festival Movie: City of Joel followed by Dinner at (TBD) Sunday afternoon movie at 3:30PM  at the Loews Theater on Rt. 1 in New Brunswick "City of Joel" - Movie (83 min) followed by a talk by Dr. Samuel Freedman (Columbia University)Tickets are selling out fast (on sale since Oct. 3) and this is the[...]

(Teen Group Event) Dinner at Skylark Diner followed by Jewish Film Festival Movie: Tel Aviv on Fire Join us for a screening of  Tel Aviv on Fire at the Rutgers Jewish Film Festival. Tickets are on Peretz (and we have to secure them in advance), so PLEASE LET US KNOW ASAP IF YOU OR YOUR CHILD[...]

(Family Event, 10:00 am)

(Family Event, 11:00 am) Please join us for IL Peretz’s Community Hanukkah Celebration with school students. Learn how to make Latkes and sour pickles! Be a part of our Hanukkah Candle Lighting Ceremony, community sing-a-long, and other activities. (This event is not to be confused with the adults only Hanukkah party on Dec. 27th in[...]

(Community Event) 20th Annual Adult Chanukah Party! (20 years of Friday festive fun and friendship) for the adult members of the entire I. L. Peretz Secular Jewish Community (please renew your membership before the party if you haven't already done so) at the home of Tina Weishaus and Ira Mintz Please bring: a dessert, side,[...]

A Vigil for Unity in Highland Park  The recent wave of anti-Semitic and hate crimes that have roiled the local community and the New Jersey-New York area will be met with a response of solidarity and love, expressed through a Unity Vigil next week in Highland Park. Local chapters of the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom[...]

(Adult Education Event) Hamilton vs. Jefferson: The Rivalry that Shaped a Nation  -  a presentation by Professor Louis Masur, Ph.D., of Rutgers University Our speaker is a Distinguished Professor in the Depts. of American Studies and History at Rutgers-New Brunswick.  This program is funded by the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, Public Scholars Program[...]

(Family Event, 11:00 am) Please join us for our IL Peretz Community Tu B’Shvat (zero waste) Seder, Sunday February 2, 2020 at Rutgers Prep. We will have environmental and social action activities at 10 am followed by Tu B’Shvat Seder at 11 am. Singing, eating, and social action celebrating the environment and “The New Year[...]

(Teen Group Event) Trip to the Lower East Side 2: America's Iconic Immigrant Neighborhood In the spring of 2018, our Teens had a great time in Manhattan touring the Tenement Museum to see how late 19th and early 20th century immigrants lived, eating lunch at Katz’s Deli, and visiting several iconic (and food-related) shops on[...]

(Presidents' Day Weekend)

(Adult Education Event) Jewish Heretics from Elisha Ben Abuya to Sherwin Wine  -  a presentation by Bennett Muraskin Bennett has been a regular speaker at our Sunday morning programs for many years and at other Jewish organizations in the area. He was the Adult Education Director for the Jewish Cultural School and Society and is[...]

(Family Event, 10:30 am)

(Family Event, 11:30 am)

(Board Elections)

Closing Ceremony & Graduation Graduation is a significant milestone in the lives of IL Peretz school students. If you've never been to a graduation, you will be shocked at how much you learn from the graduates as they present their research projects. Please come to support our graduates. The ceremony starts at 11:00 AM at[...]

Join Us and Learn about Our School! The I.L. Peretz Community Jewish School, for children K through 7th grades, attracts families of diverse structures and backgrounds and meets on Sunday mornings from September through May. (We've conducted online classes during the coronavirus shutdown.) The curriculum emphasizes historical and cultural approaches to the study of our[...]

(Teen Group Event) The Catcher Was a Spy: Film & Discussion Over the past few years, the Teen Group has enjoyed a number of films together, mainly at Rutgers Jewish Film Festival, our last being Tel Aviv on Fire, which everyone thought was a terrific movie. So join us now for our next film—and discussion[...]

(Family Event) Open House We will kick off this year with our school's Open House! Come learn more about our school and community and just have a good time! Guests are welcome! Come yourself and bring your friends and family!

(Family Event) This year due to the pandemic our High Holiday Ceremonies will be on Zoom Rosh Hashanah: Saturday, September 19, 11:00 am - 1:30 pm Yom Kippur: Monday, September 28, 11:00 am - 1:30 pm Our Ceremonies Are Open to All Please Contact Us for the Zoom meeting ID and passcode. You can download the[...]

(Family Event) This year due to the pandemic our High Holiday Ceremonies will be on Zoom Rosh Hashanah: Saturday, September 19, 11:00 am - 1:30 pm Yom Kippur: Monday, September 28, 11:00 am - 1:30 pm Our Ceremonies Are Open to All Please Contact Us for the Zoom meeting ID and passcode. You can download the[...]

(Family Event)

(Family Event)

(Teen Group Event) Backyard Screening & Dinner Jewish Film Festival Movie: Asia It’s time again for the Rutgers Jewish Film Festival—this year, all films will be streamed online, paving the way for a (weather permitting) duo of socially distanced backyard screenings and dinner! Be sure to dress for the weather, bring folding chairs if you[...]

(Teen Group Event) Backyard Screening & Dinner Jewish Film Festival Movie: Breaking Bread It’s time again for the Rutgers Jewish Film Festival—this year, all films will be streamed online, paving the way for a (weather permitting) duo of socially distanced backyard screenings and dinner! Be sure to dress for the weather, bring folding chairs if[...]

(Family Event)

(Adult Education Event) Rutgers Film Festival and Community Discussion This pandemic year the Bildner Center is presenting the annual Rutgers Jewish Film Festival (RJFF) online, Nov. 8-22, 2020. The Peretz Planning Committee selected two films for an online discussion: Nowhere in Africa. Q&A with Caroline Link, Sunday, Nov. 15, Noon. Asia. Q&A with Ruthy Prabar, Director, and[...]

(Family Event) Please join us for IL Peretz’s Community Hanukkah Celebration with school students. Learn how to make Latkes and sour pickles! Be a part of our Hanukkah Candle Lighting Ceremony, community sing-a-long, and other activities. Please bring an appetizer or a dessert for all to share. RSVP's are greatly appreciated either by e-mailing Lily[...]

(Adult Education Event) Trauma in the West Bank: My Personal Experience - a presentation by Susan Gutwill, MSW, LCSW Susan Gutwill recently visited the West Bank as part of a group of trauma specialists composed of psychiatrists, social workers, psychologists and professors, all studying social services throughout the West Bank. They visited 3 different sites a[...]

(Family Event)

(Family Event) Please join us for our IL Peretz Community Tu B’Shevat (zero waste) Seder. We will have environmental and social action activities. Singing, eating, and social action celebrating the environment and “The New Year of Trees” - Tu B’Shevat. This is a family event and all are invited to attend! Please RSVP via e-mail[...]

(Family Event)   Join us for fun games and activities in the cafeteria of Rutgers Prep! There are prizes to be won as well.

(Adult Education Event) Beyle: The Artist and Her Legacy - Film Screening and Moderated Discussion Please join us for an online film screening of Beyle: The Artist and Her Legacy. This 40-minute film explores the life and legacy of Yiddish activist and artist Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman. It was produced and directed by the Yiddish Book Center’s[...]

(Family Event)

(Family Event)

During Roman times, rabbis would study the Torah in secret. Their students would stand guard and fool the Romans by having sporting competitions. The holiday of Lag B’Omer commemorates this time. Today, Lag B’Omer is celebrated with picnics, sporting events, hikes, and bon fires. Please join us for our Lag B’Omer celebration at Peretz. We[...]

(Adult Education Event) Teshuvah: A Jewish Case for Palestinian Refugee Return - a Virtual Discussion Please join us for a virtual discussion of Teshuvah: A Jewish Case for Palestinian Refugee Return, an essay by Peter Beinart published in Jewish Currents on May 11, 2021. Ira Mintz, who brought the article to our attention, will moderate. Those[...]

(Family Event) This year due to the pandemic our High Holiday Ceremonies will be on Zoom Rosh Hashanah: Tuesday, September 7, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm Yom Kippur: Thursday, September 16, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm Our Ceremonies Are Open to All Please Contact Us for the Zoom meeting ID and passcode. You can download the[...]

(Family Event) This year due to the pandemic our High Holiday Ceremonies will be on Zoom Rosh Hashanah: Tuesday, September 7, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm Yom Kippur: Thursday, September 16, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm Our Ceremonies Are Open to All Please Contact Us for the Zoom meeting ID and passcode. You can download the[...]

(Adult Education Event) Philip Orenstein: Painting History - a Virtual Discussion In the summer of 1940, after the German occupation of Paris, the French liberal democratic government voted to establish a dictatorship. The facts about this regressive government and its treatment of its Jewish citizens were suppressed and hidden for nearly fifty years. In the[...]

(Adult Education Event) Rutgers Film Festival Online Discussion This pandemic year the Bildner Center is presenting the annual Rutgers Jewish Film Festival (RJFF) both at theaters and online, Nov. 7-21, 2021. The Peretz Planning Committee has selected two films for an online discussion: Wet Dog. 103 min. This was chosen to be the opening-night film of[...]

(Adult Education Event) Breaking the Silence on the Occupation: Film and Online Discussion We will be streaming this extraordinary 20 minute video by Israeli Human Rights Lawyer Michael Sfard. The video breaks down the Israeli government's decades-long project to settle Palestinian land in the West Bank, entrench permanent Israeli control, and prevent Palestinian self-determination and[...]

(Adult Education Event) Maxine Susman: Poetry Reading Writer and poet Maxine Susman will read and talk from My Mother’s Medicine, a biography-in-poems about her mother, who grew up in Brooklyn and graduated from the only all-women’s medical school in the country during the Great Depression. The story has a feminist-Jewish focus. Maxine will also read environmental[...]

(Adult Education Event) Thawing the Chilly Climate: The Mary H Dana Women Artists Series at 50 This illustrated talk, by Dr. Ferris Olin, will provide an overview of the oldest continuously running exhibition space in America for emerging and established women artists, founded in 1971 by Highland Park native and MacArthur Genius, Joan Snyder. The[...]

(Adult Education Event) Danny Adlerman Performs Your Requests! Please join us for this Friday night event during which Danny Adlerman will perform your requests and accompany himself on the guitar. It promises to be great fun!! Danny will entertain us with your music requests as well as sing some of his own compositions. To place a[...]

(Adult Education Event) Ancient/Modern Ethical Principles The collection "Ethics of the Fathers" was compiled 1800 years ago, but many of the ethical principles it contains are as relevant now as they were then. The ethical principles in the collection (its Hebrew name is Pirkei Avot) fall into three categories—between a person and him/herself, between a person[...]

(Adult Education Event) Cinema Sabaya: Film and Online Discussion The Peretz Program Planning Committee has selected Cinema Sabaya as the primary film for our annual Rutgers Bildner Center Jewish Film Festival film discussion. This film is available to screen virtually from Nov. 6 to Nov. 13. The film swept the Israeli Ophir Awards in September, 2022 and won[...]

(Adult Education Event) Women of Valor: Polish Jewish Resistors to the Third Reich In this talk based on her recent book, Joanne D. Gilbert, author, educator, and public speaker, celebrates the heroines of World War II who fought the horrors of the Holocaust. As combat partisans in the forests, spies, couriers, code-breakers, smugglers, nurses, translators, and[...]

(Adult Education Event) Mothers of Invention: Carol Simon Levin Carol Simon Levin portrays Lillian Moller Gilbreth, motion study pioneer and “Cheaper by the Dozen” mother of 12 and shares the stories of other overlooked women innovators, including many women of color. From Margaret Knight (the 19th century “Female Edison”) to Hollywood superstar Hedy Lamarr, these[...]

(Family Event) Join us for our beautifully situated Rosh Hashanah Ceremony under the trees at Rutgers Preparatory School 1345 Easton Avenue Somerset, NJ Saturday, September 16, 11:00 am - 1:30 pm Bring Lawn Chairs and/or Picnic Blankets for Seating (If the weather is bad, Contact Us for Zoom details.) After the Rosh Hashanah ceremony please[...]

(Family Event) Join us for our beautifully situated Yom Kippur Ceremony under the trees in Grove 1 at Donaldson Park 526 South Second Avenue Highland Park, NJ Monday, September 25, 11:00 am - 1:30 pm Bring Lawn Chairs and/or Picnic Blankets for Seating (If the weather is bad, Contact Us for Zoom details.) For more[...]

(Adult Education Event) The Goldman Case: Film and Online Discussion The Peretz Program Planning Committee has selected The Goldman Case as the primary film for our annual Rutgers Bildner Center Jewish Film Festival film discussion. This film is available to screen virtually from Nov. 6 to Nov. 12. The film was an Official Selection of this[...]

(Adult Education Event) Israelism: Film and Online Discussions The Peretz Program Planning Committee is sponsoring a 3-part online program, beginning with a free, online screening of the film Israelism. Please register and watch the film prior to January 21 at 3:00 pm. This is a must-see film that has been canceled and uncanceled on a[...]

(Adult Education Event) Unearthed: A Memoir by Meryl Frank At this Zoom event, Meryl Frank will discuss her recent, highly acclaimed memoir and detective story: Unearthed: A Lost Actress, a Forbidden Book, and a Search for Life in the Shadow of the Holocaust. Unearthed is described as a thrilling mystery woven into a beautifully constructed[...]

(Adult Education Event) Who Will Remain: Film and Online Discussions The Yiddish Book Center is sponsoring this online screening of the film Who Will Remain? (Ver Vet Blaybn?). Please contact Judy Stern or Claudia Farber for the meeting registration link. Director and producer Christa Whitney will lead a discussion following the screening. Film Synopsis: Attempting to better[...]

(Adult Education Event) My Disability Roadmap: Film and Online Discussion The Peretz Program Planning Committee is sponsoring a 3-part online program, beginning with a free, online screening of the film My Disability Roadmap. Please register for the film in advance of the event. The film will be shown with open captions and audio description for[...]

(Adult Education Event) Albert Einstein: Champion of Racial Justice and Equality The Peretz Program Planning Committee is sponsoring an online program with speakers Elizabeth Romanaux & Shirley Satterfield focusing on Albert Einstein. Please register for the program in advance of the event. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the[...]

(Family Event) Join us for our beautifully situated Rosh Hashanah Ceremony under the covered pavilion at Johnson Park Picnic Grove 5 Johnson Park Road Piscataway, NJ Please share this event on Facebook or Twitter (X) and invite your friends and family to join. Thursday, October 3, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm Bring Lawn Chairs and/or[...]

(Family Event) Join us for our beautifully situated Yom Kippur Ceremony under the trees at Rutgers Preparatory School 1345 Easton Avenue Somerset, NJ Please share this event on Facebook or Twitter (X) and invite your friends and family to join. Saturday, October 12, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm Bring Lawn Chairs and/or Picnic Blankets for[...]

(Adult Education Event) The Critical Presidential Election of 2024 Speaker Gerald Pomper will discuss the historical significance of this election, the present state of the race, and possible outcomes, both in the vote and for the nation. Gerald Pomper retired from Rutgers University in 2016, after fifty years, as Board of Governors Professor Political Science.[...]

(Adult Education Event) Janis Ian: Breaking Silence (Film and Online Discussion) Please join us for our annual program in which we discuss films shown at the Rutgers Bildner Center Jewish Film Festival. We have chosen a film that is showing both in the theater and streaming, and during our online discussion, we'll also talk about[...]