Author: Marla

The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper
by Phaedra Patrick

69 year-old Arthur Pepper lives a simple life. He gets out of bed at precisely 7:30 a.m., just as he did when his wife, Miriam, was alive. He dresses in the same gray slacks and mustard sweater vest, waters his fern, Frederica, and heads out to his garden. But on the one-year anniversary of Miriam’s death, Arthur finds an exquisite gold charm bracelet he’s never seen before. What follows is a surprising and unforgettable odyssey that takes Arthur from London to Paris and as far as India in an epic quest to find out the truth about his wife’s secret life before they met—a journey that leads him to find hope and healing in the most unexpected places.

Featuring an unforgettable cast of characters with big hearts and irresistible flaws, this story is a joyous reminder of life’s infinite possibilities.

(Zoom link to follow in an email)

Saturday, March 13th
Havdalah at 7:15 pm; Program at 7:30 pm

In our study we will review the basic laws of keeping kosher, and we will ask the question: what is the rationale for these laws? (Spoiler Alert: Everything you were told as a child about the reason for the kosher laws is wrong.)

Rabbi Wylen notes: “I once did a study of why the Jews in my town of Wayne kept kosher. I asked people who came in the door of the JCC for the Purim carnival: ‘Do you keep kosher? Why?’ I discovered two things. One, very few Jews kept kosher, even if they belonged to a traditional congregation.
Two, the main reason Jews in Wayne kept kosher is because the Lubavitcher Rebbetzin had befriended them and asked them to do it as a favor to her. Okay, that’s a reason.”