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Scholar's Shabbat Dec. 4-5 Features Expert on Jewish Culture in India.........posted Nov 1, 2009

Tikvat Israel will celebrate the annual Scholar's Shabbat on Dec. 4-5 with a special guest who will lead congregants on a cultural journey through Jewish India.

The visiting scholar will be award-winning journalist, author and singer Rahel Musleah. Read a full biography about Musleah at rahelsjewishindia.com.

Musleah will deliver a series of presentations on the following schedule:

• Friday evening (Dec. 4): Kabbalat Shabbat services (6 p.m.) followed by dinner (reservations required). A lecture, "Jewish Calcutta through Music and Memory." will start around 8 p.m. The lecture is open to the public;
• Shabbat morning (Dec. 5) during services (9:30 a.m.): "A Taste of Shabbat, Calcutta Style." Musleah will lead the Torah service in the Sephardic style and discuss the differences in liturgy;
• Shabbat afternoon following dessert Kiddush: "A Q&A session with Rahel" followed immediately by Mincha services;
• Ma'ariv services and Havdalah (6 p.m.) followed by Motzei Shabbat Meal (a vegetarian dairy Indian repast with reservations mandatory): "A Taste of India;"
• Melave Malka: "Masala - A Bazaar of Spice, Song, and Story" (8 p.m.). No charge for this activity.

The cost of the Shabbat evening dinner is $18 per adult, $8 per child. The cost of the "Taste of India" dinner is $10 per adult, $5 per child. Adults planning to attend both meals pay a discounted price of $25.

Reservations must be made no later than Nov. 30 with the Adult Education Committee at adulted@tikvatisrael.org or call the synagogue office at 301-762-7338.  

Make your reservations online securely using PayPal - click here.

Musleah was born in Calcutta, India, the seventh generation of a Calcutta Jewish family that traces its roots to 17th-century Baghdad. Through her multi-media song, story and slide programs, she shares her rare and intimate knowledge of this ancient community's history, customs and melodies with audiences at synagogues, schools, libraries, women's groups and cultural events.

Musleah is an award-winning journalist with hundreds of published articles to her credit. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Family Circle, Hadassah, Jewish Woman and numerous other Jewish journals.

Her book Apples and Pomegranates: A Family Seder for Rosh Hashanah (Lerner/Kar-Ben, July 2004) introduces the Sephardic custom of blessing the Jewish new year with symbolic foods. Her haggadah,Why On This Night? A Passover Haggadah for Family Celebration (Simon & Schuster), has been received with critical acclaim. She is the co-author, with Rabbi Michael Klayman, of Sharing Blessings: Children's Stories for Exploring the Spirit of the Jewish Holidays (Jewish Lights), and the author of Journey of a Lifetime: The Jewish Life Cycle Book (Behrman House).

Her CD, Hodu: Jewish Rhythms from Baghdad to India, features ancient texts, authentic melodies and contemporary rhythms. ("Hodu," in Hebrew, means both "India" and "Praise God!") Her songbook, B'Kol Arev: Songs of the Jews of Calcutta, compiled more than 50 songs for Shabbat, holidays and special occasions (Tara Publications); an accompanying cassette featured 18 selections.

Her writing, songs and recipes have also been included in several anthologies, including Jewish Food: The World at Table (HarperCollins); The Kids' Catalog of Hanukkah (JPS); R'fuah Sh'lemah: Songs of Jewish Healing t;/em> (Synagogue 2000); and Beyond Scandal: The Parents' Guide to Sex, Lies and Leadership (www.jflbooks.com).

A graduate of Columbia University and the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Musleah and her two daughters live in Great Neck, N.Y.