Isabel Buyer-Howard & Harriet Katz Lecture Series
The Isabel Buyer - Howard & Harriet Katz Lecture Series
The Lecture Series sponsors educational & informational programs for the community at large.
April 22 - Are You There G-d?
The meaning of suffering or why do bad things happen to good people?
An age-old theological dilemma
5pm
Join Rabbi Levy and the Rev. Terry Primer of Monroe Village as they present from their religious perspectives. Sharing and discussions will follow. Refreshments will be served.
How often in your lifetime have you had the opportunity to come close to greatness; to know people who are so very special that their legacy continues to inspire even when they are no longer physically present? Isabel Buyer was such
a person. Her giving and caring nature and her response to perceived need made the world she inhabited - and
especially her Jewish world - a better place for all. The years of her partnership with this congregation were indeed
fruitful ones. Isabel led by example and inspired others to be stronger and more highly motivated than they ever
reallized that they could be. Isabel Buyer was a Jewish heroine.
When she died, she left more than memories and tangible reminders of her presence throughout the building which
houses Congregation Etz Chaim. Isabel's lasting legacy was to be the Isabel Buyer Memorial Lecture Series. This was
initially funded by contributions which were received in her memory and intended to be offered annually.
More than five years
have passed since Isabel Buyer physically left us and, because we so loved and respected her ideals and the heroic
ways in which she led many others in paths inspired by her own, Howard and Harriet Katz revived the educational program which was conceived of by our Rabbi in consultation with the family of this great lady.
In May 2010, the newly named Isabel Buyer-Howard & Harriet Katz Lecture Series presented a program
which was deemed as an appropriate tribute to this woman who saw difficult things as challenges rather than
obstacles.
A DAY OF "DEFIANCE* - A Celebration of Jewish Heroism. We learned more about Jewish
heroism from the story of Tuvia Bielski who, with his brothers, led the Bielski Partisans. Through the courage and
cunning of this group, more than 1,200 Jewish lives were saved during the Nazi Holocaust.
Tuvia's son, Robert, helped us to understand how seemingly ordinary people can not only rise to greatness, but also
inspire others to display new levels of courage when faced with seemingly insurmountable odds. Robert also
shared with us, through stories of his own life lived among a family of Jewish icons, information as to how heroes live
out their lives when the battles are over.