Couples sought for Book Festival author event

One of my favorite questions is to ask couples how they met. Maybe the answer appeals to the voyeur in me, although I think it has more to do with an appreciation for a good love story. Then again, asking the question often leads to a reciprocal one that allows me to divulge how I met my love – at a Neville Brothers concert at the iconic, and now shuttered, Mississippi Nights in Laclede’s Landing.

Apparently, I am not alone in my curiosity about how strangers meet and fall in love, and what role “place” plays in the equation.

In Ariel Sabar’s “Heart of the City: Nine Stories of Love & Serendipity on the Streets of New York,” he shares stories of nine couples – from the 1940s to the present – who met in one of New York’s iconic public places. These stories include a handsome Texas sailor who offers dinner to a runaway in Central Park; the Midwestern college girl who stops a cop in Times Square for advice; the Brooklyn man on a midnight subway who helps a weary tourist find her way; and the graduate student who encounters an unexpected object of beauty at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

When Sabar appears at the St. Louis Jewish Book Festival in November, organizers hope to include similar stories of couples who met in St. Louis’ public places. But they need your help.

So they are asking St. Louis couples who were complete strangers and met under serendipitous circumstances, fell in love, and either got married or are still together today to send their stories to Festival Director Marcia Evers Levy at [email protected]. Couples from all walks of life and backgrounds are invited to share their stories, and they just might be invited to be guests of honor, and win a prize, at Sabar’s presentation at 1 p.m. Nov. 7. at the Jewish Community Center’s Staenberg Family Complex in Creve Coeur, 2 Millstone Campus Drive. Call 314-442-3299 or visit www.stljewishbookfestival.org for more information.

Women’s Torah learning in honor of Rebbetzin Rivkin

Ohr Pesia, a women’s Torah learning program, was begun this fall in memory of the beloved Rebbetzin Paula Rivkin. “Ohr” in Hebrew means light and “Pesia” was the Hebrew first name of the Rebbetzin Rivkin, who passed away in January.

Rabbi Yosef David, executive director of Aish HaTorah of St. Louis, says the program is an outgrowth of conversations he had with several women who knew the basics of Judaism but wanted more academic-style Jewish studies classes to improve their Torah knowledge as well as textural Hebrew skills. “Some wanted to participate more fully in synagogue in Hebrew prayers and their Torah understanding while others wanted to be able to help their children with their Hebrew homework,” he says.

David helped form a committee to get the program started as well as enlist some female teachers at Bais Yaakov High School to teach the classes. In September, the first trimester kicked off with three classes, including intermediate Hebrew reading and a tefillah class where students learn about its structure, purpose and impact. The second trimester classes will take place from October through December and the last trimester will be from January through March. Each class is offered on a different day at various times (mornings and evenings) to accommodate both working and stay-at-home mothers as well as older women.

“We want to make sure we are inviting as many women as possible,” explains Rina Davidovici, who chairs the Ohr Pesia steering committee. “I would say that the majority of women involved are more observant but classes are open to all women of any affiliation as well as those who are not affiliated but are eager to learn.”

Davidovici, who has five children under the age of 6, notes that daycare is provided. The cost of the one-hour classes range from $15 to $50, with the more expensive ones meeting over 10 weeks. Scholarships are available and donations are also welcome. All of the classes are held at the U.City Shul, 700 North and South Road in University City.

Registrants, however, must be willing to commit to the classes once they sign up. “These aren’t the kind of classes where a person makes an inspirational speech and it’s over,” says Davidovici. “Fellow students feed off the energy of one another and there’s a camaraderie among the women in each class.”

About 40 women are enrolled in the first trimester, which ends in early October and 25 have already signed up for the second trimester. Davidovici says it isn’t necessary to have taken classes the first trimester in order to enroll in the second and/or third trimester classes.

She also explains the connection to Rebbetzin Rivkin. “Rebbetzin Rivkin was an amazing women who had tremendous academic skills, who valued secular learning but also had a love of religiousness and Jewish learning. She was someone who was pluralistic yet so strong in her Jewish roots and such a secularly accomplished woman. She was an inspiration to Jewish women here and we wanted to connect this program to her,” says Davidovici, adding that she thinks the rebbetzin would be proud to have her name associated with the program.

For more information about Ohr Pesia, call Rina Davidovici at 314-872-9004 or email [email protected].

On the subject of food . . .

Pratzel’s Eastgate Bakery will have its traditional High Holiday favorites such as honey cake, challahs, stollens and much more available for purchase at Straub’s Market in Clayton and at their own baking facility at 9263 Dielman Industrial Drive in Olivette from Monday, Sept. 26 through Friday, Oct. 21. Customers can phone in orders to Pratzel’s at 314-692-8100 or to Straub’s at 314-725-2121. Requests must be received by 2 p.m. for pick-up the following day.