Rimon, the Mordecai T. Mezrich Center for Jewish Learning, in East Windsor is hosting a series of lectures on the history of Jews in America.
By: Marisa Maldonado
EAST WINDSOR Three hundred and fifty years after the arrival in New Amsterdam of the first 23 Jewish immigrants to the United States, a local Jewish learning center is offering a series of lectures on the history of Jews that flowered from that moment.
Rimon, the Mordecai T. Mezrich Center for Jewish Learning, located at 483 Dutch Neck Road, is hosting the series of five lectures. Starting Feb. 1, the lectures will run the first Wednesday of every month and will span from Colonial Jews to Jews in the 20th century.
"The history of the Jews in America is also a history of all kinds of immigrants in America," said Rebekah Costin, a resident of Princeton who is giving the lectures. "As we study the Jews in America and how they adapted to America and contributed to America, we really enhance our understanding of America."
There will be time for discussion after the lectures. One does not have to attend all five talks to benefit from the material, Ms. Costin said.
Ms. Costin, a master’s student in Jewish studies at Hebrew College in Newton Centre, Mass., and a former lawyer, taught an American Jewish history class to seventh-graders at the Jewish Center of Princeton for six years. She said that learning more about Jewish history can help Jews understand the traditions they practice.
"A lot of things we do automatically, we learn them from our parents, we sort of have a specific response," said Ms. Costin. "When we learn our history, we start to understand … we can make more informed decisions on whether we want to continue those beliefs."
She sees the value of understanding one’s own culture in her three children, ages 13, 9 and 7, who attend the Princeton Charter School among an ethnically diverse group of classmates.
"I think their understanding of their own community helps them understand when they go to (other classmates’ houses)," she said.
For this class Ms. Costin expects many retirees and older people without children to attend although she said she would like to see more stay-at-home mothers. No matter what age, Ms. Costin said, she loves seeing her students lock onto new material.
"My favorite part about teaching are those ‘uh-huh moments’ where they say ‘uh-huh, now I get it,’" Ms. Costin said. "Both for me and my students."
Being a student herself Ms. Costin plans to finish her degree in a year also has given her a new perspective in teaching. She plans to incorporate everything from materials she has found in Boston to a conference she attended in Mississippi on Southern Jews.
Livia Mezrich, founder and director of the Rimon center, said she heard about Ms. Costin through a reporter for the Jewish News and thought the former lawyer would be a good fit to teach a class in adult education. The center offers classes almost every night in topics such as beginning Hebrew, Jewish monetary law and Israeli dancing.
Ms. Mezrich said she thought a class on Jews in America would be timely, given that many synagogues and Jewish centers nationwide are planning events in honor of the 350th anniversary of Jewish immigration to the United States.
The center has a grant from Yeshiva University in New York City for adult education classes. Classes generally run between 10 and 20 students and are open to anyone older than 18.
"We’ve only been open a year, and we’re constantly increasing the number of classes," Ms. Mezrich said. "We’re very fortunate."
For more information, call the Rimon center at (609) 918-9750.

