Congregation Kehilat Shalom in Montgomery will host an open house on Sunday, April 26, from 10 a.m. to noon at the synagogue, which is located 253 Belle Mead-Griggstown Road.
Highlighting the morning will be a book signing by Greta Wertheimer-Stanton, a local author who also starred in the award-winning film, “Watermarks.” Ms. Wertheimer-Stanton will be signing her latest book, “Still Alive in the Shadow of Shoah,” a memoir based on her life which includes her time spent in Vienna as part of the Hakoah swimming and diving team, her immigration to America and how she saved her parents by arranging a visa for them to Cuba.
Ms. Wertheimer-Stanton will also shares her experiences living and working as a social worker and professor at Columbia University, Hunter College and Fordham University. She is a Rutgers University professor emerita.
“Watermarks” won numerous film accolades, including the Palm Spring Film Festival Audience Award. The movie chronicles the story of the champion women swimmers and divers of the legendary Jewish sports club, Hakoah Vienna, where Ms. Wertheimer-Stanton was Austria’s youth champion diver.
She deals with her personal experiences with the Holocaust and her efforts to share her story with kids today.
“It is not a tear-jerker,” she says of her memoir. “It has some funny parts here and there.” Her first book was called “Children of Separation.”
In addition to the book signing, the congregation’s Hebrew School will hold its Yom Haatzmaut Celebration with activities including Israeli cooking, arts and crafts and the Israeli game Gaga. There will also be a Museum of Israeli Artifacts for all to view. The Hebrew High School students, Kehi-Loft, will hold a car wash.
Rabbi Susan Falk will be on hand to meet visitors and refreshments will be offered.
Congregation Kehilat Shalom, located in the Belle Mead section of Montgomery Township, is a Reconstructionist synagogue which describes itself as “a warm and welcoming community dedicated to serving the spiritual, educational, cultural, civic and social needs of a diverse congregation.”
For more information, call 908-359-0420 or visit www.ksnj.org.
