New Year 2022 brings the promise of new hopes, new beginnings, and a chance for life to return to normality. With 2020 and 2021 in the rearview mirror, having left their indelible mark on all of us, 2022 is a time to regroup, refresh, and reenergize.
Make those New Year resolutions — lose weight, go back to the gym, stop smoking, and vow to be kinder. Take an art class, learn a new language, or visit a museum or library.
Here are a few ideas to start your New Year on a note of inspiration.
Temple Beth Am
While the Jewish New Year is in the fall, Jews and others can still take advantage of the current New Year and sign up for classes at Temple Beth Am in Margate.
Beginning Dec. 21 and running for eight weeks through January, Temple Beth Am in Margate is offering the interactive class “Ten Paths to G-d: Ten Ways Judaism Enhances Our Lives,” taught by Senior Rabbi Michelle Goldsmith. Cost: $36 for members, $72 for non-members.
In February, Temple Beth Am offers “Esther, Song of Songs and Ruth — Love, Bravery and Loyalty as the Key to G-d and Salvation.” This class is also taught by Rabbi Goldsmith and will run on Tuesday evenings beginning Feb. 22. Cost: $18 members, $36 non-members.
For more information, go to Beth-am.org.
Parkland Library
Are you ready for fun, intellectual stimulation, and/or children’s events? The Parkland Library has something for everyone.
Kids can take part in a friendly game of chess, try coloring and card-making, come for storytime, or participate in “Mr. Roy’s Family Music,” a 30-minute class in which children up to age 4 can dance and sing familiar melodies, play instruments, and take advantage of a fun, interactive class.
Adults can come for Bingo; Sahaja meditation; an arts, books, and conversation group; and even rock painting led by Dr. Halle Solomon, assistant program director at Eagles’ Haven Wellness Center. The finished product will be donated to community memorial gardens. Along with Sarah Lerner, the yearbook advisor at Marjory Stoneman Douglas (MSD) High School, Solomon will speak about resilience, hosting a conversation on resilience and grit in a community affected by the MSD tragedy.
The library also offers several Holocaust educational programs, including the “No Child’s Play” exhibit, which shares a window into the world of children during the Holocaust. It examines images of toys, games, artwork, diaries, and poems of children and their personal stories, providing a glimpse into their lives during the Holocaust. The exhibit looks at the struggle of those kids to hold on to life and their attempts to maintain their childhood.
Holocaust survivor and Holocaust educator Eric Lipetz will lead a discussion for both teens and adults after screening the 2004 documentary film “Paper Clips.” Based on the true story of a school in Tennessee, the film tells about a class project. Middle school students in a rural, heavily Christian community began collecting the paper clips to represent the lives of Jews who perished in concentration camps during World War II. After millions of paper clips were collected, the last step was to place them inside a German railcar, a poignant echo of the Final Solution and a reminder to “never forget.”
On Jan. 27, to coincide with International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Craig and Barbara Weiner Holocaust Reflection and Resource Center at Nova Southeastern University offers a chance to learn about and contemplate the horrendous acts that result from intolerance and hate. The session will conclude with the lighting of a Yahrzeit (memorial) candle.
For more information, go to CityofParkland.org/library.
Coral Springs Museum of Art
The Coral Springs Museum of Art offers classes in ceramics, drawing, painting, mixed media, comic design, printmaking, sewing, photography, and more. New additions include classes in interior design, fashion illustration, still life, and portrait and figure drawing.
The classes, which run from Jan. 24 to March 5, are available for all age groups (preschool, youth, teen, and adult), skill levels, and interests.
To register, call (954) 340-5000 or go to CoralSpringsMuseum.org.
Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens
Interested in Japanese language and culture? Since 1977, Boca Raton’s Morikami Museum has been a center for Japanese arts and culture in South Florida. The museum offers classes such as The Art of Bonsai, Introduction to Japanese Language, Ikebana Flower Arrangement, Performing Tea Ceremonies, and Japanese Sumi-e Ink Painting.
For more information, go to Morikami.org.
Adolph & Rose Levis JCC Sandler Center
When the COVID pandemic hit in March 2020, the Levis JCC Sandler Center launched into action, putting many of its classes, lectures, literary events, and films on Zoom at no charge. From April 2020 to June 2021, the JCC hosted 29,738 virtual attendees and 3,101 more in-person.
Now, in 2022, the JCC is offering a hybrid Arts, Culture, and Learning season including hundreds of in-person and virtual events. Virtual programs will be streamed via Zoom, and in-person programs will be at the Levis JCC Sandler Center with masks required and socially distant protocols.
As part of its Literary Afternoons, on Jan. 11, the JCC hosts Mitchell James Kaplan, author of “Rhapsody,” an inspired-by-a-true-story novel about the love affair between George Gershwin and Kay Swift, two musical icons of the 1920s-30s.
On Jan. 18, author Zibby Owens is featured as part of its Cocktails and Conversation with the Authors series. Owens will discuss her latest book, “Moms Don’t Have Time To: A Quarantine Anthology,” a humorous look at working out, eating, reading, and even sex during quarantine.
In the Book and Author series, author Anne Sebba discusses her book via Zoom on Jan. 20, titled “Ethel Rosenberg: An American Tragedy,” which posits that Ethel Rosenberg was likely innocent, murdered by the state, and did not deserve death by electric chair.
On Jan. 25, author Lisa Scottoline will discuss her latest historical fiction novel, “Eternal.” The book takes place during World War II in Rome, the “Eternal City,” and tells the story of three families whose intersecting worlds are torn apart.
Other events include the Jan. 10 Zoom lecture with author and journalist Claudia Kalb, titled “Spark: How Genius Ignites, From Child Prodigies to Late Bloomers.” “Spark” unravels the relationship between brains, talent, passion, creativity, willpower, and imagination.
In-person at the Sandler Center, on Jan. 31, “60 Minutes” Peabody and Emmy Award-winning writer and producer Ira Rosen will speak about his book “Ticking Clock: Behind the Scenes at 60 Minutes,” revealing the intimate, untold stories of his decades at America’s most iconic news show.
For more information, go to levisjcc.org.
Boca Museum Art School
Do you want to improve brain function and enhance your creativity? Try taking a class in painting, jewelry-making, or sharpening your skills at photography.
The Boca Museum Art School offers classes in ceramics, pottery, and the fundamentals of digital photography. Learn to paint in watercolor, gouache, oil, or acrylic, or try your hand at jewelry-making or silversmithing.
For more information, go to BocaMuseum.org/art-school.
Boca Museum of Art
What’s more cultural than a trip to a world-class museum? Learn about the ancient Andean cultures at the Boca Museum of Art’s exhibit, “Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru,” running through March 6.
On Saturday, Jan. 22, immerse yourself in a tour and a lecture series, in combination with Florida Atlantic University, on these ancient civilizations. Experts will speak on topics such as the “Great Inka Road: Engineering an Empire,” musical traditions, the ancient Mateño civilizations of coastal Ecuador, and Ecuador’s contemporary Manabi culture. There will be live music and a dance performance by the Peruvian dance group Kuyayky.
Tickets are $10/members; $20 non-members. For more information, go to Bocamuseum.org.